#1576: switching to Kreyol? : Clement comments

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Cara Clement <caraclement@yahoo.com>

I am a Canadian who recently spent two and a half
years living in Haiti with my Haitian husband.  I am
from the English speaking part of Canada, therefore
when I first arrived in Haiti I had to make a choice
as to what language I would learn to be able to
communicate with people.  Many said I should learn
French, but my husband encouraged me to learn Creole -
not just because it was an easier language to learn,
but also because it's the language of the people -
100% of the population speak it.

I'm happy to say that I chose to learn the Creole
language and was able communicate with ease in a
fairly short period of time.  I ended up working with
a relief agency in Haiti as their procurement officer
and spent a lot of time in the local businesses all
over Port-au-Prince (I got to learn the city "konku
rat"!) 

It never failed, though, that whenever I entered a
business, the person who approached me would always
start the conversation in French...Of course, I would
always say, "M' pa pale franse - mwen pale kreyol"...
Without fail, a huge smile would always appear on
their faces and it always warmed my heart to see their
satisfaction with this fact...I always had the feeling
that they really appreciated the effort I had made as
a "blanc" to learn their native language and I could
see that it brought things to a more comfortable level
- they simply felt more at ease with me...

I never regretted my decision to learn Creole, and in
fact, I have almost gone to the extreme and tried to
boycott French, as I feel that it is used as a means
of descrimination in Haiti...something I do not want
to support...

Madamn Smarth 
(Cara Clement)
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