12890: Re: 12877: French vs. Creole/Ayisyen, attitude

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: NLaleau@aol.com
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Dear Aletha--You bet. When I was first in Haiti in the sixties, although
I'd
studied French for 4 years in high school and college and had studied
Kreyol
for a total of 10-15 hours with a Haitian linguist in Washington D.C., I
seemed
better equipped and more comfortable speaking Kreyol than French... but a
number of people in the little pension where I stayed in Haiti, including
the
owner and her friends, refused to respond to my questions in Kreyol unless
they
could first translate these questions into French, and have me repeat them
in
French...  The social distinctions drawn between Kreyol and French were
immediately apparent to me--Kreyol was seen as the gutter language, French
was
spoken as though it were the ancient French Bourgeoisie who pronounced its
august syllables... nancylaleau