16006: Lafond: RE: 16002: Lally: French vs Creole (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: "Lafond, Jean-Ronald" <LAFONDJ@MAIL.ECU.EDU>

Reynald Lally wrote:

I want to know is this an isolated case of Americans trying to convert
people
from French into Creole.
What is the advantage of this policy?

Lafond:
I think you misunderstood the young woman. She understands the importance of
the native tongue. I would doubt that she would want to replace French with
Creole but rather encourage the development of both languages.

Recently I wrote in this forum about the danger of replacing French with
Creole in Haitian schools and compared it to replacing standard English with
Ebonics. I would not want to see the mainstream language replaced, but at
the same time I wish to see the native tongue developed. Creole has colors
that French cannot thoroughly reproduce. It is a language that is developing
and needs to continue developing. Not to mention that it provides the native
speaker with a sense of identity as distinctly different from his French
heritage. The term "creolité" also encompasses much more than Afro-French
mixtures, but also Afro-Spanish and Afro-English combinations, among others.

Haitians or Martiniquais and Guadeloupeens can all only benefit from
steeping themselves thoroughly in both languages. I would recommend that
children be encouraged to speak French in School, otherwise they risk not
using the language well enough to develop comparative fluency relative to
other French speakers. Yet I believe they should be encouraged to speak
Creole and French outside of classrooms. And I recommend a creole class as
part of the curriculum, encouraging the student not only to speak creole but
to write in it. I would personally like to see the development of Creole
poetry and literature.

Jean-Ronald LaFond.

Professor of Music (Voice)
School of Music
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858
(252) 328-1251 (Office)
(252) 258-0027 (Cell)
(252) 328-6258 (Fax)


-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Corbett [mailto:corbetre@webster.edu]
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2003 10:26 AM
To: Haiti mailing list
Subject: 16002: Lally: French vs Creole


From: Reynald Lally <r.bourbon@sympatico.ca>

I was on a Air France flight to Miami and sitting next to me was Young
white
American girl. I asked what was she was doing in Haiti and she answered
that
she had boarded the plane at Fort de France , where she had been there for
four
months trying to teach Creole to the Martiniquais.
I answered saying ,why should an AMERICAN women  try to convert the
Martiniquais to use  Creole not  French.
In MARTINIQUE people speak French first, but like the Welsh language in
Britain
, Creole is enjoying a renaissance.She become quite agitated , and said
that
the people should speak IN Creole not French there.I said would Americans
appreciate French people trying to come to the States and promote a local
dialect to replace English.

When we arrived I said goodbye , she did not answer.
I want to know is this an isolated case of Americans trying to convert
people
from French into Creole.
What is the advantage of this policy?

Reynald Lally