The value of Patois and other languages

THE EDITOR, Sir:

AS A young girl at high school my English teacher (who was a Trinidadian) use to say, "Dahlia you will never accomplish getting a GCE 'O' Level certificate in English". Her reasoning for this, was that my patois was overbearingly strong. She was wrong.

It was not easy for me to learn English and Spanish at school and then return home to an all-patois-speaking family and surrounding at the end of the day. Looking back at those times and now, I do believe that learning different languages is important to the welfare of any country and person.

Patois might not be recognised in the international sphere but if teaching it will help children/adults to understand the grammatical structures of it and other languages then by all means teach it.

After living in Holland for more than 15 years I can say the Dutch language is not easy to speak but it certainly can be spoken by even a simple Jamaican like me. Thanks to the Patois, English and Spanish background.

In Holland, Dutch and Fries are spoken. Fries has a mixture of other languages in it like Patois does. The Fries language is spoken and taught at basic schools only in Friesland (one of the 14 provinces in Holland). It has it's own tradition and culture here.

However, the main language, Dutch, is used for most businesses if not English. This means that Fries gets no international recognition outside of the area that it is being spoken and written.

I use to think that it was a shame to speak Patois as a child but Jamaicans can be proud of having their own language.

Encourage the children to speak and write as many different languages as possible including their own. As life goes on there is always time for improvement.

I am etc.,

DAHLIA

day.berg@planet.nl

Via Go-Jamaica

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