THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WOULD like to use this medium to commend Dr. Ralph Thompson on the excellent article he did, excerpts of which were printed in The Sunday Gleaner of May 9, 2004, the antithesis to which is that of Dr. Carolyn Cooper, who has been advocating that patois be taught in our schools as our official language.
I am a Jamaican at present working in Haiti which recently celebrated its 200th anniversary of independence from it's former colonial masters. What I find rather interesting here is that although Haitians speak their own creole (kreyol), French is recognised as the official language. This is borne out by the fact that from age one this is the language that is taught at home and in school. Parents here are of the view that kreyol can be learnt on the streets. In fact it was only during the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide that creole began to be taught in schools and used in places of business.
Another amazing thing is despite the fact that approximately 90 per cent of Haitians are illiterate, those who have completed formal secondary education speak French fluently. Many persons with whom I have spoken on the streets of Port-au-Prince upon learning that I cannot speak kreyol, then ask, "Do you speak French or Spanish?" In fact even the office helpers and the lady who does my laundry corrects me whenever I try to communicate in French with them.
At present a great desire of many Haitians is to master the English language and have requested of me to conduct classes for them. I agree that patois is our native tongue but I would suggest that, to reason and communicate properly and to be understood requires a more established language which has withstood the test of time.
I am, etc.,
ROHAN TOWNSEND
rohan_townsend@yahoo.co.uk
c/o Huilerie Nationale S.A.
Rue #1 city: Port-au-Prince
Haiti
Via Go-Jamaica
