THE EDITOR, Sir:
REGARDING THE story on the course in Jamaican patois launched at City College:
We are such a polarised society that everything seems to be either black or white.
The reason for speaking English well is not because patois is bad but because English is the most powerful language at this time.
Being able to speak it, opens lots of doors; not being able to, closes as many.
The problem with patois is that none of us can speak nor write it as would be discovered if it was made a language.
If this happened, quite likely the people who speak English well would become the ones who speak patois well since it is easier to learn a new language if you understand the grammar of another.
Jamaica cannot afford two languages because we do not have the resources to do so, unless we are expecting the United Kingdom to support patois as it has done English.
If we have never succeeded in teaching our population English, how do we figure we will succeed with patois?
I am, etc.,
DOREEN McGANN
doreenmcgann@hotmail.com
Orionvägen 20
Järfälla, Sweden
Via Go-Jamaica
