What's the difference between haitian and french?
I know Haitian and French aren’t the same language because well one is called Haitian and the other is called French, but are they really similar? What’s the deal? I know there are European Haitians and some speak Spanish but I am writing a story about a girl growing up in Cite Soliel , the really bad slum in Haiti. Does anyone know what they speak in that village? Thanks!
The official language of Haiti is ‘Creole’. Creole came about from the African Slaves (primarily West African) attempting to speak the french that they heard. All Haitians speak creole.
French is taught at school and in fact many schools conduct their classes in only French. So a child who was not exposed to french at home may struggle. Some Haitians view those who do not speak french as being of a lower class.
Are they similar? Not so much… An interesting quote I came across is "Creole is a language whose body is french, but whose soul is African". The English word "You" is "vous" in French and "Ou" in Creole. Similar right? But "The House" is "La Maison" in French and "Kay-la" in Creole.
And yes, some Haitians also speak spanish – they share the island (Hispaniola) with the Dominican Republic. Some Haitians work in D.R. so picking up the language is expected. Spanish is also a language offered in school.
In Cite’ Soleil Creole would be spoken almost exclusively. It is a very poor town and very few children would have gone to school to learn french.
Good luck on your story… I hope this helps.
After the great answer above, I’ll just add that, as a French girl, that I don’t understand when they speak but I can understand or guess when it’s written. It sounds like a secret code from French, you can’t recognize every sign but you still can have a pretty good idea of what is said.
Haiti has two official languages: Haitian Creole and French. The creole is based on18th Century French but with various influences: West and Central African languages, Portuguese, Taino, Arabic, some English and also Spanish.
Haiti ranks 3rd in the world for poverty. The conditions of people in Cite Soleil (City of the Sun) are appaling. The people live in absolute povery. Most of the people in Haiti speak Creole.