Why haitians speak creole

The Haitian masses—at least 95 percent of the population—only spoke Haitian Creole and were immediately severed from the state. Mastery of the minority French language, or the lack thereof, is a pivotal Haitian socioeconomic status symbol. However, Dessalines exercised statecraft with the French language, which he spoke fluently but could neither read nor write. Mastery of French became an obsession of the educated minority as it reflected their bilingual heritage and afforded them opportunities in Europe.

It is estimated that roughly 5 to 10 percent of Haitians are functionally bilingual in French and Haitian Creole. French language privilege is enforced by the Haitian state and its Ministry of National Education through French language national examinations that all students must compose if they hope to graduate.

This foreign linguistic stranglehold is also maintained by Catholic, Protestant, and secular private schools. From until today, the Haitian Creole-speaking majority has been kicked to the curb, treated like barbarians, denied access to the core institutions required for social advancement, and forced to conform to a clownish Francophone ideal that keeps Haiti stuck in reverse.

Haitian Creole was supposedly made co-official by the Haitian Constitution— years after the founding of Haiti—but nothing could be further from the truth. Embassy—Haitians are governing in Haitian Creole. In the aftermath of the assassination, nary a word of French has been uttered in the public discourse of major politicians, civic leaders, or radio and television journalists.

They do this not only for efficiency and intelligibility but because using French in a crisis is deceptive and dangerous. In a country where nearly 42 percent of the people are experiencing acute hunger, most of the Haitian Creole was only adopted as the main language of instruction for the first three years of primary education in after years of sabotage by the central government.

By the fourth year, the French language curriculum takes over, and Haitian Creole is relegated to a subject. Haitian students lack French speakers in their schools and families, they lack access to French media, and they have few French books. Only 35 percent of Haitians manage to continue to secondary education. One report from noted only 7 percent of Haitians who begin primary education ultimately complete their senior year.

Would you like your kids in that school system? The Haitian state demands children acquire educational content by means of a language nobody—not even the elite—is willing or able to speak. Lacking even the semblance of resources, Haitians are expected to acquire the foundation for personal and societal development in an inaccessible foreign language.

But why does the Haitian state cling to this language? The bilingual elites want advantages for their children. Opportunities in France and Canada are attractive.

The masses have interiorized a linguistic inferiority complex and clamor for the elite language, dreaming of a better life for their kids. There are also foreign actors who want to preserve French in the Haitian state.

Defenders of the status quo include the French Embassy , the World Bank , and French state groups like the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie OIF , which focuses on the advancement of French-language policies worldwide.

Those Francophone organizations are beholden to French business, cultural, and political interests, and the vision they foster violates the linguistic rights of 90 percent of Haitians who never graduate with a high school degree because they have no means of acquiring French. Outside of the first years of elementary school, Haitian students will not be able to learn about chemistry, biology, physics, economics, sanitation, climate change, civics, mathematics, human sexuality, technology, agriculture, or art in the Haitian Creole language they speak so brilliantly at home with their families.

For one thing, anything currently lacking can be produced straightforwardly by Haitian Creole experts. Haiti has two official national languages: Haitian Creole and French.

A simple way to think about it: All Haitians speak Haitian Creole. Well, again, that depends… School teachers speak French in Haiti. Are you writing an instruction manual or a newspaper advertisement for your product? Use Haitian Creole. Have business with the government? Use French. Are you the government reaching out to the people? Yes but.