Why haitians speak french

Creole is "fully expressive", as well as being rich in imagery and wisdom says Prof DeGraff. More than 30 years ago, a law known as the Bernard Reform was introduced in Haiti, with the specific aim of boosting education in Creole - but critics say it has never been implemented. The Haitian Ministry of Education accepts that textbooks in Creole are in short supply, though it says Creole is already being used widely in classrooms, alongside French.

But the question of Creole or French as the language of instruction appears to be of less concern to the Ministry than the very different question - how to give students a good grounding in English or Spanish. These are the languages, according to the Ministry of Education's Pierre-Michel Laguerre, that will really open up the world for Haitian children.

Bilingual classes 'raise results'. Country profile: Haiti. In graphics: What progress has been made in Haiti? Haiti's orphans hope for future. Battle to preserve Asian languages in schools. Matenwa Community Learning Center. Haitian Government and Education. Mother Tongue Books. Job prospects. Share this post:. Share on facebook Facebook. Share on twitter Twitter.

Share on linkedin LinkedIn. Share on pinterest Pinterest. Prev Previous. Next Next. Contact Home Menu. About Us Leaders Menu. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. That's Fine. More Info. 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. Although investment in schoolbooks is needed, more than a century of Creole publishing demonstrates the depth of Haitian Creole writers.

The requirement that Haitian children acquire basic knowledge in a foreign language is a flagrant problem faced by Haitians today. People ask why Haitians struggle.