Haitian Creole is the first language of about 95% of Haitians. It developed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries mainly on sugar plantains. The language has a French-based vernacular with influences from African languages. It has been one of the official languages in Haiti since 1987.
French is the other official language in Haiti and is spoken fluently by about 5-10% of the population. Despite this, most official documents are written in French, limiting access to these documents to a very slim portion of the population.
For today’s blog, we wanted to give you a little lesson in Haitian Creole. If you speak French, you’ll find some familiar words and sentence constructions since the language has a heavy French influence. Here are some commons phrases and words you’ll want to know.
Greetings
Bonjou | Hello (before noon) |
Bonswa | Hello (after noon) |
Kijan ou ye? | How are you? |
Mwen byen | I’m good |
N a we! | See you later! |
Key words and phrases
Wi | Yes |
Non | No |
Souple | Please |
Mèsi | Thank you |
Pa gen pwoblem | No problem! |
Eskize mwen | Excuse me |
Other helpful phrases
Kijan ou rele? | What is your name? |
Mwen rele… | My name is… |
Mwen pa konprann | I don’t understand |
Mwen pa renmen | I don’t like |
Mwen renmen | I like |
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