Haitians learning Spanish

[Norma Rosa]

when I am in the DR, I try to practice French with the Haitians.
In El Cibao, I asked this ice cream boy for his name. He said Miguel.

I said, that is Spanish, I want to know how you are called in Haiti. To that he replied: No, my name in Spanish is Miguei.

[Ezequiel]

Originally Posted by Norma Rosa

when I am in the DR, I try to practice French with the Haitians.
In El Cibao, I asked this ice cream boy for his name. He said Miguel.

I said, that is Spanish, I want to know how you are called in Haiti. To that he replied: No, my name in Spanish is Miguei.

Norma Rosa keep in mind that the majority of Haitians don't speak French, they speak Creole.

[Lesley D]

Haitians are survivors when it comes to language in general. In the DR, they will learn what is required to communicate and more. It just depends on each individual's circumstances. What I do find odd though is you want to practice your French but most Haitians don’t speak French. Haitian Creole is the vernacular language of the country and only a small percentage approx. 10% of Haitians in Haiti speak French. Most Haitians learn French when they move abroad to a French-speaking country. However, those who are attending university in the DR may speak French and can be a better option for you in terms of practicing. Haitians in Montreal are a good example. Montreal has the third highest population of Haitians outside of Haiti. Miami has the largest diaspora followed by New York City and surrounding boroughs. Haitians learn French when they move to Montreal over a period of time but do find the French spoken in Quebec difficult to understand and definitely almost impossible to duplicate. The Haitians in Montreal that I know that speak French sound very international and have lived in Quebec for years without a trace of the Quebec accent.

What is always interesting about language is if this individual is learning Spanish off the street in the Cibao he will speak with the Cibao linguistic features i.e. Miguei, which in my opinion is not good however, inevitable if this person does not pursue formal studies in Spanish or encounter speakers who have standard Spanish phonetic pronunciation. In general, many learn enough Spanish to communicate but definitely have recognizable features about their speech that are an immediate give away such as the intonation, accent, rhythm and confusion of el and la etc.


-LDG.

[Norma Rosa]

I know they speak Creole. However, many do understand French, since it is one of the languages taught at schools in Haiti.