Creole Made Easy: A simple introduction to Haitian Creole for English speaking people

materials:

Copyright

Copyright © 2018, by Wally R. Turnbull

Creole Made Easy— A simple introduction to Haitian Creole for English speaking people

Published 2018, by Torchflame Books an Imprint of Light Messages

www.torchflame.com

Durham, NC 27713 USA

SAN: 920-9298

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9679937-1-3

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-6115304-1-4

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 International Copyright Act, without the prior written permission except in brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Dedication

This book is dedicated with love and affection to my wife, Betty Jane.

Preface

The Creole of Haiti (called kreyòl, kreyòl ayisyen, or ayisyen by native speakers) is a rich yet amazingly easy language. The way verb tenses are handled and the consistency of Creole phonetics make the language much easier to learn than most others. Kreyòl is based on 17th century French and West African syntax.

In preparing these lessons, our purpose has been to provide an easy, simple, and practical introduction to Creole. We have avoided, as far as possible, exceptions, grammatical technicalities, and linguistic: jargon.

Language study is usually based on memorizing useful conversational phrases or vocabulary, conjugations, and grammar rules. Creole Made Easy is designed to minimize the need for memorization by learning simple generalized principles with practical vocabulary and phrases used as illustrations.

We do not make any claim to completeness in this work. Many omissions have been made consciously for the sake of simplicity. Not all exceptions to the rules of the language and contractions have been covered. Some of the examples used could be translated in an alternate, preferred way but are used in a grammatically correct fashion consistent with the lessons they illustrate.

Special thanks to Carlo Diy who has applied and tested these materials extensively with his students at HaitiHub (www.haitihub.com). His input and feedback have made the lessons in this edition easier and the examples more practical.

Wally R. Turnbull

books@creolemadeeasy.com

How to get the most from your study time.

In less than an hour a day the following short lessons will have you speaking Creole quickly and easily!: You will learn key Creole words, how to pronounce those words, and how to put those words together into useful sentences.

When you study and practice these lessons you will be able to say almost anything in Creole by using the Creole Made Easy principles and the additional words found in the translation lists at the back of the book.

Read each lesson carefully to understand it.

Study the examples provided to see how they demonstrate the principle of the lesson.

The Underlined note at the top of each lesson contains the key concept for that lesson.

The MORE notes at the bottom of the lessons provide additional information which is not essential but is useful.

The EASY notes at the bottom of the lessons contain easy ways to apply the main concept of that lesson.

Learn the vocabulary words presented in the lesson.

Listen to the audio recording of the lesson and practice saying the Creole vocabulary and phrases (optional).

Translate the exercise sentences into Creole before you page or scroll up to: the translation key. The exercises in the first few lessons can be translated by simply replacing the English words with the same words in Creole. As you progress, some exercises will have more than one valid translation.

Use the translation key to check your results.

If necessary, look back at the rule and vocabulary of the lesson to see why you might have missed a translation.

Make up similar sentences of your own using the vocabulary you have learned and translate those sentences into Creole.

Make up similar sentences using the principle of the lesson but using new vocabulary words not included in the lesson. Translate those new sentences into Creole using the word lists from the back of the book. This is especially important as this is the method you will use to say what you want to say in Creole and not only repeat what this book teaches you to say.

In order to promote the preceding practice, some exercises include a LOOK IT UP example requiring one or more words from the list at the back of the book. No answer key is provided for these examples as your familiarization and practice with the translation process is more important than the specific result.

If possible, work with a partner. It will be more fun and will go faster if you quiz and check each other as you progress.

Be encouraged with how quickly you will be speaking useful Creole sentences. Practice. Practice. Practice.

Your Creole study experience may be enhanced with these optional materials:

Creole Made Easy Workbook

Creole Made Easy Pronunciation GuideMP3 files

Creole Made Easy Pronunciation Guide two CD set

Premye Leson

Pronunciation and Word Order

Every letter is pronounced

In Creole, each letter has only one sound and every letter is pronounced. The following examples are based on US English.

a is sounded like o in lot

e is sounded like the first half of the long a in day*

è is sounded like e in let

i is sounded like ee in seed

o is sounded like the first half of the long o in go*

ò is sounded like o in or

g is sounded like g in go

j is sounded like s in measure

ay is sounded like i in ice

ou is sounded like o in movie

ch is sounded like sh in ship

Other letters are sounded as in English.

Haiti: Ayiti: ah-yee-tee

can: kapab: kah - pahb

come: vini: vee-nee

person: moun: moon

Word Order

The order of words in Creole sentences is generally similar to English, following a subject, verb, and object pattern.

An indefinite article like yon (a) precedes the noun but definite articles like la (the), possessive pronouns like li (his/her), and ou (your): follow the noun.

yon bagay: a thing

bagay la: the thing

bagay ou: your thing

*MORE: In English, the sound of the long a in day and of the long o in go are stretched out and the lips are gradually closed as the letters are pronounced. Only the first part of the sound is made for e (pronounced like a) and for o in Creole, with the lips remaining open.

Vocabulary 1

he/him/his, she/her, it: li

you (singular): ou

we, us, you (plural): nou

they, them, their: yo

to be able, can: kapab, ka

to come: vini

to go: ale

to want: vle

to do: fè

to speak: pale

the: la

there: la

here: isit la

person: moun

thing: bagay

coffee: kafe

yes: wi

please: tanpri, souple

thank you: mèsi

Creole: kreyòl

Right there and right here meaning a specific place, usually in sight, are both expressed as la a.

The following sentences can be translated by simply substituting Creole words for English on a one to one basis. Note that in the last sentence the article la (the) follows the noun bagay (thing) as explained on the previous screen.

Exercise 1

You can go there.

We want to speak Creole.

Please come here.

We want coffee.

He can go there.

She wants the thing.

Key (Exercise 1)

Ou kapab ale la.

Nou vle pale Kreyòl.

Tanpri vini isit.

Nou vle kafe.

Li kapab ale la.

Li vle bagay la.

EASY: This first 30 minute lesson demonstrates how easy it is to put words together into Creole sentences. The following lessons will add a few more rules and expand your vocabulary. You are already speaking Creole and will be pleased to see how quickly you advance.

Dezyèm Leson

Pronunciation - Nasal Sounds

Say an, en, on nasalized, without moving the mouth or tongue

In Creole an, en, and on are usually spoken as single nasalized sounds not commonly used in English. Do not confuse this with the accented èn, and òn in which the letters are pronounced individually and not nasalized.

AN: The Creole sound an is nasalized and pronounced like the un in bunny. To learn to make the sound an try to say bunny, while holding your nose. Without moving the mouth or tongue repeat the un omitting the second n sound.

Pronounce: Jan (John), dousman (slowly), nan (in).

EN: Is pronounced like en in bench.

Pronounce: en, mwen (me, I), byen (well), men (hand).

ON: To make the on sound, say don’t nasalized without moving the mouth or tongue.

Pronounce on: reyinyon (meeting), bon (good).

Vocabulary 2

I, me, my: mwen, m’

a: yon

that, this: sa, sa a

in, into: nan

how: kijan

what: kisa

day: jou

well: byen

good: bon

meeting: reyinyon

to take: pran

to give: bay (ba, ban)

to call: rele

to say, tell: di

to work: travay, mache

phone: telefòn

house: kay

car: machin

morning: maten

slowly, gently: dousman

number: nimewo

zero: zewo

one: youn

two: de

three: twa

four: kat

five: senk

six: sis

seven: sèt

eight: uit, wit

nine: nèf

ten: dis

MORE: Mwen (I, me) is often contracted as m’ or m.

Travay is labor work. Mache is machine or system work.

This and that are generally expressed as sa.

This one and that one are expressed as sa a.

MORE: Good morning: bonjou: (literally good day)

Good afternoon: bonswa (literally good evening)

Good night: bonnwit

MORE: One wishes bonjou until noon, bonswa from noon until evening, and bonnwit when parting at night. This practice is very important to good manners in Haitian culture.

MORE: Hello (alo) is sometimes used on the phone but in person one says bonjou or bonswa rather than hello or hi.

MORE: In simple questions, the verb usually goes at the end.

What is your name? is said How you called?: Kijan ou rele?

Translate the following by substituting Creole words for the English words on a one to one basis using the easy rules described above.

Exercise 2

How do they say ____?

Good morning.

Yes please.

You can take my car.

It works well.

Please speak slowly.

Please give me four.

He wants you to call him.

What is that called? (How that called?)

Good evening, what is your name?

Key (Exercise 2)

Kijan yo di ____?

Bonjou.

Wi tanpri.

Ou kapab pran machin mwen.

Li mache byen.

Tanpri pale dousman.

Tanpri ban m’ kat.

Li vle ou rele li.

Kijan sa rele?

Bonswa, kijan ou rele?

Twazyèm Leson

Negative and Contractions

Pa = not and don’t.

Pa meaning not (don’t, doesn’t): goes before the action or condition to indicate the negative

Not good: Pa bon

Don’t speak. Pa pale.

He cannot come. Li pa kapab vini. Li pa ka vini.

CONTRACTIONS are not required and you will be understood without using them but knowing the more common ones will make it much easier for you to understand others.

The pronouns mwen, li, ou, nou, and yo are contracted to m’, l’, w’, n’, and: y’ (sometimes written m, l, w, n, and y).

At the beginning of a sentence

I am coming. Mwen ap vini, M’ap vini

Following a vowel

He calls me: Li rele mwen, Li rele m’

Following the nasal sounds an, en, and on.

ban m’: give me

ba l’: give him

Note: bay (to give) becomes ban before mwen and