Brown University
CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
CROL 0100 Basic Haitian Creole S01
A learning guide
(4 credits)
Course redesigned & modified by:
Professor Patrick Sylvain, Lecturer
Center for Language Studies
Original designed by:
Professor Marc Prou, Visiting Scholar
Course reviewed and edited by
Beth Bauer, Hispanic Studies & Director CLS
Reda Bensmaia, Chair, French Studies Department
James N Green, Director, Center for Latin American Studies
Brown University
The Center for Language Studies
Center for Latin American Studies
The French Studies Department
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Brown University
CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
Brown University
The Center for Language Studies
Basic Haitian_ CROL-0100 S01
Fall 2015
Schedule #: 14861 –S01
Locations: Mondays & Wednesdays, Sayles Hall 305
Class schedule: 3:00 – 5:20
Instructor: P. Sylvain
Email: [email protected]
Office: 169 Angell St. Room 226
Office hours: M-W 1:00-2:45 and by appointment
Box: 196 Angell St., 2nd Floor CLS
Course Description
An intensive elementary course designed to help students attain basic skills of speaking,
listening comprehension, reading and writing in Haitian Creole, known as “Kreyòl”.
Communicative competence skills are stressed with particular emphasis placed on oralaural comprehension and conversational fluency. This first semester elementary course is
an introduction to Haitian language and culture, and it is aimed at students who have
studied little, or have no prior knowledge of Haitian Creole. It emphasizes grammatical
and phonological techniques to help develop proficiency and language competence in
Creole.
Course Objectives
This introductory course will be conducted entirely in Haitian. The goals and objectives
for this semester are:
• To build fundamental elementary skills in understanding, listening, speaking, reading,
and writing Haitian; including a solid knowledge about the pronunciation of Haitian
Creole that can be built upon with exposure to interactive communications and
subtleties to help.
• To gain basic knowledge and appreciation for Haitian history, culture, customs, and
social practices conveying an array of descriptive information a simple level.
• To develop basic interpersonal communicative skills to converse at the elementary
level within the vocabulary limits of this stage, and to comprehend simple
conversations involving daily topics. Emphasis will be placed on how to interact
within a clearly understood contextualized Haitian from a variety of domains.
• To be able to write short, informal, and understandable passages about familiar topics
without the use of a dictionary.
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Brown University
CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
•
•
To gain a better understanding of the variations, the nuances and the bridges that
connect the Haitian language to certain West African and European languages that
have contributed to its formation.
To develop a deeper appreciation for the “Creole-speaking” communities and its
varied cultural expressions.
Prerequisite
Haitian “Creole”- CROL 0100 is an intensive beginning level course designed for
students who have no prior or very limited knowledge of the Haitian language.
Required Textbooks:
1) Sylvain, Patrick (2014). Intersections: Fundamental Guide to Haitian
Grammar and Contexts (Pilot).
2) Laferrière, Dany (2007). Mwen Damou Pou Ou. Educa Vision Press.
ISBN 1-58432-402-3.
3) Fequière, V & Berret, J.E (2005). English / Haitian-Creole Dictionary,
Educa Vision Press. ISBN 1-58432-2294-2.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
A. Content
1. The pilot text, Intersections: Fundamental Guide to Haitian Language &
Contexts (2014) by Patrick Sylvain will be the main text for the course. We will
cover the first 12 chapters (chap.1-12) of that book during the fall semester. (The
following 13 chapters will be covered at the Advanced Beginning level of Haitian
Creole CROL 200, during the spring). In addition, we will use some lessons from
Haitian Creole for Health Care (2007, Educa Vision Inc.) by Marc Prou & Mel
Schorin.
B. Attendance and Participation
You are expected to attend all class sessions and to participate actively.
Participation in class discussions, exercises, mini-dialogues, debates, class
presentations and team project are all required. Your ability to speak, read, write,
and understand Haitian Creole can be only developed and improved through
completing the daily assigned homework, and in-class intensive practice. During
class session, you will be placed in various contextually imbedded situations,
where you will use Kreyòl imaginatively and spontaneously to express yourself.
As you know, language learning is gradual and developmental process, therefore,
it is vital that you maintain the pace by attending all classes and complete all
written and oral assignments, and exams.
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CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
Brown University
Absences
Given the cumulative nature of language learning, more than four unexcused
absences will significantly affect your final grade. The intensive nature of this
course requires that you don’t miss classes and exams, which could easily affect
your performance, and make you, fall behind. Should you miss class, you are
responsible to find out what was done in class, what handouts were given, what
the next assignment is, etc. the grade for your participation will be calculated on
your active participation, regular attendance and preparation for oral and written
activities in class.
C. Homework
You are expected to complete all assignments, so that you can participate actively in all
course activities, group work, etc. Coming to class fully prepared will help you have a
productive and successful experience.
For every chapter, you will receive a detailed guide outlining the work to be completed
for the following class. Therefore, your assignments will be announced ahead of time.
They will include:
• Studying the vocabulary and grammar in all of the handouts.
• Completing the assigned written exercises. You are encouraged to search the web
for additional audio/video that would help in your acquisition of the Haitian
language.
• Writing and correcting short compositions in Haitian (Kreyòl).
You are expected to submit written assignments on a timely fashion. Late work will be
penalized unless there was prior permission from the instructor.
Note: please be aware that you will need to dedicate one or two hours of homework per
class.
D. Exams
Four required exams will be scheduled throughout the semester. If you miss any exam
and want to make it up, you need to make arrangements with the professor ahead of
time. If you miss any exam because of an illness or an accident, you or someone on your
behalf needs to call the office the day the exam is administered in order to be allowed
to make it up later. Make-ups will not be allowed if this procedure is not strictly
respected. The exams will not be cumulative per se and, as such, will assess especially
the materials studied since the previous exam. Your exam score can be improved if you
set time for preparation, which include a review of the materials covered in previous
classes prior to the exam in order to refresh your active memory. There is no final exam.
E. Oral presentations
Two oral presentations must be given in class on a subject related to Haitian language
and culture. One of the presentations can be in a small group, (of two or three), acting a
real life situations or performing a theatrical skit, singing, reciting poetry, etc. One of the
two oral presentations will be a final class presentation (small groups or individuals).
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Brown University
CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
Grading
Evaluation Criteria:
Grades will be based on attendance, class work and participation, two oral presentations,
homework, including the lab work, written compositions, and six exams. Satisfactory
completion of all aural-oral, and written assignments (quiz, mid-term & presentations).
Grading Procedure
Three Exams (3 x 10)
Percent %
30%
Homework (14 lessons)
30%
Two written compositions (2 x 5)
10%
Two oral presentations (2 x 5)
10%
Participation & Attendance
20%
ACTIVITIES
Grading determination
Your final grade in this course will be based on your performance of the above criteria
and will be calculated as follow:
There is a 2-point assignment for completing homework in each set of the fifteen lessons;
and there are six exams, two written compositions, two oral presentations, and class
attendance / participation.
- Homework
= 30 points
- Three Exams (10-point per exam)
3 x 10 = 30 points
- Two short compositions @ 5-pt
2 x 5 = 10 points
- Two oral presentations @ 5-pt
2 x 5 = 10 points
- Attendance & active participation
20 points
100 points
Grading scale:
A
AB+
B
95-100
90-94
86-89
83-85
BC+
C
C-
80-82
79-77
74-76
71-73
Below 70%
NC
Additional Preparation and Resources
•
It is your responsibility to prepare the sections as indicated in this syllabus, before
class, particularly the ““Dyalòg” section, which is (both a rendition in natural
conversation style and a version providing constituent elements of the dialogue)
and appended questions.”
•
Do maintain your own vocabulary, dialogue and cultural notes, for they are
pertinent to the learning of Basic Haitian Creole (they will be optional but they
do provide good reinforcement).
A Haitian-Kreyòl language tutor will be available during the semester to provide
you with help in pronunciation and writing (more information will be available on
this subject soon).
•
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Brown University
CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
•
Please check Brown’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies webpage
for Haiti web links and regular updates on Haiti, Haitian Creole resources, as well
as useful information about available grants and internship opportunities in Haiti
or the Haitian Diaspora, for both undergraduate and graduate students.
The Language Resource Center (LRC) (Not Currently Available)
In order to complete the listening comprehension activities and for improving
pronunciation, you will need to go to the LRC, i.e. Language Resource Center,
and borrow the corresponding cassettes, CDs and CD-ROMs. Please contact the
LRC directly for their operating hours.
Other audio CDs containing a reading of each “lecture” and other additional
digitized materials will also be available for you at the Language Resource
Center. You are required to listen to these audio materials daily in order to
become comfortable with speaking Kreyòl.
Note:
Supplemental materials such as texts, music and film clips will be provided in order to
scaffold the acquisition process.
Class Activities
Reading Assignments
____________________________________________________________________
Week
Lesson
Vocabulary/topics
Grammatical structures
1.
Introduction to the course
What is Kreyòl?
Preface and overview
Kreyòl orthography
(Haitian)
Intersections - Leson 1
entwodiksyon
Greetings
Read article in (Appendix A) p.11-12.
_the consonant sounds
_the vowel sounds
_Pronunciation exercises
_personal pronouns:
short/long forms of pronouns
Students will able to fully introduce themselves
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
Sylvain’s packet
Intersections - Leson 2
Greetings & Bio
_More greetings
(numbers, days, months)
_Back to sound and pronunciation
Listening/Reading: An nou Rankontre
_reading and writing exercises
_Sentence Structure
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6
Brown University
CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
Class Activities
Reading Assignments
____________________________________________________________________
Week
Lesson
Vocabulary/topics
Grammatical structures
3.
Intersections - Leson 3
The Classroom
_Articles/plural of nouns
Listening/reading: Pèsonalite ak Sal-de-klas
sentence: subject/verb/object
_Gender: masculine / feminine
_Number: singular & plural
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.
Intersections - Leson 4
Listening/reading: Distribisyon popilasyon
Review (vocabulary list)
people and places
progressive marker: ap, pral
determiners: indefinite / definite
demonstrative/possessive markers
Prou & Schorin, Kreyòl pou swen sante – Leson 1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.
Intersections - Leson 5
What's Happening?
Listening / reading: Kanaval
Review (vocabulary list). List)
Qualifying adjectives
Possessive/counting
adverbs, conjunctions
& prepositions
Prou & Schorin, Kreyòl pou swen sante – Leson 2
Exam 1 (based on the first three lessons)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6.
Intersections - leson 6
The Family
demonstrative determiners
The Face/body parts
Listening / reading: Lekòl
degree of adjectives: comparative
form, superlative form
Prou & Schorin, Kreyòl pou swen sante – Leson 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7.
Intersections - leson 7
Listening / reading: Mache
Family Members
_the negation (negative form)
_back to degree of adjectives
_comparative: equality, lesser/
greater degree
Prou & Schorin, Kreyòl pou swen sante – Leson 4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Brown University
CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
_____________________________________________________________________
Week
Lesson
Vocabulary/topics
Grammatical structures
8.
Intersections - leson 8
Chores
professions/jobs
Review vocabulary list,
timeless verb form
pronouns: demonstrative,
possessive, relative, indefinite,
reciprocal, and impersonal
Prou & Schorin, Kreyòl pou swen sante – Leson 5
Laferrière, Dany. Mwen Damou Pou ou Vava
Istwa (premye pati)
Exam 2 (based on lessons (Valdman) 4-7, Prou lessons 3-4)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9.
Intersections - leson 9
Telling Time
Listening / reading: Li Lè Pou Dòmi!
interrogative pronoun,
Question formation (who, how,
where, when, why, how many)
Laferrière, Dany. Mwen Damou Pou ou Vava
Istwa (dezyèm pati)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10.
Intersections - leson 10
Doing Laundry
special prepositions/questions
Back to interrogative pronouns
Exam 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11.
Intersections - leson 11
Color/Shape/Structure
Description, adjectives
Listening / reading: Sa moun ann Ayiti sanble
reflexive construction
Verb tenses: future/conditional
Laferrière, Dany. Mwen Damou Pou ou Vava
Istwa (twazyèm pati)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12.
Ann Pale Kreyòl - Leson 12
Stores and Directions
Listening / reading: Fanmi
direct object pronouns/
Imperative verbal markers
Mood and tenses
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Brown University
CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
___________________________________________________________
Week
Lesson
13.
Sylvain
Vocabulary/topics
Grammatical Structures
Stories, Folklore
Listening / reading: Chen Anrje ak Chen Dosil
Link verb se & ye (to be).
Negative Clauses with ki
Reflective & anterior marker te
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14.
Sylvain
_Daily routines and grooming
_Health issues/ body parts
Interrogative ki + noun
Pronoun li after nasal
Summary of materials to be reviewed
Preparation of final group / individual presentations
Class evaluation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15
(Dec. 9, 2015)
Final oral presentations
Orevwa! Farewell!
_________________________________________________________________
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
A wealth of information on Haiti (culture, history, language, customs, religion,
institutions) is available on the internet. I list a few to help you enter the Haitian world.
General
Haiti- LANIC (Latin American Information Network) at the University of Texas.
http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/haiti/
The Haitian Embassy http://www.haiti.org/Weblinks/main_weblinks.htm
2311 Massachusetts Ave NW. Washington, DC 20008
Une guide de référence sur Haïti: http://www.haiti-reference.org
Language/ Dictionaries /Grammar/Culture
Creole dictionary online http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/haitian_creole.html
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Haitian+Creole-english/
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Brown University
CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
Creole web Links http://www.haiti.org/Weblinks/kreyol.htm
Rezo Entènèt Kreyòlis Ayisyen (REKA): related Kreyòl.http://www.kreyol.org/
Kreyòl—Lang Peyi d’Ayiti: “Forum for learners of Kreyòl”
http://www.geocities.com/frenchcreoles/kreyol/
The Creole Clearinghouse HomePage: http://hometown.aol.com/CreoleCH/Index6.html;
Creole Links Page: http://hometown.aol.com/mit2haiti/Index4.html;
Haitian Creole Orthography
http://hometown.aol.com/mit2haiti/Orthography.htm
News
Haitian Times (Haitian newspaper online, English, French, and Creole)
http://www.haitiantimes.com/
Haïti en Marche: Weekly newspaper (in French and Kreyòl);
http://www.haitienmarche.com/
Haiti-Progrès (Haitian newspaper in French, with Creole section)
http://www.haitiprogres.com/
Tanbou / Tambour: Trilingual Journal of political literary analysis
http://www.tanbou.com/
Search Engines
Yahoo News—Haiti: http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=Haiti&n=10
Miami Herald-Haiti http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/haiti/
Haiti Online: Haiti news and more: http://haitionline.com/
Appendix A
Haitian Creole Language
Marc E. Prou (2005), University of Massachusetts, Boston
974 Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History s e c o n d
edition
See also Creole Languages of the Americas
“Sèl lang ki simante tout Ayisyen ansanm, se
lang kreyòl.… Kreyòl ak fransè se lang
ofisyèl Repiblik Dayiti.”
“Only one language unites all Haitians—it is
the Kreyòl language.… Kreyòl and French
are the official languages of Haiti.”
Konstitisyon repiblik dayiti (Haitian Constitution, 1987, ch.i, art. 5).
❚
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CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
Brown University
Haitian Creole, also known as Kreyòl, is a member of the French-based creole language groups with a
considerable part of its lexicon coming directly from seventeenth century French. Its grammar differs from
French, however, and reflects closely the West African languages, such as Ewe, Fon, Yoruba, and Ibo.
Kreyòl is similar to the creoles spoken in the French overseas departments of Martinique and Guadeloupe,
as well as in Dominica, Saint Lucia, and parts of Trinidad. Kreyòl also has much in common with the
Creole spoken in Louisiana and with the popular languages of Mauritius and the Seychelles islands in the
Indian Ocean. Kreyòl is the native language of about 7.5 million Haitians and is spoken and understood by
over one million people outside of Haiti.
Various theories have been advanced to explain the origin of French-based creole language groups. Early
theorists claimed that they developed as the result of attempts by African slaves to imitate the language of
their French masters. These early theorists also held that the white overseers and the crews of slave ships
deliberately used simplified forms of European languages when speaking to a people they believed to be
mentally inferior and incapable of learning the “civilized” variety. A second theory suggested that Frenchbased creoles developed in three stages: The African slave attempted to copy the language of the master or
foreman; the colonizer simplified his or her language in imitation of the slave; and finally the slave imitated
the French speaker’s own modification of French. A third theory rejects the idea that French-based creoles
developed on the plantations, ascribing their origin to Afro-Portuguese pidgin, the lingua franca spoken by
seamen and traders of the seventeenth century. The French sailors later replaced Portuguese words with
French words, which were then acquired by the slaves, who further developed the language. Debate
continues over the contention that all Creole languages developed from an identical pidgin stage called the
Afro-Portuguese pidgin, which originated along the western and southern coasts of Africa and became
extremely useful from the early fifteenth century to traders from a multitude of nations in the
Mediterranean basin.
Most modern linguists agree that Haitian Creole developed as a result of attempts by African slaves to
communicate with their masters and with each other. Haitian Creole, or Kreyòl, is a language created in the
French colony of Saint Domingue as a result of the unequal relations between the mass of slaves drawn
from over forty different African ethnic groups and their French masters. Some of the early literary works
in Haitian Creole include the well known poem “Lisette quitté la plaine” (Lisette leaves the plain), by
Duvivier de La Mahotière, and the Félicite Sonthonax Declaration of 1794, the communiqué of the French
envoy sent to reestablish peace in revolutionary Saint Domingue and ordering “liberté” for the slaves. On
January 1, 1804, Haiti became the only independent nation founded by African ex-slaves; it had a turbulent
political history and experienced a long period of isolation from Western colonial powers. Thus the need to
forge a national language was tantamount.
The Haitian Constitution of 1987 (Chapter I, Article 5) gave Kreyòl an official status, along with French,
which had been the sole official language for more than 180 years, since Haiti’s independence, although
only about fifteen percent of the population can read and write French fluently. The true national language
of all Haitians is Kreyòl, which is written and read by well over sixty percent of the population, including
the minority of bilingual Kreyòl and French speakers. Haitian Creole today exhibits three main dialectical
variations: northern, southern, and central. In spite of the presence of these regional variations, however,
Haitian Creole presents a high degree of standardization and normalization given that dialectical boundaries
are not rigid and Haitians tend to be bidialectal. There is, however, a significant distinction between the
Kreyòl rèk of the countryside and the somewhat more French sounding Kreyòl swa of Port-au-Prince. This
variation has had an impact on arguments regarding how Haitian Creole should be spelled.
Prior to 1980, two positions dominated the debate over orthography and the use of Kreyòl for adult literacy
or as a means of instruction in primary schools. One position advocated a phonetic spelling system, which
uses the International Phonetic Alphabet and diacritic signs. The other advocated a spelling system as near
to French as possible. The proponents of the latter position view Kreyòl as a stepping stone to French (a
“passage au Français”). Following the educational reform of the 1980s, a new spelling system was adopted
and used widely. This spelling system corresponds to the speech patterns of Port-au-Prince and its
surroundings. It is generally agreed that French and Kreyòl are mutually unintelligible. Haitian Creole is a
distinct language with a unique morpho-phonological structure; it is not a French dialect.
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CROL 0100 – S01 Basic Haitian “Creole”
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Brown University
Bibliography
DeGraff, Michel, ed. Language Creation and Language Change: Creolization Diachrony, and
Development. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1999.
Dejean, Yves. Comment écrire le Créole d’Haiti. Montreal, Canada: Collectifs Paroles, 1980.
Dejean, Yves. “Diglossia Revisited: French and Creole in Haiti.” Word 34 (1983): 189–213.
Hall, Robert. Pidgin and Creole Languages. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1966.
Holm, John. Pidgins and Creoles, vols. 1 & 2. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1988-1989.
Lefebvre, Claire. Creole Genesis and the Acquisition of Grammar: The Case of Haitian Creole.
Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Muhlhausler, Peter. Pidgin and Creole Linguistics. New York: B. Blackwell, 1986.
Valdman, Albert. Le créole: structure, statut et origine. Paris: Éditions Klinscksieck, 1978.
Valdman, Albert, et al. A Learner’s Dictionary of Haitian Creole. Bloomington, Ind.: Creole Institute,
1996.
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