French should not be official
Sabine says...
I am okay with learning a foreign language, to enhance our population's education.
Just like most of us who went to school in NYC had to do in High School and College.
But when we the people of Haiti allow a very small group in Haiti to use a language that the majority of the people of the country do not speak to keep them uneducated and in the dark about all-important issues in the country, that is not right.
The so call middle class in Haiti if we can call them that, can not speak French properly, when they speak to people who really speak French they get uncomfortable, they think too much before they speak.
Why are we holding on to something that has not brought us anything positive?
I remember, I as a child going to school in Haiti.
I was not speaking French at home and they send you to school and all of a sudden you're learning in a language you do not recognize.
I am thankful I came to the US where the language I was using to communicate, heard on TV was the language used in school.
And Please Haitian people stop telling people we speak French in Haiti because we don't. 95% of Haitians do not speak French.
Some of us may speak enough French to read some basic things or to communicate if the need arise, but we can't hold a full and relaxed conversation.
Think about it if the US started saying they speak Spanish as a whole because a section of the people living in the US speak Spanish.
I think we have many smart, wise black men in Haiti, who are not getting the opportunity to serve their country because they cannot speak French.
I have met some very dumb people who speak French, because they were born in France.
But Haitian people associate intelligence and being smart with being able to speak French.
A friend of mine said if we discontinue with French we would be isolated.
My answer is what about Japan, and Brazil.
Just because I advocate that we take away the status of French, as an official language does not mean I don't want the children of Haiti to learn different languages.
We need to educate our children to speak different languages to travel the world and interact with the world.
Keep in mind that in this day and age there are more important languages then French like Mandarin Chinese, English.
The people of Haiti proved during these past few weeks they do not need a language (English) to be official in the country for them to learn it and use it when the need arise.
Posted by Sabine on January 30 2010 at 9:58 AM