There’s no better day than today to ask yourself – what is one thing I can do to honor that Revolutionary Haitian spirit? What is one way that I can connect more closely to the Haitian people? The answer is, you can learn Kreyòl Ayisyen, or as we like to call it here at HCLI – the Language of Revolutionaries! And congratulations, you’ve already taken the first step toward learning.

But – now that you’re learning Kreyòl what can you do to make sure that you are learning it as best as you can? Here are three tips you can apply as you dive head-first into this wonderful language learning journey:

1. IMMERSE YOURSELF!

The best way to learn ANY language is to immerse yourself. Honestly, if you are going to learn Kreyòl Ayisyen – honestly, you should pack your bags, move to Haiti and let your mind do what it does best – by adapting, absorbing the language, and learning how to communicate. But, if that’s not realistically an option for you right now, what can you do? You have to mimic immersion wherever you are. This means exposing yourself to as much Kreyòl as possible. In New York City, which is essentially just another Caribbean city with a population of over 100,000 people of Haitian heritage, this is totally possible. Turn on the radio to a Haitian station, visit a Haitian restaurant and listen to what’s happening around you, walk down the streets of a Haitian enclave and eavesdrop on some conversations in Kreyòl – the list goes on!

Don’t live in NYC? That’s okay! The internet can always come to the rescue. There are plenty of places online where you can interact with Haitian people in Kreyòl – blogs, social media, and online radio stations are all readily available for you!

2. SET SPECIFIC GOALS!

Learning a language is just like learning any other skill. You have to make sure you are clear about what you want to do with that skill. Setting specific language learning goals are an essential part of your journey. Ask yourself these questions:

• Why do I want to learn Kreyòl Ayisyen?
• Where do I see myself using Kreyòl Ayisyen?
• How do I best learn as a language student?

Answering these questions will help you identify exactly what you’ll need to be learning. Anyone can learn how to put together sentences in any language. Anyone can learn the grammatical rules of any language. But knowing WHY and WHERE you are going will help you successfully learn that language. Perhaps you’re getting married to a Haitian person and you want to learn how to communicate with their family. Your language learning goals might involve learning phrases that can be used in certain family situations. There are four aspects of language learning – reading, writing, speaking and listening comprehension. Perhaps you know that you’d like to focus on speaking and listening comprehension because that’s what’s most important to you.

Visualizing your goals and being clear about what they are will help you immensely on your Kreyòl learning journey!

3. BE CONSISTENT!

Nothing can be accomplished overnight. Even the most successful people that seem to have appeared out of nowhere may have taken more time than we’re aware of to achieve their goals. Successfully learning a language is no different! Not only must you be patient with yourself as you are learning Kreyòl, you have to be consistent. 2 hours a week of classroom learning will not help you reach your goal. Learning should take place on a regular and consistent basis.

• Are you doing the assigned homework?
• Are you sticking to your plan?
• Are you engaging in the language outside of the classroom?
• Are you taking advantage of resources that have been shared with you?

It’s important to remain consistent – this will be the only way that you see progress.

Consistency will be the key that unlocks the door of understanding on your language learning journey!

***

Sign up now for an HCLI course and get started on learning the Language of Revolutionaries. Isn’t it about time you learned how to say more than “Sa k pase”??