It seems I'm doomed. Shaking all these Soca lyrics from my brain is going to be a tough task to tackle even when I return home. I've been known to get a song or two stuck in my head for days and nights. The worst one ran for a 15 day period where I would either hum or burst out the tune of "Son of A Preacher Man." It was horrible. Luckily this one isn't too bad and while I have the song's words running throughout my mind I figured I'd make some use of this moment by incorporating it into the word of the day.

Today's word is Kreyòl (Haitian creole) word used in Haiti:

il, zile - island

The song in my head is Nadia Batson's One Island where the chorus has the catchy line; "From one island, to another island" and repeat about five times. So today while I'm here in Trinidad I figured I'd give a little love to another island in addition to making island the word for the day.

This Kreyol website features comprehensive cultural and travel info on Haiti. Their overall goal is to spread positive messages about the country and create positive images. Their online Kreyòl dictionary is one of the best! iCreole is a good place translation tool if you wish to know a word within seconds. For a fun look at some popular proverbs check out this Discover Haiti site. Make note that the Creole used in the proverbs is not that of the Creole spoken in Port-au-Prince. Lastly, leave it to good old Pimsleur to have audio books dedicated to learning Creole. Expensive, but you can also look for them in your local library.

Past Kreyòl words: evite

Filed under: Learning, Haiti, Foreign Language