Creole a vibrant language

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From the Miami Herald, Posted on Fri, Apr. 28, 2006

Creole a vibrant language

Re the April 26 letter 'No' to Creole immersion: The writer argues that
aiding the assimilation of Haitians ``in a language spoken only by other
Haitians -- and not even the historically official Haitian language of
French -- is lunacy.'' He is propagating a common misconception about
Haitian Creole, which is also an official language of Haiti and spoken by
seven million people.  French is spoken as a second language by less than
6 percent of the population, and these people speak Creole as well.

Haitian Creole is a strong and vibrant language. It is no more a degraded
version of French than French is a degraded version of Latin.

LYNN BERK, professor emeritus of linguistics, Florida International
University, Miami