As a student at St. Louis De Gonzague school in Haiti, Roger Savain never learned how to write or read Creole. Instead, the Roman Catholic priests forced Napoleon`s French on the youngsters.
That practice was reinforced by government bureaucrats who made French the official language of the country -- despite a reluctance by the majority of the population who felt more comfortable speaking Creole.
Now Savain, a language teacher who lives in Plantation, is on a one-man mission to teach proper Creole to the world.
His mission is a result of having listened to Haitians and others butcher the language for so long.
Last month, Savain, 68, published a book.
Called Haitian Kreol in 10 steps, the book is designed to help English speakers and Haitian-Americans develop a basic understanding of the language.
``If there are more Americans interested in Creole, Haitians would make a special effort to study it and learn it like they should,`` Savain said. ``We will have a better chance to get respect for Creole.``
At first, Creole may sound strange to untrained ears, but the unfamiliar sounds begin to ease as a person becomes better acquainted with the language`s basic principles.
``Bonjou toutmoun alawonnbade,`` is the Creole translation for ``Good day everybody.`` In French it means, ``Bonjour tout le monde.``
To know Creole, you have to know the Haitian culture. The language is African in structure; the lexicon is French. Creole is spoken by more than 10 million people.
Over the centuries, Creole has been referred to as a patois, or a derivitive of another ``established`` language, but it`s not, Savain said.