Does Jamaica speak spanish or african or just english?

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stelise

The official language of Jamaica is English.

Most Jamaicans, however, are versed in the dialect patois (pronounced 'pat-wa'), which is a mix of traditional English, African, French and Spanish terms.

Patois can be hard to understand, so I can see why you asked if we speak Spanish or African. You can browse a patois glossary at this site: http://www.jamaicans.com/dictionary/template.php?t=display

Languages such as Spanish and French are taught widely in Jamaican high schools and prep schools (elementary schools). Also, because Jamaica is so culturally diverse, you will find persons speaking other languages based on their country of origin or family background.

hope this answers your question~*

naynay

what do you mean by "african" there are so many different dialects in Africa?!

Jamaicans speak English and Patois

Princess_Diva

Standard English. British English. However most of the locals to speak patois (patwa), which in itself is a French word. Patois is a mixture of different languages. Please don't be confused however, patois is not a language. It is a dialect. There is no correct spelling for any of the words. It is difficult for anyone else to understand if you are not Jamaican. And like I mention it is not a language. There is no speaking Jamaican. The people are Jamaican. Anyway, the language spoken there, though a different accent is English. When you listen to singers (not dancehall) but typical singers from Jamaica, what you hear is standard English...right?

maivas229

They speak standard English.There is however a dialect called "patois" which is also spoken.

lisa g

Jamaicas language is English. They may have a different accent but it is still english.

Crown Jewel

Jamaica's official language is English, and as Stelise pointed out, our local dialect is patois. However, patois is a combination of African and English languages. I believe Spanish is also recognised as an official language, but I'm not certain. Those are the two main languages of the Caribbean, as a result Spanish is taught widely in high schools. French is also becoming very popular.

Bandrea

Jamaica itself does not speak any language, it's an Island but the "Jamaicans" speak English with a dialect.
If you ever heard "Bob Marley" sing you'd hear it's in English.. Jamaicans do not speak Spanish or African??. Was that a joke??
Anyways, you obviously have internet so I'll suggest you visit the Jamaican websites and find out everything you need to know.

Capri

Ok I dont know what kind of crap I just read above! I'm seeing something about Porteguese.
Here are the straight facts. The OFFICIAL languge is ENGLISH. Thats the first language we learn one we start speaking as toddlers. Then most of the time we speak a broken english or creole called patois. that is used in formal situation like talking to friends. English is used in official situations.
Spanish is not an official language but many of us are biligual because in most schools spanish is taught as a compulsory subject.

PS. We do not speak Porteguese and yes we do have an Official language not because there's and accent

flowersinbloom25

They speak a variant of English in Jamaica called Patois or "patwa" It is broken English. But of course just like in America, they also speak many other languages such as Spanish and Portugese. They also have a large CHinese population

shelob

Their variant of English is such that it may not be understandable to other English speakers. They know this and can talk 'proper English' when they need to (like at school when some of the slang words would be considered unacceptable). Like in most places the higher the socio economic group the weaker the 'accent' (or use of patois).

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