Why is it so hard to understand most Jamaicans when they talk?

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Matt

As usual, some of you foreigners like to make generalisations about Jamaicans. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we all don't talk the same way. I speak proper English because of the simple fact that I was socialised to do so and was brought up in a family which is adamant about its usage. However, some persons speak what is known as patois, which is difficult if not impossible for non-Jamaicans to understand. It is also of interest to note, that members of the middle and upper-class in Jamaica, for the most part, speak proper English. Whereas, those of the lower classes predominantly speak Patois. It just depends on the Jamaican you find yourself speaking to at the time. I hope my answer is helpful.

dkeebo

They do not speak creole and have never been french. They were once ruled by britain and always have spoken english.
They speak PATOIS....a fast/shortened version of english with their own dialect.....they have alot of their own words and sayings.....see Jamaica.com....and see how to speak jamaican...you may learn alot...the more you are around jamaicans the more you catch and can learn.....I worked on ships for years and knew exactly what they were saying....

Mommymonster

I have no idea, but I love all kinds of accents...Jamaican just happens to be one of my favorites.

Janice E

Officially, the dialect in Jamaica is not creole it is called 'Patois'. Jamaica was inhabited by Arawak indians prior to being 'discovered' and they had their own language. During slavery, slaves came from the Ivory coast as well as other parts of Africa, bringing with them their particular language as well as some African dialect. During the course of the country's history, the island has welcomed other races - people from Malta -during the world wars as well as indentured servants from India and China. During the 'slave trade' era , the Spanish also had a foot hold on the island. This makes for a unique melting pot of culture as well as language. Why English? The British where the majority land owners running the slave trade in Jamaica and so when slavery was abolished Jamaica remained under the rule of the British, making English the official language. Today, though independent since 1962 Jamaica remains a member of the British Commonwealth. Understanding when Jamaicans talk depends a little bit on where on the island they orginated. Each parish on the island has a little bit their own accent, thus when you couple that with patois it can make understanding them a little difficult. Plus it does not help that Jamaicans tend to speak quickly. Years ago we had a group of Germans who settled int he parish of St. Elizabeth - the result a German/patois blend that is sometimes incomprehensible to Jamaicans who do not originate from that part of St. Elizabeth ---so I can definaely relate to the understanding issues., Jamaica also has a colony of Africans called maroons, who successfully defeated the British in a civil war, and have settled for years in 'Maroon town' in Jamaica, they also have their own language and can be a little hard to understand.

The moral of this story is that Jamaicans are a multicultured ethnic mix, which has resulted in a diverse people with an equally diverse language.

boredshiteless

Creole, I thought it was Patwah? (not sure about the spelling sorry), try gettin a bit a riddim and you may understand it, or lick yourself upside the ed to disloge your ear wax brederin

lovephoto

it' cool the way the talk

critter

It's not creole, it's called patios, it's not that hard to understand. You just have to pay close attention. They talk very fast and cut a lot of words in half, my boyfriend of 7 years is jamaican and so are many of my friends, it didn't take me very long to catch on, I completely uderstand them, even when they don't want me to!!!

excoticgreeneyes

All languages are difficult to understand at first and Jamaicans are no different.All tongues at sometimes speaks broken language or have a second language.We need to listen carefully to learn or adapt..

Jababygirl

Patois it's also call broken English. It's hard to understand because it's spoken a little fast.

Ivory Q

Because patois was originally the language of slaves who were brought from different parts of Africa and were talking completely different languages, so they developped their own version of english not understandable for white folks. Plus it's originally based on old version of english, not modern one. Inside Jamaica there's also different versions of patois, rasta patois is probably the hardest to catch up because they use alot of original words based on their religion. Like "understand" in rasta version is "overstand", "oppressor" is "downpressor" and so on. Some scientists think that patois is not a dialect of english but a separate language, it may not seem so but it has rules and grammer of it's own.

UNITool

It's just a matter of getting used to it. I used to find it almost impossible to understand people w/ mexican or bosnian accents; but because I have to talk to people w/ those accents every day on the phone it's no longer a problem.

sonyaa*

because your not jamacian!

J T

I'm a southerner and I don't have any trouble understanding them. Are you from up north, maybe?

lildancer821

dats not true. they speak jamacia not creole. and the reason why u probaly cant understand them is b/c they have a accent like other ppl do around the world

lilanizzle

um theyre not really that hard to understand...

i have a jamaican pen pal, and really you just have to ask, everyones ignorant until they find out first hand. and plus, [this applies to all foregin speaking languages] they think accents are cute, just like how we do... i speak frenvch, and every time i talk to my teacher, she always coos and says how much theyd love me in france because i speak clearly enough where you know what im saying, but enough of an accent to aww about.

same idea with jamaica.

byderule

the oficial language came from the ruling people
the creole dialect came from the natives,who descended from the slaves
and the language is Pidgin English .5that is not the queens English .or American
there are many forms of English in this world(South African,Australian,
American,Canadian,New Zealand and all the kinds of English in Great Brittain itself

rer_3263

BEcause they associate other languages with english, making it hard to speak two accents.

Stimpson J. Cat

I don't know, but I have a good friend and her husband is Jamaican. He is so nice but I have the hardest time understanding him. And I know lots of Hispanic and Chinese people so it's not like I'm unaccustomed to accents.

Willie

Because pot is legal!!! lol!!! That is a lot of smoke.

Dan The Man

Because their mouths are full of pot brownies.

love_2b_curious

From the French!

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