鈥淢wen renmen diri鈥� (I love rice). That鈥檚 just one of many sentences students will grasp when they're studying Haitian Creole (or krey貌l) grammar, throat and nasal sounds through Duolingo鈥檚 new course for English speakers.
It's also a step-by-step journey through the national language of the world鈥檚 first Black republic鈥� Haiti.
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鈥淟anguage not only tells the present story of what we鈥檙e saying but by the words we choose and by the grammar that we have made, it tells a much larger story of who we are,鈥� says Nyya Flores Toussaint, a Haitian-American scholar of linguistics.
Toussaint is a contributor to the Haitian Creole course. He said through more than 114 lessons, English speakers will connect with Haitian language, culture, politics, spirituality, and its revolutionary history.
鈥淲e have a proverb that says 鈥榢rey貌l pale, krey貌l konprann'鈥� [which means] 'Creole spoken is Creole understood,'鈥� Toussaint said.
The app is partnering with Haitian-run restaurants across the country, such as Manjay Restaurant in Miami, to spread the word and give away a free month of the app鈥檚 premium subscription service when customers patronize and practice Haitian Creole at participating businesses.
And now local leaders want to learn how to show love or order Haitian food in krey貌l. Duolingo recently challenged Miami Mayor Francis Suarez to keep a 30-day streak of Haitian Creole lessons in exchange for a $30,000 donation to Haitians in Tech, a Miami-based organization that supports Haitians in technology careers.
Toussaint helped create the language course alongside his mentor Nick 鈥淭iko鈥� Andr茅, professor of Haitian Creole and French instructor at Florida International University.
Andr茅 says the language program goes beyond a cross-cultural exchange and language education. The newfound attention toward Haitian Creole is also an opportunity to expand business relationships 鈥� the language is spoken by more than 12 million people and it鈥檚 one of the top three languages in the tri-county area, behind English and Spanish.
According to the U.S. Census, Florida has the in the United States. Andr茅 is also a contributor for the app. He said even Haitian Creole speakers in the diaspora can benefit from the app as well.
鈥淲ell, interestingly, a lot of people, a lot of Haitians who know Krey貌l can learn English by using this app. They can learn English,鈥� said Andre. 鈥淚 can ask my students to use the app to complete assignments from the classroom.鈥�
Cindy Blanco is Senior Learning Scientist at Duolingo. She connects research and language pedagogy to the curriculum, 鈥渉ow best to teach and how learners learn languages.鈥�
Blanco said Duolingo is using gamification throughout the course, from earning points to keeping up with lessons that gradually increase in difficulty. 鈥淟anguage learning should be fun,鈥� said Blanco.鈥淚t should be enjoyable. It doesn鈥檛 have to be the case that language learning is kinda of sitting alone in the corner memorizing verb tables.鈥�
鈥淲e want learners to be excited about coming back to their lessons.鈥�
The Duolingo team is working on more Black tongues, such as Zulu and Xhosa, two languages in South Africa.
As for Haitian Creole, the Duolingo course follows the linguistics standards set by the Haitian Creole Academy, or Akademi Krey貌l Ayisyen in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Andr茅 is a founding member of the academy.
鈥淭he primary role of the Haitian Creole Academy is to make sure that Haitian Krey貌l is used everywhere,鈥� Andr茅 said.
