Jamaican Patois: learning patois
These are the guides about learning Patois rather than about Patois itself: how long it really takes, what makes it harder for an English speaker than the surface resemblance suggests, and why the material you find first is mostly poor.
Patois has an unusual difficulty curve. The vocabulary overlaps heavily with English, so the first fortnight feels fast; the grammar does not overlap at all, so the plateau arrives sooner than in most languages and feels like personal failure rather than like the ordinary shape of the thing. Listening lags speaking by a long way, because fluent speech is quicker and far more elided than anything a beginner has practised against.
These guides set out what the research on adult language learning supports, what it does not, and how to build a habit that survives the week you stop enjoying it.
2 guides
Learning Patois
Duolingo does not teach Jamaican Patois. Here is what does.
Duolingo has no Jamaican Patois option. Here is why the major apps skip it, what the free material is good for, and a study plan that actually works.
10 min read
Learning Patois
How to pass Jamaican Patois on to your children
Jamaican Patois for kids: how heritage languages get lost, what helps at each age, and what to say to a child who is embarrassed to speak it.
7 min read