Jamaican Patois: travel

Around four million people visit Jamaica in a year and almost all of them get through the trip on English, because English is the official language and everyone working in tourism speaks it. Learning some Patois before you go is therefore not about being understood. It is about the difference between being spoken to as a visitor and being spoken with.

A few phrases, used at the right moment and pronounced credibly, change the temperature of an interaction more than any other small thing a traveller can do. Used badly — too often, too loudly, or at somebody who did not invite it — they do the opposite, and that is worth knowing before you land rather than after.

These guides cover what is genuinely useful on the ground, what is better left unsaid, and how to follow Patois spoken at full speed without panicking.