It is important for students in Haiti to master English, Spanish, French, Computer science, Mathematics … since very early … All students, since before completing secondary school, should have mastered these languages (quite well) at the same level some can write French. We say at least writing, because most of them don’t master French at the oral level.

Li enpòtan pou elèv an Ayiti ta metrize anglè, espayòl, fransè, enfòmatik, matematik … depi byen bonè … Tout elèv, depi avan yo fin bakaloreya (Bak I, II), ta dwe metrize lang sa yo (kòmsadwa) nan menm nivo (kèk) ka ekri an fransè. Nou di omwen ekri, paske majorite nan yo pa metrize fransè o nivo oral.

Mastering English in Haiti is very important to have access to many documents, and scientific research written in that language (that are not translated, or have not yet been translated to other languages).

Metriz lang anglè nan peyi Ayiti trè enpòtan pou ta gen aksè a anpil dokiman, e rechèch syantifik ki ekri nan lang sa a (ki pa tradui, ou poko tradui nan lòt lang).

Thus, they would find references quickly of many documents, and to be in touch with the greater Haitian diaspora (particularly the younger generation in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s…) to communicate with, and to get from them all important information needed (through existing Haitian clubs at colleges and universities).

Konsa, yo ta jwenn referans anpil dokiman trapde, e pou ta an kontak ak gran dyaspora ayisyen an (patikilyèman jèn jenerasyon an ki nan laj 20, 30, 40) pou kominike avè l, e pran nan men l (atravè klib ayisyen ki nan kolèj /inivèsite yo) tout enfòmasyon enpòtan yo ta bezwen.

As mentioned already in our research, schools in Haiti are quite late in the area of teaching foreign languages. For instances, French, one of the two official languages of the country (in the constitution of 1987), has never been taught as a foreign language. Why? Universities in Haiti not only don’t have a faculty of modern languages and literature, but also most teachers teaching foreign languages (English, Spanish) and classical languages (such as Greek and  Latin) in secondary school don’t really have a background in that, where they should have done key seminars at universities abroad).

Kòm nou mansyone deja, nan rechèch nou, lekòl Ayiti trè an reta nan domèn ansèyman lang etranje. Pa egzanp, fransè, youn nan de lang ofisyèl peyi a (nan konstitisyon 1987 la), poko janm anseye kòm lang etranje. Pou kisa? Inivèsite an Ayiti non sèlman pa gen yon fakilte lang vivan(lang ki gen natif natal k ap pale yo) ak literati, men tou majorite anseyan k ap anseye lang etranje (anglè, espayòl) ak lang klasik (kouwè grèk ak laten) nan segondè pa vrèman gen yon fòmasyon pou sa, kote yo ta dwe fòme nan yon seri seminè kle nan inivèsite aletranje).

At the same time also, we are not saying that these classical languages are not important. Yes, they are important as languages that influenced the base of many modern languages (particularly roman languages, and even English as a germanic language) to trace the origin of many (scientific and legal) terms. But it would be more practical to emphasize on the teaching of the modern languages mentioned since early on in school.

An menm tan tou, nou p ap di lang klasik sa yo pa enpòtan. Wi yo enpòtan etan lang ki enfliyanse baz anpil lang modèn(patikilyèman lang womàn yo, e menm anglè kòm lang jèmanik) pou trase orijin yon seri tèm (syantifik e jiridik). Men li ta pi pratik pou ta gen anfaz sou ansèyman lang modèn nou mansyone yo, depi byen bonè nan lekòl.

Also, there are certain subjects that are not really necessary to be taught in the secondary school curriculum, therefore they should have been eliminated so that students would concentrate more on a practical program, that would not only prepare them for higher education (to attend any university abroad for those who would be lucky to get scholarships), but also for requirements of the global market.

Epi tou, gen yon seri matyè ki pa reyèlman nesesè nan korikilòm etid segondè a, ki ta dwe elimine de fason pou elèv ta konsantre plis sou yon pwogram pratik, ki non sèlman ta prepare yo pou edikasyon siperyè (pou antre nan nenpòt inivèsite aletranje, pou sa yo ki ta gen chans jwenn bous), men tou pou demann mache modyal la.

Schools in Haiti have a tendency to follow a tradition of the (old) mother country, France, where Haitian leaders don’t try to disentangle their mind in order to think of what’s practical for the advancement of Haiti. For instance, when looking at the French education system, the students’ revolution of 1968 have forced French politicians to make many changes in their archaic school system they had before. But Haiti does not learn from these changes in order to modify its own archaic one.

Lekòl Ayiti ta gen tandans suiv yon tradisyon ansyen peyi mè a, Lafrans, kote lidè ayisyen pa eseye dezantòtye lespri yo pou panse a sa ki pratik pou avansman Ayiti. Pa egzanp, lè n gade sistèm edikasyon fransè a, revolisyon etidyan yo an 1968 fòse politisyen peyi Lafrans pote anpil chanjman nan sistèm lekòl akayik yo te gen avan an. Men Ayiti pa aprann de chanjman sa yo pou l modifye pwòp sistèm akayik pa l la.

When looking at the United States, students attend high school for only four years, but four practical ones. There are required courses to be taken for a certain period of time. Students are assigned to guidance counselors, guiding them in terms of career focusing on specific programs to do in college (such as majoring in a particular subject area during the first university cycle, undergraduate studies, lasting four years. At the same time, we are not saying that the US secondary school system is the best, however it’s more practical in orientating students.

Lè nou gade Etazini, elèv pase kat ane sèlman nan high school (lekòl segondè), men kat ane ki trè pratik. Gen matyè obligatwa yo dwe wè, pandan yon sèten peryòd de tan. Elèv yo gen konseye ki la pou gide yo, an tèm fokis sou karyè, sou pwogram presi pou fè nan inivèsite (tankou espesyalize nan yon disiplin patikilye pandan premye sik inivèsitè a, undergraduate studies, ki dire kat ane. An menm tan tou, nou p ap di ke sistèm edikasyon segondè ameriken an pi bon, men sepandan li ta pi pratik nan oryante elèv.

This is the reason why we mention many times in our research for Haiti to look at what’s good in the education system of France (also in its oversea territories, and in its former colonies in the Indian Ocean such as Mauritius and Reunion), United States, and Canada, … to come up with a synthesis (to take all that’s good), and to come up with a brand new curriculum.

Se sa k fè nou mansyone plizyè fwa nan rechèch nou pou Ayiti ta gade sa ki bon nan sistèm edikatif peyi Lafrans (e depatman li gen aletranje, e nan ansyen koloni l yo nan Oseyans Endyen tèlke Ile Maurice, ak Ile de la Réunion), peyi Etazini, e peyi Kanada… pou l fè yon sentèz (kote l ta pran tout sa ki bon), epi pou vin ak yon korikilòm tou nèf.

For instance, it is not necessary for students to spend seven years in secondary school in Haiti. Many of these students can’t function normally at universities abroad in science courses like Biology, Chemistry, and Physics that have labs. Not only they are not used to work in labs (because schools in Haiti don’t have them), but also there is the language barrier, being not unable to express themselves easily in English, Spanish (and sometimes even in French) to do scientific papers (in these languages) as native speakers would do.

Pa egzanp, li pa nesesè pou elèv pase sèt ane nan nivo segondè Ayiti. Anpil nan elèv sa yo pa ka fonksyone kòmsadwa nan inivèsite aletranje nan kou syans kouwè: biyoloji, chimi, ak fizik ki gen laboratwa. Non sèlman yo pa abitye travay nan laboratwa (paske lekòl Ayiti pa gen sa) men tou gen yon baryè lang, lè yo pa ka esprime yo fasilman an anglè, espayòl, (e mèm an fransè pafwa) pou ekri papye syantifik (nan lang sa yo) menm jan natif (lang sa yo) ta fè.

Many of these students lack technics in doing research (e.g., taking notes while professors are lecturing, technics to study for exams, localizing scientific papers published in reviews, and other documents classified in the university library, or how to borrow them through inter-library loan from other universities that may have them). When looking at all of these problems students from Haiti may have, it reminds us of the idiom, The earlier the better, in terms of early academic preparation, and information that students in Haiti need to know before traveling abroad to study. Thinking of these problems, we came up with an article entitled “Educating Haititan youth and the Haitian community in diaspora pototmitan.info/vedrine/youth.php” and a web link, Network of Haitian Students, Haiti – Dyaspora, to see how we can help them with some information we are adding to it from time to time.

Anpil nan etidyan sa yo manke teknik nan fè rechèch (pa e.g, pran nòt pandan pwofesè ap pale, teknik pou etidye pou egzamen, lokalize papye syantik ki pibliye nan revi ak lòt dokiman ki klase nan bibliyotèk inivèsite a, oubyen kijan pou prete yo atravè inter-library loan (ou sistèm prete dokiman ant bibliyotèk) nan bibliyotèk lòt inivèsite ki ka genyen yo). Lè nou gade tout pwoblèm sa yo elèv ki soti Ayiti ka genyen, li fè n sonje pwovèb ki di: Pi bonè se granmmaten, an tèm preparasyon akademik davans, ak enfòmasyon etidyan Ayiti ta dwe konnen avan menm yo vin etidye aletranje. Lè n ap panse a pwoblèm sa yo, nou vin ak yon atik ki titre «Edike jèn ayisyen e kominote ayisyen nan dyaspora pototmitan.info/vedrine/youth.php», e yon ralonj wèb, Rezo Etidyan Ayisyen, Ayiti – Dyaspora, pou wè kijan nou ka ede yo atravè kèk enfòmasyon n ap ajoute ladan tanzantan.

The earlier schools in Haiti would start teaching foreign languages (such as French, English, and Spanish) from elementary school (the same way that happens in many countries today), the more advantageous it would be for students to master them better, and quicker also.

Pi bonè lekòl Ayiti ta kòmanse anseye lang etranje (tankou fransè, anglè, espayòl) depi nivo elemantè (menm jan sa fèt nan anpil peyi jodiya), se plis avantay elèv ta genyen pou metrize yo pi byen, e pi rapid tou.

And since the first year in secondary school, it would be a good idea for students to attend a language institute  (to continue studying English and Spanish). We mention language institute because, truly, that’s where we can find (some) teachers who are prepared or qualified, who studied them (at universities abroad, and who took seminars focusing on technics and methodologies to teach them).

Epi depi nan premye ane nivo segondè, li ta yon bèl ide pou elèv ta enskri nan yon enstiti lang  (pou kontinye etidye anglè ak espayòl). Nou mansyone enstiti lang paske vrèman vre, se la n ap jwenn anseyan ki ta pi prepare ou kalifye, ki etidye yo (nan inivèsite aletranje, pran seminè sou teknik ak metòd pou anseye yo).

When this student completes the last year of the secondary cycle, and has mastered French, Spanish, and English … that student can take the entrance exam at universities abroad in one of these three languages (that may be used as the teaching language). So it’s a great advantage for the student to participate in competitions at the international level, and to get scholarships easier to study abroad.

Lè elèv sa a fin bakaloreya, e ke l gen tan metrize fransè, espayòl, anglè …, elèv sa a ka pase egzamen d antre nan inivèsite aletranje (nan youn nan twa lang sa yo (ki ka itilize kòm lang d ansèyman). Donk se yon avantay bab e moustach pou etidyan an, pou l patisipe nan konpetisyon o nivo entènasyonal, e pou l ta jwenn bous d etid pi fasil pou etidye aletranje.

To remedy the situation of foreign language teaching in schools in Haiti, all teachers in the area should read this article to orient themselves on the reality. They also have work to do, in terms of looking for all possible strategies to prepare themselves (when they would not find this preparation easily in Haiti). Among these strategies, we can cite:

Pou remedye sitiyasyon ansèyman lang etranje nan lekòl Ayiti, tout anseyan nan domèn lan ta dwe li atik sa a pou plizoumwen oryante yo sou reyalite a. Yo gen travay yo dwe fè tou, an tèm chache tout estrateji posib pou prepare pwòp tèt yo (lè yo pa ta jwenn preparasyon sa a fasil Ayiti). Pami estrateji sa yo, nou ka site:

(1) Identifying seminars (in France, Canada, United States, Spain, and observing schools in Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guyana, and seminars at the Université Antilles-Guyane may have) preparing teachers to teach foreign languages.

(1) Idantifye yon seri seminè fòmasyon (nan peyi Lafrans, Kanada, Etazini, Espay, ak obsèvasyon lekòl an Matinik, Gwadloup, Giyàn Fransèz, ak seminè fòmasyon Université Antilles-Guyane ka genyen) pou anseye lang etranje.

(2) Building a whole contact list of Haitian, as well as non-Haitian teachers in the area of foreign languages (who are teaching at high school and university level.

(2) Bati tout yon lis kontak anseyan ayisyen, kou etranje, nan domèn lang etranje (k ap anseye o nivo segondè, e inivèsitè).

(3) Through contacts with these Haitian, and non-Haitian teachers (in diaspora, via emails, facebook, whatsApp), those in Haiti can contact them to find some key materials, such as textbooks (to teach French, Spanish, and English for non-native speakers), bilingual dictionaries (French – English – French),  (Spanish – French – Spanish), (Creole – English – Creole­), Haitian Creole – English picture dictionary, and books for non-native speakers of English, etc. 

(3) Atravè kontak ak anseyan ayisyen, e etranje sa yo (nan dyaspora, via imel, facebook, whatsApp), sa ki Ayiti ka kontakte yo pou ede yo jwenn yon seri materyèl kle, tankou liv (pou anseye fransè, espayòl e anglè pou non-natif), diksyonè bileng: (fransè – anglè – fransè),  (espayòl – fransè – espayòl), (kreyòl – anglè – kreyòl), (diksyonè imaj: kreyòl ayisyen – anglè), e liv pou etranje aprann anglè, elt. 

With the advancement of technology today (to quickly have contact with abroad), it’s a free ride that all Haitians in Haiti at all levels should have taken to help themselves (when the government has given up, and those in power have become businessmen). So, we are obliged to say each lighting bug shines for itself as the Haitian saying goes (in terms of don’t keep on waiting for the government to do things for you from “a” to “z” when they are not interested in important things that should be done for the advancement of the country, and to help in preparing people in all domains to help in Haiti’s development, a country that has been in coma since 213 years.

Ak avansman teknoloji jounen jodiya (pou gen kontak trapde ak aletranje), se yon woulib tout Ayisyen Ayiti, nan tout nivo ta dwe pran pou ede pwòp tèt yo (lè leta demisyone, epi sa yo ki sou pouvwa tounen biznismann). Donk nou oblije di chak koukouy klere pou je l, kòm pwovèb la di (an tèm de pa rete tann pou leta vin fè tout bagay pou ou, de «a» a «z», lè li pa enterese nan zafè esansyèl ki dwe fèt pou avansman peyi a, e pou ta ede nan prepare moun nan tout disiplin pou ede nan devlopman Ayiti, yon peyi ki nan koma depi 213 ane.