Haitian Creole

CLACS offers elementary and intermediate courses in Kreyol Ayisyen or Haitian Creole, a language  spoken by Haiti’s population of nine million and by about one million Haitians in the US—including over 190,000 in the New York City area. The program may be of interest to students in all fields, and especially to those planning to travel to or volunteer in Haiti, conduct field work, or pursue careers that involve Haiti or Haitian Kreyòl speakers (medicine and public health, education, social work, etc.). 

Haitian Creole courses satisfy the language requirements of the College of Arts of Sciences, the undergraduate major in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Graduate School.

Wynnie Lamour-Quansah is an educator with a focus on language and communication. She has spent the last several years teaching Haitian Creole in the New York City metro area to a wide array of language learners, including non-profit professionals, public school teachers, and entrepreneurs. Her experiences growing up in Brooklyn as a Haitian-American have provided her with a unique perspective as an educator, allowing her an ease that comes when one is equally comfortable in both cultures and languages. Wynnie has a BA in Linguistics from Cornell University and an MA in Urban Affairs from CUNY Queens College. Both degrees have allowed her a flexibility to blend effortlessly into many different sectors. Her philosophy of teaching is rooted in the idea of “Mindfulness”, which promotes community and connectedness, while establishing a sense of pride and respect for both the Haitian language and culture. Wynnie’s work includes a translation of an excerpt of the Franketienne novel “Dezafi” published May 2013 by Transition Magazine (Issue 111 “New Narratives of Haiti”), a publication of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University. Most recently she has presented a workshop titled “#ReHumanizingHaiti or The Role of Technology and Social Media in Language Activism/Advocacy for Historically Undervalued Languages” at the Annual WikiConference in San Diego, California.