Jamaica

Jamaican Patois

The official language spoken in Jamaica is English, however about 99.9% of the Jamaicans speak Patwa (Patois) among each other. During the two weeks I spent in Jamaica I came across a lot of Patois. Especially in everyday casual occasions such as visiting friends and/or family, dinner or a meeting in the streets, Jamaicans conversate in Patois with each other. Even at the placement I worked during these two weeks, the builders and local people spoke Patois with one another. Only in formal situations or in a meeting with foreigners, Jamaicans speak Jamaican English. 

I picked up a couple of Jamaican words and phrases but definitely not as much as I had hoped to, due to the fact that it is quite hard for foreigners to understand and pronounce. The thing about Patois is that it has many borrowed words from many different languages such as English, Spanish and some West African languages. One thing to remember as you learn Jamaican Patois is that it is not a strict, rule-oriented language where there is a "right way" and a "wrong way" to say and/or write things. Speaking Patois fluently after spending some time in Jamaica is not guaranteed, but with a little practice, you will be able to have at least a basic understanding of Jamaican Patois.

If you want to learn more about the grammatical features of Jamaican Patois, please take a look at this site: http://jamaicanpatwah.com/b/how-to-speak-jamaican-patois#.VbIMeSusWCk

I'm now going to teach you some basic Patois words and phrases you would want to know before you travel to Jamaica.