Preserve our Creole dialect in schools, says language enthusiast

If left unchecked, the pandemic could possibly harm the survival of some of T&T's unique language expressions as many children under the age of five are no longer speaking the Trini English creole dialect.

So said Dr Visham Bhimul, the director of Caribbean Hindustani, who has been attempting to preserve dying languages of the Caribbean including Trinidad Bhojpuri, a language brought by indentured immigrants.

Speaking to Guardian Media, Dr Bhimul during the pandemic, social interaction was restricted so many children depended on mainstream media which has strong American and European influences. This, he said, has created changes to language among the youngest generation.

"Many children especially those under the age of five are now speaking either British English from mimicking cartoons like Peppa Pig, or American English from exposure to Youtube videos," he pointed out.

He also said the T&T education system needed to be revamped to bring about an appreciation for T&T's English Creole dialect and culture.

"Aspects of life in our communities that represent who we are should be part of our schools' syllabus. We should be proud of who we are," Dr Bhimul said.

He added: "We are still within a colonial system of education where our own languages and cultures are made to seem inferior to other European cultures. We need to teach these aspects of our local culture to our children and in our school system.

For example, Dr Bhimul said Caribbean Bhojpuri, a language brought by indentured immigrants, was always regarded as inferior.

"People regarded it as a broken form of Hindi when in fact it was not. It is a separate language."

He added, "In the same way, the validity of all our dialect expressions, should be given a space in our formal education system so these expressions can seem valid and authentic in their own right."

Dr Bhimul said during Indian indentureship, Indians were brought mainly from western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, the heart of the Bhojpuri language belt and this evolved into a special Trinidad Bhojpuri language. However much of this language has been lost.

Dr Bhimull has also avidly researched the impact of Dutch and French on Caribbean Hindustani as well as the Indian words and phrases loaned to the various Creole dialects in each Caribbean nation.

He says while our Trini Creole dialect features widely in many humourous blogs and videos done by locals, Caribbean Hindustani has continued to work to preserve cultural expressions.

"We are persistent at Caribbean Hindustani in preserving our local culture and languages. I want to mention the Llyod Best Institute and Tapia House where I do classes in Trinidad Bhojpuri, and they also offer Trinidad patois and a course which is the English creole of Surinam and their standard is Dutch," he added.

Dr Bhimul said he planned to lobby on behalf of the Caribbean Hindustani Institution to have conversations with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture to have changes made to the education syllabus.

He said the media should also do its part by going to communities to document the culture of community-based groups.