Recently, my sister sent me and my mum a graphic promoting a Jamaican Patois (or Patwa) class on Instagram, organised by British teacher and author Naia Lewis. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before – Patois and other Caribbean Creole forms of speech are rarely treated as legitimate languages.
As a descendant of Caribbean migrants to the UK, I grew up surrounded by Patois, but had never practised speaking it. I wanted to go, but felt terrified of embarrassing myself. This week, I conquered that fear and explored why learning Patois and other Creole languages is so fraught and controversial across the diaspora.
