Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Gaffin': How to Speak English Like the Guyanese


Six of the best months of my mission were spent in Guyana, located in South America to the NE of Brazil.  Guyana has the distinction of being the only country in South America where English is the official language, but anyone who's been there will tell you that the true language of Guyana is Guyanese Creole.  Commonly referred to as Broke Broke English, Guyanese Creole is an english based language with influences from Dutch, West African Languages, Arawak and Carib Amer-Indian languages, and to a lesser extent Hindi from East India.  The result is something that you might recognize as English, but not quite understand.