Sylvia Wynter's Dream

When I think of your effortless beauty, it dawns on me how much of a sin it would be to forget the words to tell you how much I love you.

I spent this semester exploring the love language of Belize – Belizean Kriol. I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labour as much I enjoyed creating them. Please find my final project video here. You can also check out my Instagram page which has the learning material here.

If you need a little refresher of what my project is about, please read below:

My final project is a video panel discussion conducted in both face to face and virtual modes as one panellist joined via Zoom. My project titled “Bringin’ Bak Di Chroo Chroo Kriol Werd,” which literally translates to “Bringing Back the True True Kriol Words,” gets its name from its main focus which is to share Belizean Kriol words that are uncommonly used in hopes to revive their usage among Belizean Kriol speakers. Belizean Kriol originated as a pidgin language and descends from the Creole ethnic group, which is a mixture, to varying degrees, of enslaved Africans and European enslavers. Kriol refers to the language and Creole refers to the people belonging to the Creole ethnic group. Belizean Kriol is also heavily influenced by other languages including Spanish, Maya and Miskito Coast languages as well as Portuguese, French and Dutch to a lesser extent. For example, the popular Belizean Kriol word “bali,” used to refer to a close male friend, comes from the Mexican-Spanish word “valedor” which means friend, as well as the term “wowla,” used to refer to a boa constrictor, which is of Miskito Coast origin meaning snake. Despite its origin in the Creole ethnic group, Belizean Kriol is the lingua franca of Belize and is spoken by majority of Belizeans despite their ethnic background and other language commands. Seeing as my project focuses on words that are not popularly used today among many Kriol speakers, to uncover these forgotten words, my aim has been to compile a list of forgotten Kriol words, share them via Instagram posts, and explore how effective the sharing has been on learning and using the words, as well as discuss the importance of preservation of the Belizean Creole culture.

Let us never forget our language because I think, in a sense, if you lose your language, you lose a vital part of who you are, and well, isn’t that disrespectful to our ancestors and our homeland? Just my two cents.