Why Music Should Be Part of Your Learning How to Speak Jamaican!

Listening to Jamaican Music is so important as you areto my patois and heard a native speaker pronouncing
learning to Speak Jamaican or any other languagethe phrase.
really. Music might be one of the most over lookedThe important thing is that once you hear a phrase or
methods in learning a language and a culture, but if youkey vocabulary word, use it. You must go out and
think about it, music is a form of education available tospeak Jamaican Patois with someone, preferably a
all. Often times, musicians come from humblenative speaker, because that will help build your
beginnings and as a result speak the language of theconfidence, fluency and overall dominance of the
people. Learning to speak Jamaican Patois is notlanguage.
different. Reggae music, especially dancehall musicOne final thought is that music also opens your
gives the non-native speaker some insight into howunderstanding of Jamaican culture. So many times,
people talk, the speed at which they talk and thelanguages, words and culture can be found in music,
words most frequently used. I remember when I firstespecially in reggae music. For example, the Damian
started learning how to speak Jamaican Patois and IMarley song "Welcome to Jamrock" was a huge
listened to Sean Paul's first album Stage One almostsuccess, but for the student of Jamaican Patois and
everyday. In the song, "Haffi Get de Gal Ya", SeanCulture, it gave a raw glimpse into life in Jamaica and a
Paul says "Mi haffi mek a try, Haffi get a bligh".great resource for hearing the language pronounced at
Although the song contains many great vocabularya comfortable speed.
words and phrases, this phrase was immediatelyWith today's technology, iPods and other mp3 players
cataloged into my Jamaican Patois language database.besides CDs, you can be learning how to Speak
As a result of hearing this song, I added a new phraseJamaican all of the time.