It's been said that Jamaica is the heartbeat of the world. How can such a tiny island in the Caribbean give the world some of the best music, the best food, amazing beaches and some of the fastest athletes humanity has ever seen? Not to mention our accent and the way we talk, that everyone loves, but few understand. In this book lies the key to learning the language of Jamaica in easy to understand stories and instruction for the average lay person. Here's the best part, if you're fluent in the English language, you're more than halfway there. The experienced author brings a different spin on learning Jamaican Patois that gets you understanding the language extremely fast without the need for memorization and repetitious drills. Inside you'll find all the tools to have you speaking Jamaican Patois in record speed. Unlock the entire experience that is the Jamaican Culture.

After it was known that Jamaican natives failed interviews that were conducted in patois, the writer decided that it was time to awaken Patois. This book was written to inform readers that Patois is a written language which can be learned and spoken like any other language. The words and phrases in this book, originated from English, African, and Creole, and can be heard wherever Jamaican natives reside.

Dread Talk examines the effects of Rastafarian language on Creole in other parts of the Carribean, its influence in Jamaican poetry, and its effects on standard Jamaican English. This revised edition includes a new introduction that outlines the changes that have occurred since the book first appeared and a new chapter, "Dread Talk in the Diaspora," that discusses Rastafarian as used in the urban centers of North America and Europe. Pollard provides a wealth of examples of Rastafarian language-use and definitions, explaining how the evolution of these forms derives from the philosophical position of the Rasta speakers: "The socio-political image which the Rastaman has had of himself in a society where lightness of skin, economic status, and social privileges have traditionally gone together must be included in any consideration of Rastafarian words " for the man making the words is a man looking up from under, a man pressed down economically and socially by the establishment."

Speak Jamaican is a comprehensive instructional tool that outlines the grammar of Jamaican Creole. The course is designed to facilitate fluency in speech. It delineates the pronunciation and grammar of the Jamaican Creole language, and it includes lessons outlining the formation of tenses, irregularverbs, adjectives, adverbs, questions, commands, pluralization, the passive voice, making a sentence negative, showing ownership, structures unique to Jamaican Creole, and additional tenets. Each lesson consists of practice exercises and a vocabulary list to familiarize the reader with Jamaican Creole grammar. If the reader is looking to do more than just 'parrot' Jamaican words and phrases, this work is a vital instrument to achieving that goal.

This book teaches you how to speak and write Jamaican and Patois like a native! This fun and easy book is your travel companion when visiting our beautiful island. Keep in on hand to help you understand and speak with the confidence of a Yardie. In Jamaica we say 'No Problem Mon' with Speak and Write Jamaican, understanding and speaking Jamaican will be no problem for you too.

An ability to speak Jamaican Standard English is the stated requirement for any managerial or frontline position in corporate Jamaica. This research looks at the phonological variation that occurs in the formal speech of this type of employee, and focuses on the specific cohort chosen to represent Jamaica in interactions with local and international clients. The variation that does emerge, shows both the presence of some features traditionally characterized as Creole and a clear avoidance of other features found in basilectal and mesolectal Jamaican. Some phonological items are prerequisites for “good English” - variables that define the user as someone who speaks English - even if other Creole variants are present. The ideologies of language and language use that Jamaican speakers hold about “good English” clearly reflect the centuries-old coexistence of English and Creole, and suggest local norms must be our starting point for discussing the acrolect.

The method and plan of this dictionary of Jamaican English are basically the same as those of the Oxford English Dictionary, but oral sources have been extensively tapped in addition to detailed coverage of literature published in or about Jamaica since 1655. It contains information about the Caribbean and its dialects, and about Creole languages and general linguistic processes. Entries give the pronounciation, part-of-speach and usage of labels, spelling variants, etymologies and dated citations, as well as definitions. Systematic indexing indicates the extent to which the lexis is shared with other Caribbean countries.

This remarkable new dictionary represents the first attempt in some four centuries to record the state of development of English as used across the entire Caribbean region.