WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Hi guys. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (sigh) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is a response to my video "Les consequences du Francais en Haiti" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 which I did it in French talking about the consequences of French in Haiti. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I published this in April and I have the link to it up here and down there 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in my description box. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I got some really strong reactions to that post and it seems like I really hit a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 nerve for some people so I'm dedicating this week's message to response and debunk 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the prevalent counter arguments I received 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Here are the main points I made in that video: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "French hinders comunication in self-expression among Haitians 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It divides the Haitian population and fosters an inferiority complex for the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 majority of the population. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Haitions sustitute someone's ability to muster a few words in French for wisdom or 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 intelligence.Haitions fail to realize that what they are seeing is more important 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 than the language they used to say in. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And lastly, Haitians by and large cannot speak French. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 These are fairly common and well-known issues I presented to support my proposal 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of eliminating French as one of the two official languages of Haiti. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But many didn't want to hear it and here are some of the responses that I want to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 address. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The first one is that the problem of Haiti is one of education not of language. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Here is my issue with that point. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Everyone knows that the state of education in Haiti is dire, that has always been the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 case in Haiti but have you stopped to think that language is the basis of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 learning and education, so if you are attempting to teach in a language that is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 cumbersome, unnatural and foreign to kids then you keep them at a disadvantage. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The medium that allows you to communicate the knowledge you are attempting to pass 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 on is extremely relevant. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My experience as a student in Haiti was that many of my teachers were not fluent 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in French, far from. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So yes, there is an educational crisis in Haiti and this isn't breaking news to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 anyone. But the fact that we are insisting on sticking to French as the academic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 language is to our own detriment.