Mauritian Creole

5: They are starting to use now just as a subject( Creole)

It seems like a retrograde step considering that English is slaughtering other languages worldwide. It is the choice language amongst the educated class from developing countries and the language of computer science and IT.

What is the reason for using Creole as a school subject? Are they trying to preserve it like Welsh?

just to preserve it
well i wouldn't learn it though in written format

The number of Welsh speakers reached a record low around 1981 (judging from census returns) so many initiatives were made to encourage the use of Welsh including bi-lingual road signs; the S4C Welsh television channel; and teaching Welsh in schools. The initiatives seemed to work and by the early 2000s there had been a significant rise in the number of children and young people fluent or reasonably knowledgeable in Welsh. Many of the efforts have been undone in recent years with the rise of social media. Feelings towards teaching and learning Welsh are very mixed across Wales, and are particularly negative in urban parts of south Wales especially amongst people who have moved in from outside of Wales. With the rise of social media and video games in English questions are being raised as to whether it's worth spending much money and effort to try to keep Welsh alive as a language.

At least Welsh exists in written form unlike Mauritian Creole so it won't completely die. It will just become another Latin. Does the government of Mauritius fear that changes in technology and economic circumstances mean that Mauritian Creole could die unless initiatives are made to preserve it?

But they are improving on the language and trying to make it an official one.

IT is a bit like a french which might confuse us furthermore

What is the reason for this because it's a language almost entirely confined to Mauritius? Fluency in Mauritian Creole will be of marginal benefit economically.



It's questionable whether Mauritian Creole is a proper language or whether it is a corrupted dialect of French. If Mauritian Creole was an ancient indigenous language then I could understand initiatives to protect and preserve it, like Welsh or Cornish, but it is debatable whether initiatives should be made to preserve what is possibly a corrupted dialect of a prominent language or make it a main language.

Which particular ethnic groups in Mauritius are most and least supportive of Mauritian Creole?

I would like to point out that it's not a corrupt dialect of French. It's actually a mixture of African languages with French because of the slaves etc

I would like to point out that ENGLISH is used in the parliamentary, at school and in various sectors(work). Don't point out when you don't know ****
Singapore has something called Singlish as well, which is mostly english with some singaporean things
Mauritian Creole is used for VERBAL communication
It is unique to the country and there is no sense of abandoning it. Also there is the Haitian Creole and different types of creoles which more or less similar
Your "reply" seems a complete attack to Mauritius

From what I can tell. Although the ones who are uneducated only speak the standard Mauritian creole.

Why are you planning on moving there?

Interesting. Is Creole declining amongst the more educated younger population? Do they go round thinking that Creole is the language that the lower classes and grandparents speak?

I have read that there have been calls to include Creole in the primary school curriculum in order to improve literacy but I struggle to understand how this would work because Creole is largely a spoken language are there is next to no literature in Creole.

How is digital media having effects on Creole vs English? Could video games and social media end up successfully in improving literacy in English whilst initiatives in primary schools over the decades have failed? Do any video games in Creole even exist?



I'm very curious to know. I understand why Creole is the language of the descendents of African slaves from the 18th century but it intrigues me how and why it has penetrated deeply into Muslim and Hindu communities. Logically either (pure) French or English should be the unifying language of Mauritius along with heritage languages that differ between ethnic groups.

And creole is an integral part of the island. It will always be the main language regardless of how insignificant Mauritian Creole is to the rest of the world.

I find Mauritius to be a bewildering and difficult to understand country. Are you a Muslim or a Hindu because I'm interested in the situation from their perspective?

I have known Muslims and Hindus from the Indian subcontinent over the years and they have a long standing heritage that goes back centuries. They use a combination of a local language of their country of origin, a national language of their country of origin, or English. I have also known Singaporeans of different backgrounds. Therefore I'm using these people as a benchmark to compare Mauritius with.

Many mainland African countries use French as their national language. This is usually standard French rather than Creole although French and local language hybrids do unofficially exist. French serves two purposes as a national language:

1. A unifying language between numerous tribal groups each of which has their own local language that people from other tribal groups generally do not know.

2. An international language functioning as an interface to the wider world.

Creole in Mauritius only functions as (1) because it is virtually unknown and unused outside of Mauritius.

Do most Muslims and Hindus in Mauritius consider themselves to be first and foremost Mauritian or do they put their religion and / or their heritage first?

An interesting comparison is between the British system of multiculturalism and the French system of civic nationalism. Which is Mauritius closer to?

I'm Hindu

Mauritius was recently considered to be in the "African" Region due to its location, however it's not so similar to African countries.

Why not talk about Christians?