The struggle is real
Ever felt like you’re missing a piece of your own cultural puzzle? Recently, I saw a post for a Jamaican Patois (or Patwa) class run by teacher and author Naia Lewis. It hit home—hard. Growing up, I was surrounded by the language through music or hearing family members use it, but I never actually spoke it myself. There’s a lot of historical baggage here; Patois developed during the transatlantic slave trade as a survival language, yet for years, it’s been dismissed by many as 'broken English.'
Walking the walk
I finally bit the bullet and signed up for the class, and honestly? The anxiety was highkey real. I joined a Zoom call with strangers and realized quickly that there was nowhere to hide. We started with the basics—phonics and grammar. Did you know that in Patois, words starting with 'sk' or 'sp' often drop the 's'? So 'skin' becomes 'kin' and 'sponge' becomes 'ponge.' It sounds simple, but when you've been speaking standard English your whole life, it’s a mental workout to switch gears.
Then came the improvisation section, which was a total 'it's giving mortifying' moment for me. We had to act out a scene where everyone was acting weird, and when the teacher asked me, 'Wagwan?' I literally blanked. I felt so much shame for not having the words ready, but honestly, nobody judged. Everyone in that room was in the same boat, just trying to reconnect with their roots.
Why it matters
Reclaiming a language isn’t just about words; it’s about pushing back against years of shame and gatekeeping. Lewis argues that teaching Patois formally helps prevent the language from being treated as a joke or a costume by people who don't respect it. By learning to speak it properly, we stop feeling like 'a deer in headlights' when we hear it, and instead, we honor the history behind it. If you’ve been thinking about reconnecting with your heritage, take this as your sign: the more you practice, the easier it gets. Don't let the fear of 'saying it wrong' keep you silent.
