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And you cannot do this in the Caribbean either if you wish to achieve upward mobility.
Go to a hotel in the Caribbean and the waitress, and even the maids can speak standard English to the guests. This mightn't be true on a construction site, but then it isn't on NYC sites either, where a more blue collar type of English is spoken.
I think a problem that you have is that you don't understand that Caribbean people are multi-dialectic. Their speech repertoire spans at least 3 levels, often changing mid sentence. Just because you hear them say "Ah tell she" doesn't mean that they don't know that in standard English it is "I told her".
Have you been to the English speaking Caribbean?
In fact people from the Anglophone Caribbean have no more issues with speaking standard English than do African Americans.
I have not been to the Anglo Caribbean, so I am not speaking on conditions there. Only on some of the issues the educational system and professional world in the US have with those who speak various Creole languages from the Caribbean (including patois).
A person who is mult-dialectic still may not be good enough in what is called standard English and it may effect them academically. It may be extremely hard for some Anglo Caribbeans to speak what white Americans would consider standard English and there are definitely issues there.
That might be why they have the translators. If a speaker of Jamaican Creole cannot make himself understood to an American in a government office where he needs to do essential business, there's an issue there.
Similarly there definitely issues with that in the educational system.
A person with a deep accent who only speaks a Creole can be difficult to understand for someone unfamiliar. It does happen. I've seen it a few times.
Patois is a language and recognized as such by most linguists. But yes, most Jamaicans don't consider it a language and due to decreolization it is mostly intelligble with English (depends)
Keep in mind as many immigrants do not have legal status, their US born children automatically have better opportunities as US citizens. This is true even of blue collar jobs. Of course US born children, should they decide to go to college, are eligible for financial aid. This is only true of immigrants who obtain US citizenship OR green cards.
Back to Dominicans, US born children and grandchildren will speak English and have opportunities that their parents did not have.
Of course immigrants who move here do learn English, but it isn't always good enough to be used professionally, and how well they can function in English is often limited by the amount of education they had in their native language. (It's much harder to teach an illiterate or a functionally illiterate person another language).
l1995 and you do have a point though. As a Jamaican, most of us just consider it a dialect and not a separate language. A well-known Jamaican poet and national figure, Dr. Louise Bennett-Coverley, was pushing for patois to be recognized as an official language of Jamaica, distinct from English. This never gained widespread support amongst the populace. Recently, several intellectuals at the University of West Indies (notably Dr. Carolyn Cooper) have renewed the push but without traction. I think it could be considered a language though but Jamaicans have more practical, pressing concerns such as our IMF debt, economy and one of the highest crime rate in the world.
I could never understand the connection between Haitian Creole and French as opposed to the connection between Jamaican patios and our British English in JA. I studied intensive French for 7 straight years in Jamaica, with 4 of those years being at the Intermediate to Advanced level (with oral and written exams) and I could never really understand Haitian Creole. On the other hand, spoken and written Jamaican patois has many similarities with British English that many Europeans, Japanese, Indians and other groups that visit or study the culture can quickly grasp it. Perhaps, this might have more to do with the spread of Jamaican culture worldwide and less with the similarity of the dialect to British English. Either way, it is the first that I have heard that there is widespread agreement amongst linguists that Jamaican patois is considered a language in itself.
Jamaican patois and Jamaican English are both much closer to standard British and American English than Haitian Creole is to continental French. This is easily the case because Jamaica remained a colony for much longee into the mid 20th century and its education system directly derives from that of the British colonial period as well as the much heavier degree of emigration to the US, Canada, and the UK which kept that interchange alive with what would be considered more standard Englisj even after Jamaican independence.
Jamaican patois and Jamaican English are both much closer to standard British and American English than Haitian Creole is to continental French. This is easily the case because Jamaica remained a colony for much longee into the mid 20th century and its education system directly derives from that of the British colonial period as well as the much heavier degree of emigration to the US, Canada, and the UK which kept that interchange alive with what would be considered more standard Englisj even after Jamaican independence.
Put it like this, when they are looking for English native speakers to teach English as a second language in non English speaking countries, they only hire people educated in the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada. Effectively what's spoken in the predominantly white Anglo countries is considered English. What is spoken in former English colonies in Asia, Affica, and the Caribbean isn't.
Some one has worked out a nice scam. I have never met a Jamaican who doesn't understand American English. The issue will more be the American who mightn't understand a deep (mesolect) creole speaker attempting to speak what they think is standard English.
Turn on the TV in Jamaica and you will think that you are in the USA. There is very heavy penetration of the media by the USA, and since the arrival of social media and smart phones this has become even more intense. T
Think about the myriad of reasons why an immigrant may need to interact with officials from the federal gov't. It is imperative, especially when dealing with legal issues, that there are no misunderstanding both ways. This is why translators are employed.
Put it like this, when they are looking for English native speakers to teach English as a second language in non English speaking countries, they only hire people educated in the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada. Effectively what's spoken in the predominantly white Anglo countries is considered English. What is spoken in former English colonies in Asia, Affica, and the Caribbean isn't.
Actually you are very wrong. Jamaicans are heavily recruited to teach English in Japan. Obviously, the countries you posted will be better respresented because of their size and status in the world. What do you mean what is spoken in the islands isn't considered English? Who told you that bunk? Do you realize that many Jamaicans (myself included and I'm not old) sat the many of the same exams (O and A levels) in our country that were given in these Commonwealth countries and marked in England at Cambridge University?
Let's forget teaching English in non English speaking countries. Are you aware that Turks & Caicos and other British colonies still heavily recruit Jamaican teachers to teach English and other subjects in their islands.
Actually you are very wrong. Jamaicans are heavily recruited to teach English in Japan. Obviously, the countries you posted will be better respresented because of their size and status in the world. What do you mean what is spoken in the islands isn't considered English? Who told you that bunk? Do you realize that many Jamaicans (myself included and I'm not old) sat the many of the same exams (O and A levels) in our country that were given in these Commonwealth countries and marked in England at Cambridge University?
Let's forget teaching English in non English speaking countries. Are you aware that Turks & Caicos and other British colonies still heavily recruit Jamaican teachers to teach English and other subjects in their islands.
I am an ESL teacher myself, and all around the world they SPECIFICALLY ASK for BRITISH, AMERICANS, AUSTRALIANS, CANADIANS, and people from NEW ZEALAND. Asia as a whole, Latin America as a whole, and the Europeans prefer British. In short there is PREFERENCE for people from predominately white countries, because that is what people consider English.
Japan is but ONE COUNTRY.
Non English countries as a rule just don't hire Jamaicans and other Anglo Caribbean people, Indians, or people from other former English colonies in Asia or Africa.
I am an ESL teacher myself, and all around the world they SPECIFICALLY ASK for BRITISH, AMERICANS, AUSTRALIANS, CANADIANS, and people from NEW ZEALAND. Asia as a whole, Latin America as a whole, and the Europeans prefer British. In short there is PREFERENCE for people from predominately white countries, because that is what people consider English.
Japan is but ONE COUNTRY.
Non English countries as a rule just don't hire Jamaicans and other Anglo Caribbean people, Indians, or people from other former English colonies in Asia or Africa.
Please don't speak in absolute terms. Again, I will restate that non-English countries will prefer the countries you listed because of their influence etc but they do recruit and accept many Jamaican teachers. It has nothing to do with "what people consider English". I'm talking countries like South Korea and China. The problem is that not many Jamaicans accept these offers because of the culture shock and geographical distance.
Now if these people specifically ONLY ask for British, Americans etc, why would they be advertising in local Jamaican newspapers like the Gleaner and Observer? Why does the Chinese Embassy in JA encourages Jamaican teachers with a TEFL certificate to apply to teach there? Same thing with the Japan Embassy in JA with JET program. I remember years ago a Jamaican newspaper republished an article written in a Japan newspaper highlighting the brain drain affecting Jamaica and benefitting Japan.
Of course Asian countries (they basically prefer anything white) and Latin American countries will prefer those countries you posted because they are conditioned to think other English speaking countries are inferior.
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