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Hi! I'm also trying to find out the differences. I want to go on a trip there, and I doubt I can get to all of the islands (though maybe....). Long term, I want to buy property and live on a tropical island. :-D I'm American with French residency and I'm wondering what that means for me if I want to reside on one of the French islands. I'm also wondering if I'd be able to live in Sint Maarten (as there's apparently no property tax there). I guess by the time I can afford something, I'll probably have French citizenship, hence, EU citizenship, so it should be fine. But anyway.... between Saint Martin/Sint Maartin, Martinique, and Guadelupe.... what's it like for expats? Which is the cheapest? Which has a lot going on? I love to take classes (circus, dance, painting) and I'd like to live in a quiet place near a beach, yet also have the option of going out to a city and getting sushi or going to a nice bar.... I don't want to live in a really sleepy place. What do you think? Where should I start?
St Vincent and Grenadines and Grenada are still very culturally French. They still retain French patois/French creole. While they have some populations that have more of British influence, most of the base is of a Franco/French cultural orientation. St Barthelemy and St Martin are French as well too.
Trinidad is heavily Spanish and French and creole/Patois French influenced and many aspects of these still culturally remain.
Dominica and St Lucia are virtually French, but English is the mother tongue. Dominica and St Lucia still retain French patois/French Creole. Most people from Dominica would tell you to this day that they feel that they would be better off as being part of France. They also don't fit in much with the more British islands, they'd fit in and feel more in place with French places.
Actually the official language of places like Dominica and Saint Lucia just happens to be English. However, French patois/French creole are the traditional, historical, and cultural root and base languages of people from and living in Dominica and Saint Lucia. This Catholic, Creole, Latin, and French cultural synthesis and base can be seen in cuisine, food, gastronomy, dance, folklore, dress, and music etc and speech and behaviors and patterns. The French influence predominates in the character of these islands, and it stands out and was used to ostracize and antagonize the British who could never stomp out the French culture and influences.
Last edited by MelismaticEchoes; 01-09-2014 at 11:11 PM..
St Vincent and Grenadines and Grenada are still very culturally French. They still retain French patois/French creole. While they have some populations that have more of British influence, most of the base is of a Franco/French cultural orientation. St Barthelemy and St Martin are French as well too.
Trinidad is heavily Spanish and French and creole/Patois French influenced and many aspects of these still culturally remain.
Dominica and St Lucia are virtually French, but English is the mother tongue. Dominica and St Lucia still retain French patois/French Creole. Most people from Dominica would tell you to this day that they feel that they would be better off as being part of France. They also don't fit in much with the more British islands, they'd fit in and feel more in place with French places.
Never met a Vincy who speaks patois. Culturally they are more like Leeward Islanders. Maybe they speak it on the smaller Grenadines, but definitely not on the main island. I have heard that patois is more heard in Carriacou than in Grenada.
While creole is spoken in Grenada its a dying language spoken mainly by older people. Ditto Trinidad, though one can detect patois influences in their English vernacular and some slang words and, especially in Grenada, the accent.
Dominica and St Lucia are the patois speaking islands in the English speaking Caribbean. Indeed its possible that some older people in rural areas might not be too fluent English speakers. These are truly bilingual islands as a poster commented on another thread.
I don't understand why people refer to Caribbean people having a "British" or "French" orientation, except clearly in Guadeloupe and Martinique, with their ties to France. St Martin is culturally like the USVI and BVI. Neither St Maarten/Martin, or the USVI have had extensive British colonial rule, but you would be hard pressed t differentiate them from people from the Anglophone Caribbean. Even their English creole dialects can fit right into any you will hear in the English speaking Caribbean.
The so called French influence in St Martin are metropoles who exercise a colonial domination over that part of the island. Put some one from Sint Maarten, and Saint Martin and you cant see a difference as they are the same people. And they are virtually the same as a Tortolan. Indeed people from St Kitts resemble them more culturally than they do Trinidadians. So here we see that people with Danish, Dutch and British colonial heritages aren't that different in that neck of the woods.
What we have in the Caribbean are a variety of creole cultures which represent an amalgam of the peoples present in these islands, their various colonial influences, and now a strong US influence. Most assuredly a British, French, Dutch or Spanish tourist to the various islands will find all to be NOTHING like their homelands. We are NOT little British, French or Dutch men frolicking in the sun.
Indeed even the Antillean culture of the French Overseas departments is strikingly different from that of metropolitan France.
Actually the official language of places like Dominica and Saint Lucia just happens to be English. However, French patois/French creole are the traditional, historical, and cultural root and base languages of people from and living in Dominica and Saint Lucia. This Catholic, Creole, Latin, and French cultural synthesis and base can be seen in cuisine, food, gastronomy, folklore, dress, and music etc and speech and behaviors and patterns. The French influence predominates in the character of these islands, and it stands out and was used to ostracize and antagonize the British who could never stomp out the French culture and influences.
Why not say French CREOLE influences, rather than French? Dominicans and St Lucians are very different from people from Lyon, or Marseilles.
Never met a Vincy who speaks patois. Culturally they are more like Leeward Islanders. Maybe they speak it on the smaller Grenadines, but definitely not on the main island. I have heard that patois is more heard in Carriacou than in Grenada.
While creole is spoken in Grenada its a dying language spoken mainly by older people. Ditto Trinidad, though one can detect patois influences in their English vernacular and some slang words and, especially in Grenada, the accent.
Dominica and St Lucia are the patois speaking islands in the English speaking Caribbean. Indeed its possible that some older people in rural areas might not be too fluent English speakers. These are truly bilingual islands as a poster commented on another thread.
I don't understand why people refer to Caribbean people having a "British" or "French" orientation, except clearly in Guadeloupe and Martinique, with their ties to France. St Martin is culturally like the USVI and BVI. Neither St Maarten/Martin, or the USVI have had extensive British colonial rule, but you would be hard pressed t differentiate them from people from the Anglophone Caribbean. Even their English creole dialects can fit right into any you will hear in the English speaking Caribbean.
The so called French influence in St Martin are metropoles who exercise a colonial domination over that part of the island. Put some one from Sint Maarten, and Saint Martin and you cant see a difference as they are the same people. And they are virtually the same as a Tortolan. Indeed people from St Kitts resemble them more culturally than they do Trinidadians. So here we see that people with Danish, Dutch and British colonial heritages aren't that different in that neck of the woods.
What we have in the Caribbean are a variety of creole cultures which represent an amalgam of the peoples present in these islands, their various colonial influences, and now a strong US influence. Most assuredly a British, French, Dutch or Spanish tourist to the various islands will find all to be NOTHING like their homelands. We are NOT little British, French or Dutch men frolicking in the sun.
Indeed even the Antillean culture of the French Overseas departments is strikingly different from that of metropolitan France.
100% on point. It's difficult to group islands using their colonisers as a point of reference when the majority of the Caribbean has switched hands so many times that the rulers in many cases have utterly different cultures from the people themselves. Up until the mid 20th century, the overwhelming majority of the Winward Islands was French-Creole speaking despite France only owning Martinique and Guadeloupe. You're also right in that the majority of the Leeward Islands are almost culturally identical despite being owned by the British, Dutch, Danish, Swedish and United States at various points in history.
So to ask a question like how does the French Caribbean compare to the English, you'd have to first find a suitable definition for those two terms.
Quote:
Originally Posted by caribny
Why not say French CREOLE influences, rather than French? Dominicans and St Lucians are very different from people from Lyon, or Marseilles.
Indeed, people from Lyon and Marseille are rather different from each other in and of themselves lol.
Why not say French CREOLE influences, rather than French? Dominicans and St Lucians are very different from people from Lyon, or Marseilles.
Can you ****ing read? I mentioned French Creole in the comment post so what the heck are you talking about. And it is very French anyway in customs and language and linguistic influence.
Each person in French and French creole speaking areas actually do have lots in common with French mainlanders. You'd be surprised how language and culture can unite people rather than skin color etc.
Culture and linguistic culture is very important and can unite people across so called racial lines.
100% on point. It's difficult to group islands using their colonisers as a point of reference when the majority of the Caribbean has switched hands so many times that the rulers in many cases have utterly different cultures from the people themselves. Up until the mid 20th century, the overwhelming majority of the Winward Islands was French-Creole speaking despite France only owning Martinique and Guadeloupe. You're also right in that the majority of the Leeward Islands are almost culturally identical despite being owned by the British, Dutch, Danish, Swedish and United States at various points in history.
So to ask a question like how does the French Caribbean compare to the English, you'd have to first find a suitable definition for those two terms.
Indeed, people from Lyon and Marseille are rather different from each other in and of themselves lol.
You'd be surprised. Even still today many of those islands still speak French based Creoles and patois and French based dialects. In addition there has always been island hopping and migrations between the islands with many having various anchorages and points and places of origins.
Even today majority of these populations in many areas and islands in the Caribbean are still historically rooted in and continue to speak French based dialect languages and partake in such cultures.
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