Albert Little- US VSO in Jamaica

BBC Learning English
People and Places
Albert Little- US VSO in Jamaica

Yvonne: Welcome to "People and Places" – where we meet

interesting people and find

out about interesting places with bbclearningenglish.com.

Hello, I'm Yvonne

Archer 1.

On a recent visit to Jamaica, which is about 550 miles or

885 kilometres South of Miami, I met an interesting man who

is a long way from home. So I wanted to know why he's there

and what language he's been learning. Jamaicans speak

English and so does he… don't they speak the same kind of

English?

Albert Little

My name is Albert Little and I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana

from the United States…

Yvonne: Albert Little is an American and he obviously

speaks American English…more on that later. But what is he

doing in such a rural part of Jamaica – deep in the

countryside where most people are farmers – and away from

the places where tourists usually go? Try to catch Albert's

two reasons for his presence in Jamaica…

Albert Little

One thing about me is that I love to travel so I looked

into the Peace Corps 2 and I thought of it as an opportunity

to learn about different cultures and things like that.

Yvonne: Albert loves to travel and he enjoys learning about

other cultures and thought it would provide him with a good

opportunity – a great chance – to do both.
The Peace Corps is an American organisation 3 which has been

running for more

than 40 years and Albert Little is one of about 170,000

voluntary workers. So far, volunteers like Albert, have left their home and way

of life in the United States to work for no pay in about

170 different countries around the world. They work with

local communities to help in areas such as education, youth

work, community development, the environment and IT –

Information Technology.

Albert was sent to Jamaica to work in the field of IT – so

he helps local people make the best use of the information

technology that's available to them. Albert didn't go to

Africa because he didn't have all the medical test results

that were needed. And, Albert didn't go to South America

because he didn't have enough time to sort out his flat and

his car before he had to leave the United States. Listen

again, but this time, try to catch the American English

word Albert uses for 'flat', the term he uses to mean 'to

make arrangements' or 'to sort out', and
the term he uses to talk about not having enough time…

Albert Little

When I first joined the Peace Corps, they were going to

send me to Africa but I did not get medically cleared for

that. So then they were going to send me to South America,

and the
time-frame for me to move out of my apartment and deal with

my car and everything was too short.

Yvonne: Albert couldn't go to South America because the

'time-frame was too short' –

he didn't have enough time 'to deal with' – to sort out

his car and his 'apartment'

– the American English word for 'flat'. So, off he went to

Jamaica and the first thing he had to do was complete a two

month training course. Albert obviously speaks American

English, but in Jamaica, he's been learning another kind of

English. Let's find out what it is…
 

The training period basically focuses on things like

language, learning the patois 4, cultures,

some of the social norms 5 and things like that.

Yvonne: Albert's been learning about Jamaican culture –

its traditions, and as he put it in American English: 'the

social norms' - how to behave amongst Jamaican people so

that he doesn't upset them.. But why is Albert also

learning 'patois' – Jamaican English – when they can all

understand each other?

Albert Little

One of the major things about integration 6 is that, you

know, you have to be able to communicate with the people.

And also in terms of safety, you know, if someone

approaches you, it would be good to know, you know, the

chat - the patois… because when they first see you, they

think 'tourists'.

Yvonne: Albert and the Peace Corps believe that being able

to speak 'patois' – Jamaican English – can help to keep

him safe because people might not just see him as a rich

tourist – a visitor to the island. And speaking with

people using their own type of English helps Albert to

integrate 7 – it becomes easier for him to live and work

within Jamaican communities. So, what can he say in patois

so far?

Albert Little

Well right now, it's mainly just some greetings. You know,

I say 'waa gwaan' or 'w'appen' or, you know, things like

that. But I can't really, you know, go into an in-depth

conversation in patios 8, not yet anyway.

Yvonne: 'Waa gwaan?' – what's going on? And 'w'appen?' –

what's happening?... Are greetings, ways of saying 'hello'.

And Albert hopes he'll be able to say lots more soon. But

for now, he's happy to tell us in American English:
 

My main objective 9 is really to make people self-sustainable

in terms of technology so they

won't have to rely on someone to do things for them - you

know, just everyday things to keep pace with the rest of

the world. You know, to see people live and the struggles

that they have to go through day by day, I feel really

blessed.