Speaking without patience
The last year I decided to make a video speaking Louisiana Creole. My goal was simple: encourage people to learn our endangered language. A lot of people heard about the language, but never heard it spoken. Other people can remember when they would hear it being spoken by their own grandparents. So yes, I expected people would like that video—but I did not expect it to grow as it did.
That response made me want to continue creating things in and about Kouri-Vini and grow my presence around language, culture, and study. Well, something happened—something that both troubled and taught me a good lesson.
People have the habit of responding before they understand
I’ll tell you
My presence on the internet focuses on information, study, with historical importance, linguistics and black people’s culture in the diaspora. In a little bit of time, I noticed a disconnect between people and the things they consume. A lot of comments below my posts focused on what they supposed instead of what I am saying. Or they feel they need to let go of the lagniappe information that has no relation with what I’m saying.
Why does this happen?
You could say “They are stupid,” and continue. But I have more interest in understanding the cause—because this foolishness is a condition, not identity. So, look at a few reasons why people speak fast before understanding.
First: Our attention is short
We live in an era that is full of information built to keep our attention by speed and emotion. What’s faster is more accepted. Our phones are full with a flow of stimulation—every post drags us towards another direction. After some time, our minds develop the habit of jumping from one idea to another instead of following one.
That brings us to our second reason
We have too much access to other people’s minds
Below every post there is a comment section. Sometimes it’s great — people say exactly what we are thinking, then we laugh and continue. But there are other times when there are comments that are so weird that they cry out for our responses. We respond. Then they respond. Then someone else joins. After a bit of time, we’re stuck discussing with people that we have never met. Then, multiply that by a million people, on every social media platform, every day.
We are living in a century of reactions and debates at every instant. Often fueled by emotion more than understanding. After some time, it created a culture where people speak fast but listen slow.
Conclusion
What I came to realize is that: the problem is not just that people don’t understand—it’s because we are conditioned to speed that we are incapable of slowing down enough to understand
To learn a language like Kouri-Vini, you must have patience, humility, and attention. We need the same things when we speak to one another.
Joseph Mayeaux
Joseph Mayeaux, born in Texas and lives in Louisiana, is a member of the Creole language revitalization community. He has become a public figure on social media, especially with his Tiktok and Instagram accounts. He also teaches the language with his class Yod University: Kouri-Vini on Skool.
