Kingston

The capital — where the journey begins

Wah gwaan, mi fren! Dis a Kingston, di capital (the capital city) an di heartbeat a Jamaica. A ya-so di Parliament sidung, a ya-so reggae music baan (where reggae was born), an a ya-so di biggest maakit inna di whole English-speaking Caribbean full up wid life every maanin. Mek wi start di journey right ya so.

Lessons in this parish

1. Greetings & the melody of Patois — Produce greeting and farewell formulas with authentic melody; master th→t/d and final -a sounds.
2. Names & Wha? — Ask and answer Wa yu niem?, Wa dat?, Wa yu a du? — wh-questions with no inversion and no 'is'.
3. Pronouns & fi-possession — Use the invariant pronouns mi/yu/im/shi/wi/unu/dem for subject, object AND possessive; claim ownership with fi.
4. Weh it deh? — city places — Locate people and things with the locative verb deh: Weh X deh? X deh a yaad.

Culture from Kingston

Gordon House: How Jamaica Run — Government and law
Trench Town: Weh Reggae Baan — Music
Coronation Market an di City weh Rise from di Sea — History

Every Patois word taught in Kingston →

Proverbs taught in Kingston

Jamaican proverbs travel; most of these are said all over the island. The parish is where the course teaches it, not a claim about where it started.

Howdy an tanky no bruk no square.Greetings and thanks cost you nothing — always give them freely.

Tek time get deh teday; mek haste get deh tomarra.Rushing costs you time — careful work gets there first.

Empty barrel mek di mos' noise.The loudest talkers usually know the least.

Start Kingston in the app →