What You Will Learn
1. How to say common financial terms
2. How Money Works in Haitian Creole
3. How to Convert 'Haitian Dollars' to Haitian Gourdes
4. Why Haitians Say 'Haitian Dollars' (Dola Ayisyen) When It's Not Real Money
How to Say Money-related Terms in Haitian Creole
- The Haitian Creole word for money is lajan or kòb.
These Terms Are Useful If...
1. If you work with Haitians, especially customer service.
2. If you frequently visit Haiti and you are in situations that require you to buy thingss.
3. If you are a Haitian Creole interpreter having to interpret for Haitians in behalf of financial institutions.
How Money Works in Haitian Creole
- 1. Say the number amount of money and then say goud at the end. (see examples at the bottom part of the next image below)
- 2. Cents are not used for Haitian gourdes and Haitian dollars.
Haitian gourdes rarely use cents because of inflation, and Haitian dollars don't have cents at all because it's a concept, not real money.
How to Know if Someone is Talking About Haitian or American Dollars
1. In Haiti, when Haitians say dola, they are usually referring to the Haitian Dollar.
2. In the United States, when Haitians say dola, they are usually referring to the American Dollar.
3. To be specific, Haitians will often say dola Ayisyen or dola Ameriken to make it clear what type of money they are talking about.
Though you will likely know from the context, if you are conversing with Haitians, you can always ask them if they are talking about Haitian or American dollars to avoid cofusion.
How to Convert American Dollars to Haitian Gourdes
- The Haitian Creole word for money is lajan or kòb.
Examples
Remember: 1 Haitian dollar = 5 Haitian gourdes.
1. I have 20 gourdes.
Mwen gen 20 goud.
Mwen gen 5 dola Ayisyen.
2. Who has 300 gourdes?
Kiyès ki gen 300 goud?
Kiyès ki gen 60 dola Ayisyen?
*3. This costs $300.25 USD
Sa a koute 300 dola Ameriken e vennsenk santim
*Note on example 3: The value of American dollars to gourdes was not converted to Haitian dollars because the exchange rate is always changing since the economy itself is always changing
For example, one moment one US dollar could equal to 130 Haitian gourdes, and then could change shortly thereafter.
But, one Haitian dollar always equals to five Haitian gourdes regardless of the exchange rate of the American dollar to Haitian Gourdes, which is why the values were converted in examples 1 and 2.
Why Do Haitians Say Haitian Dollars When It's Not Real Money?
It's a habit for to Haitians say 'dola Ayisyen' because for a long time five gourdes used to equal to one American dollar.
1. This started during the period of American intervention in Haiti from 1915-1934. It became official by 1919
2. To make trading easier, the gourde was pegged to the US dollar, with five gourdes equalling one US dollar.
3. This exchange rate from the peg remained in place until 1989.
4. By the time this system had ended, this exchange rate had become a habit in everyday language
*5. Even though the US dollar is now worth far more gourdes, five gourdes is still be widely seen as one 'dollar' because of habit.
*Note: Of course, that 'dollar' is not a real US dollar. It reflects how things used to be for many years in the past. This is why another name for this concept is the Haitian dollar or dola Ayisyen
References
1. Office of the Historian. United States Department of State.U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Haiti, 1915–34.
2. World Bank.Haiti: Policy Proposals for Growth.