Ambassador Leroy “Wadix” Charles calls for year-round Kwéyòl learning ahead of secondary school spelling bee

Dominica’s Secondary School Kwéyòl Spelling Bee will take place on Friday, 13 November 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at Alliance Française de la Dominique. Ahead of the competition, I am inviting schools, families, cultural organisations and businesses to help create more opportunities for young Dominicans to speak, read, write and use Kwéyòl throughout the year.

At the competition’s media launch on 5 November at Cadence Café & Resto in Prevo Mall, the message I wanted to put before our students was simple. Kwéyòl belongs in your future. You hear it at home, in the market and in our music. Learning to read and write it gives you more ways to use what you already know, whether you are interviewing an elder for a school project, writing a story or creating something to share with your peers.

The spelling bee gives students a place to start

The competition gives secondary school students a public stage to demonstrate their command of written Kwéyòl. Preparing for it takes careful listening, practice and attention to how spoken words are written. It can also bring generations together. A student practising a word at home can ask a parent or grandparent how it is used, hear it in a sentence and discover the story or custom it carries.

I want students to carry that curiosity back to their classrooms. A word learned for the competition can become the starting point for an interview, a poem, a short film or a piece of research about a community. The competition’s official magazine is intended to extend that reach by sharing the initiative with schools, officials and readers in the French territories. We welcome businesses that wish to support the publication through advertising.

Creole Clubs would give students a place to practise throughout the school year

Creole Heartbeat’s proposed Creole Club programme would give students regular opportunities to use Kwéyòl with their peers and learn directly from people who carry Dominica’s traditions. The proposal covers primary and secondary schools as well as Dominica State College, with activities suited to each age group. Younger children could learn through songs, games and folktales. Secondary school students could take part in debates, produce podcasts and short films, and interview elders for the proposed My Kwéyòl Roots project. College students could explore how Kwéyòl can support work in media, tourism and commerce.

The proposal also includes a national Creole Roadshow to bring language games, short performances and introductory conversation sessions to schools and youth hubs, while giving students and teachers a way to form clubs. Proposed exchanges with peers in places such as Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Lucia could give students a reason to use Kwéyòl outside their own classrooms through video calls, storytelling and joint projects. Teachers, artists, artisans and other cultural practitioners would each have a role in making those experiences possible.

Creole 365 would carry that work into communities and businesses

Creole 365 is a vision for making Dominican Creole language and culture part of everyday life. October gives us a major stage to celebrate our heritage. The rest of the year gives schools time to develop programmes, communities time to record the knowledge of elders, and creative people opportunities to earn income from their work.

The economic possibilities are already visible. Hucksters and traders use Kwéyòl to build trust with customers and trading partners across the region. Musicians use it to reach audiences beyond Dominica, as we see on the stage of the World Creole Music Festival. Creole 365 would build on those examples by encouraging year-round heritage tours, food and music experiences, and support for artisans, farmers, designers and other cultural entrepreneurs. The proposed Creole 4 Business initiative would help entrepreneurs build relationships in Creole-speaking markets.

To turn that vision into a working programme, we need partners who can help set priorities, fund activities and track results. School participation, community involvement and opportunities created for cultural businesses would help show where the work is taking hold. Dominicans overseas can also contribute through cultural exchanges, virtual activities and connections to new audiences.

I invite educators, parents, cultural practitioners, businesses and the Dominican diaspora to take part. The spelling bee gives us an opportunity to see what students can do with Kwéyòl. The work that follows is to give them places to keep using it.

Competition — Friday, 13 November 2026, at 10:00 a.m.Venue — Alliance Française de la DominiqueMedia and partnership enquiries — Creole Heartbeat · creoleheartbeat@gmail.com

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