subject: Visit Jamaica To Learn More About The Jamaican Culture [print this page] Jamaica is made up of a variety of different nationalities whether it is the descendants from the colonists or recent immigrants from Europe or the Middle East. Cultures have been mixing on Jamaica for hundreds of years. This mixture of cultures helps to instil pride in the inhabitants through the characteristically brassy banter between people which to the tourist seems borderline inappropriate. Furthermore, the Taino who previously inhabited the islands left behind their culture.
The majority of Jamaicans are very happy to talk about a variety of subjects whilst peppering their speech with words such as browning, redman, coolie, whitney, blacka, or Miss Chin. It is not difficult to find inhabitants from all sorts of ethical backgrounds in Jamaica, moreover, the islanders are extremely happy with the racial variances as they realise that this helps to form part of their unique culture.
Jamaicas culture is further highlighted by the use of their language. Despite the fact that Jamaicas main language is English, most of the people speak in their own dialects. This varies between villages. The main catalyst that form Jamaicas language come from a mixture of English, Spanish, African, including Irish, British and American idioms, as well as Rastafarian. These dialects are quite common on the island as you may well find that shoes for example are referred to in Spanish as zapatos or as nyam the African word that means eat. The language also links back to slavery, as the slaves discovered how to combine the languages of their owners with their own African tongues.
Jamaican culture is well flavoured by its cuisine. The aromatic spices of the Caribbean have enabled Jamaican kitchens to help make one of the most unusual fusions of flavours in the world. The best flavoured sauce on the menu is jerk which is combined with almost any meat dish. The islands exotic ingredients help to form this spicy sauce. Despite the easy access to seafood on the island, most Jamaican dishes however scare most tourists such as cow foot stew and goats head soup.
