Guyanese Creole... what I know

Guyana is the only English speaking country in South America. As a teacher, I was very happy to discover that I would not have to teach in a whole new language. However, Guyanese Creole is different from American English and it can even sound like a whole separate language at times. As far as teaching goes, Guyana follows the Bristish system. Therefore, it may take some getting used to the different spellings of words. Here is what I found so far…
English taught in the schools of Guyana are based on the Queen's English (Britain) compared to the American English spelling of words; e.g. Americans spell the word as "Labor", while in the Queen's English it is spelt as "Labour".
Guyanese people speak English/Guyanese Creole while learning the English system of writing and reading in schools. It is a slightly different system of communication from the standard forms. This is the main reason why many Guyanese and outsiders say that Guyanese Creole is basically English. Words that end with er for Ex: Water, Teacher, Better, change the word er to a. Translating Guyanese language to English or the opposite way are basically the same. The vowels are a bit mixed up and as a result Guyanese Creole language was formed. Guyanese people use simple words, which they fuse with other words, this creates a faster speech rate from the original English.
*HAHA- I should fit right in as I speak extremely fast when I am excited (and sometimes when I’m not). My boss says that I am “hyper-verbal” and everyone seems to agree!
Examples of the English in daily use in the Caribbean include a different set of pronouns, typically, me, meh, or mi, you, yuh, he, she, it, we, wi or alawe, allyuh or unu, and dem or day. I, mi, my, he, she, ih, it, we, wi or alawe, allayu' or unu, and dem, den, deh for "them" with Central Americans. The so-called "dropping the 'h'" or th-stopping in th- words is common.
It is common in Guyanese Creole to repeat adjectives for emphasis (as if saying, very or extremely). For example, "Dis wata de col col" translates into "This water is very cold". "Come now now" translates into "come right now”
For a list of common phrases, check out Angie’s blog!
Here is a great link that gives some common differences between American and British spellings… however, who knows if they will be the same in Guyana!
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/jones/differences.htm