Caribbean
Video Chat with People from Haiti
Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, and the people you meet from there might be in Port-au-Prince, in Cap-Haïtien below the mountaintop Citadelle, in artsy Jacmel on the south coast, or in towns across the green central plateau. Haitian Creole (Kreyòl) is the language nearly everyone grows up speaking, and French is the second official language, used more in writing, news and formal settings. Many Haitians have family in Miami, New York, Boston or Montreal, so English and Spanish turn up in conversations too.
Haiti currently follows the same daylight saving schedule as the United States, so its clock matches Miami and New York and evening there is evening on the US East Coast too. Kompa is an easy topic to start with, along with rara bands, colorful Haitian painting, cut-metal art, and the papier-mâché masks of Jacmel's carnival. Food talk might cover griot (crispy fried pork) with spicy pikliz, diri djon djon (rice cooked with black mushrooms) and soup joumou, the pumpkin soup many families share on January 1. For French phrases, visit our French page.
Haiti at a glance
| Flag | 🇭🇹 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Republic of Haiti |
| Capital | Port-au-Prince |
| Region | Americas · Caribbean |
| Official languages | French and Haitian Creole |
| Currency | Haitian gourde (G, HTG) |
| Calling code | +509 |
| Time zone | Eastern Time (America/Port-au-Prince) |
How to say hello
A few words of French make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haitian Creole | Sak pase? | sahk pah-SAY | What's up? |
| Haitian Creole | N ap boule! | nahp boo-LAY | All good! (the classic reply) |
| Haitian Creole | Bonswa! | bohn-SWAH | Good afternoon! / Good evening! |
| French | Bonsoir, comment allez-vous? | bohn-SWAHR, koh-mahn tah-lay VOO | Good evening, how are you? (polite) |
Tips for chatting with people from Haiti
- Answer "Sak pase?" with "N ap boule!" and you've nailed the classic Kreyòl exchange; trying it tends to earn a laugh and a warm welcome.
- Kreyòl is the everyday language, so don't assume someone wants to chat in French. Ask which they prefer, or try English.
- Ask where they're chatting from and where their family's hometown is; someone in Montreal or Brooklyn may still have lots to say about Jacmel or Les Cayes.
- Haitian Creole spelling is phonetic, so if a word is new, ask your partner to type it; you can usually sound it out right away.
Only meet people from Haiti
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Haiti, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Haiti and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Haiti, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Haiti are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Haiti borders 1 country. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too: