It does not come as a surprise that very few speakers of Papiamento and Papiamentu can also spell in their mother tongue. Although the spelling has been officially established, teaching spelling has only for some years been part of the official school system. In this first public dictation we will evaluate the state of affairs. Visitors to Winternachten were invited to join in: choose Papiamentu or Papiamento and test your knowledge. They needn't worry about the results, only the number of faults that the winner makes was revealed. The prize: a recent copy of the Papiamentu-Dutch complete dictionary (2005). The dictation was put together by the FPI (Foundation for language planning) from Curaçao. Chairman of the jury was the director of FPI, Ronald Severing. Gilbert Wawoe, member of the State Council, dictated the Papiamentu, and children's book writer Olga Orman the Papiamento. You can try your Papiamento and Papiamentu by listening to the dictation on this recording. The correct spelling can been seen in this document (PDF). Dutch and Papiamento spoken.

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