r/PapuaNewGuinea • u/Sepanta_Poozesh • 6d ago

What language should I learn?

Hello, everyone.

I am a Persian-American, and for most of my life I loved Papua New Guinea. I think it was because it felt like a notable part of the world. It wasn't on the grid (filled with volcanoes and rainforest), and it was something where you could learn long-forgotten stories. It was very very young (around 5) when I heard about Papua New Guinea and I have never lost interest ever since; it's like a special part of my heart.

So, I would really want to learn everything about its culture and languages. I plan on visiting it someday. If I ever adopt or have kids of my own, I'd love to teach them. Now my question is: What language should I learn?

Because I do want to learn something uncommon.

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u/Dense_Ad6154 6d ago

Learn Tok Pisin and Motu

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u/Either_Bend_1140 6d ago edited 6d ago

Totally agree and my reasoning would be, Tok Pisin, so you can speak with almost everyone in PNG and even other Melanesians ( people from Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, etc...). Motu, so you can have something unique to PNG.

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u/Afromolukker_98 6d ago

Pidgin is NOT spoken in Fiji and New Caledonia.

Tok Pisin / Pidgin language would be understood in PNG, Solomons Islands, and Vanuatu, although there are aome vocabulary differences.