As a nation we don't take up that much space in the world in terms of land and sea area but out of the 6900 spoken languages of the world almost a quarter of them are spoken in Papua New Guinea! It's quite uncommon in the world (especially in the so-called 'developed' world) to grow up speaking at least 3 languages.

Most people in our villages can speak at least 5 languages (including the inadequate English language). Sadly this ability is dying out because we have been brainwashed into thinking that speaking our Tokples is detrimental to education and a hindrance to the development of Papua New Guinea.

The truth is light years away from this misconception. Many studies have proven beyond a doubt that being multilingual actually has a positive effect on intellectual growth! There are cognitive, cultural and employment benefits of being multilingual. Plus multilingual people often have better social skills then mono or even bilingual people!

Okay so now can someone please tell me WHY it is that a huge number of us living in the urban prisons (Pom, Lae, Madang, Rabaul etc) are ashamed to be heard or seen speaking our Tokples? Enough of this regressive-to-progress b*llsh*t mentality! Let’s be real; let’s embrace all our talents and our uniqueness in speaking our Tokples. Let’s celebrate the ability to speak more than the boring old English and bastardized Tok Pisin!

©Klaireh