Word for the Travel Wise (01/16/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on

I just checked out the 2007 calendar of cultural events taking place in Papua New Guinea and what a line up! Go see what fantastic festivals and shows they have waiting for your viewing pleasure, then hop on one of these and go!

Today’s word is a Pidgin (Tok Pisin) word used in Papua New Guinea:

balus – plane

As noted in Wikipedia the word ‘tok’ means word or speech and the word ‘pisin’ means pidgin and is a Creole language spoken by about 4 million people as a second language and over a hundred thousand as a first. It is spoken in the northern mainland of Papua New Guinea. If you scroll down further you’ll find a nice list of words and some pronunciation examples. As an added bonus you can learn even more words by venturing into the online Tok Pisin phrasebook, also provided by Wiki. They’ve actually got a great handful of links which I suggest going through them all if you’re really into learning this lang. One last site I’ll note here though is Robert Eklund’s Tok Pisin page. It had pictures of signs, people and some audio clips. Looks a winner to learning the very basics.

Past Pidgin (Tok Pisin) words: natnat, kaikai, misis

Word for the Travel Wise (11/20/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Ladies shouldn’t experience too much confusion when hearing this word in Papua New Guinea. I’d have to find out if it applies to all women or strictly European women, but I’m willing to guess most women might hear this one at some point or another during their stay.

Today’s word is a Pidgin (Tok Pisin) word used in Papua New Guinea:

misis – European woman

As noted in Wikipedia the word ‘tok’ means word or speech and the word ‘pisin’ means pidgin and is a Creole language spoken by about 4 million people as a second language and over a hundred thousand as a first. It is spoken in the northern mainland of Papua New Guinea. If you scroll down further you’ll find a nice list of words and some pronunciation examples. As an added bonus you can learn even more words by venturing into the online Tok Pisin phrasebook, also provided by Wiki. They’ve actually got a great handful of links which I suggest going through them all if you’re really into learning this lang. One last site I’ll note here though is Robert Eklund’s Tok Pisin page. It had pictures of signs, people and some audio clips. Looks a winner to learning the very basics.

Past Pidgin (Tok Pisin) words: natnat, kaikai

Word for the Travel Wise (09/27/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

If all the words in the Pidgin language are repetitive like the two I’ve presented thus far I’d have to vote it as the easiest and most fun language to learn. However, all the words are not like this, but it still seems to be fairly simple to catch onto.

Today’s word is a Pidgin (Tok Pisin) word used in Papua New Guinea:

kaikai – food

As noted in Wikipedia the word ‘tok’ means word or speech and the word ‘pisin’ means pidgin and is a Creole language spoken by about 4 million people as a second language and over a hundred thousand as a first. It is spoken in the northern mainland of Papua New Guinea. If you scroll down further you’ll find a nice list of words and some pronunciation examples. As an added bonus you can learn even more words by venturing into the online Tok Pisin phrasebook, also provided by Wiki. They’ve actually got a great handful of links which I suggest going through them all if you’re really into learning this lang. One last site I’ll note here though is Robert Eklund’s Tok Pisin page. It had pictures of signs, people and some audio clips. Looks a winner to learning the very basics.

Past Pidgin (Tok Pisin) words: natnat

Pursuing the Pitohui

by Erik Olsen on

It has been a long time, to long, since we last visited the NPR Radio Expeditions site. I used to head over there quite often to listen to the numerous audio bios they’ve got posted of various well-known (and a few rather obscure) explorers and scientists. But I more or less heard them all, so I kind of went on to other things. But they are always producing new stuff, so it behooves us to check in every once in a while. To wit: I offer you today this excellent piece on a conservationist named Bruce Beehler who is wandering the mysterious cannibal-inhabited jungles of Papua New Guinea in search of a mysterious and poisonous bird native to the region called the pitohui. In typical NPR fashion, you really get a feel for the heat and the exoticness of the location, and as you follow Beehler and the local shaman that he befriends, you can’t help wonder, how did I end up in a damn office?

Word for the Travel Wise (08/23/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Papua New Guinea is a mysterious place to me. The name alone chimes of mysterious unspoken things man probably shouldn’t witness, but due to the nature of man, will do anything to do so. I imagine indigenous brown-skin tribes in loin cloth with darts filled with snake venom lurking in the wild. I see pale-skin explorers intruding and crossing boundaries to discover their secrets. Secrets that should be left alone and buried in the minds of the eldest and wisest member of the tribe. What do I really know? Considering that I’ve never thought to travel to Papua New Guinea I don’t know much at all, but if someone were to ask me what visions come to mind then those would be only a few. If I’m horribly wrong about the things in my head please feel free to put me in my place. I can handle it.

Today’s word is a Pidgin (Tok Pisin) word used in Papua New Guinea:

natnat – mosquito

As noted in Wikipedia the word ‘tok’ means word or speech and the word ‘pisin’ means pidgin and is a Creole language spoken by about 4 million people as a second language and over a hundred thousand as a first. It is spoken in the northern mainland of Papua New Guinea. If you scroll down further you’ll find a nice list of words and some pronunciation examples. As an added bonus you can learn even more words by venturing into the online Tok Pisin phrasebook, also provided by Wiki. They’ve actually got a great handful of links which I suggest going through them all if you’re really into learning this lang. One last site I’ll note here though is Robert Eklund’s Tok Pisin page. It had pictures of signs, people and some audio clips. Looks a winner to learning the very basics.