Tok Pisin: the lingua franca of Papua New Guinea, and a language in its own right. Even if you don't speak it, and will never meet a Papua New Guinean in your life (shame on you) this book beats the average Teach Yourself French hands down. This is interesting even if you never leave England. Hell, this is essential reading even if you never leave your drawing room and a maid brings you tea on a tray and carries you to a commode in the corner of the room when you've overdosed on port. There are people, who choose this way of life. I kid you not. Here I am not speaking of anyone unfortunate enough through no fault of their own, through age or infirmity, to be confined to their own study walls. Here I speak of those who shall rename nameless, such as the currently practising London barrister who managed to contract teenage gout. Numquam poetor nisi podager (Ennius). Tennyson would have been proud of teenage gout.
My point is. If you can obtain a copy of this book, and if you have an interest in languages, then Fr. Mihalic has produced for you a readable, practical glory. If you ARE in fact heading for PNG, then you MUST read it, if only for the adversative mood form of the verb: Yu no kilim; paitim nating ("Don't kill it; merely hit it") etc. etc., and so on. "God i no gat pinis bilong en" does not translate in the way one might expect (it means "God is Eternal," rather than "God has no gentleman's whotsit"). As I say. Essential reading if you're travelling that way. Don't bother with the Lonely Planet by the way. In my experience, the speed at which things change in PNG, it is better to have a good grasp of the language skills than a map of a town which was burned to the ground three years ago since the glossy pic was taken. Your choice of course.
Some choice and eternal phrases from the poetical Tok Pisisn from Fr. Mihalic
Mi gat pispis blut - I have blackwater fever.
Pilai nating - to play for fun, to play soccer with little or no attention to the rules of the game.
Sindaun bilong ol i gutpela - They are leading good lives.
Em tasol i paitim mi - This one hit me.
Mi lukim wanpela pukpuk - I saw a crocodile.
All of these are far more useful than being able to ask the way to the coffee shop (there won't be one), the post office (its just been raided and burned down) or the police station (its no good going to them, they're the one ones who did it).
This title from the Jacaranda Press is probably best obtained in UK from AbeBooks.co.uk who have access to booksellers in Australia where most copies of this book exist.
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