A Brief Lesson on Mauritian Creole

Have you ever been to Mauritius? If so, you might have been perplexed to find that even though guide books and fact sheets mention that English is the official language, most people do not speak it on the island! But it stays a fact that the average Mauritian can be fluent in a minimum of four languages at least.

English is used for administrative and executive purposes mainly that too in writing. In actual fact, most Mauritians speak Kreol Morisyen as well as French and some Bhojpuri. The phonology of Mauritian creole is very similar to that of French. To Mauritians who are reading, I had like to know in the comment section below if you actually knew that our native language actually has some words borrowed from Tamil very directly! For example: Pipangay for Peerkanggaye, Patol for Pudol, Kotomili for Kottumalli (it's 'coriandre' in French) and of course the famous Ayo! borrowed from the classic Ayyo!

I share this short lesson with you, especially tourists headed soon to our paradise island and my fellow international peers on campus for them to brush up on their Creole-speaking skills. Who knows, this might earn you bonus points with the ladies or the gents or maybe a complimentary cocktail… Mauritians love when tourists or foreigners try to speak Creole. Why would we not enjoy having a good laugh?