Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Speaking French in Vanuatu? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Vanuatu
midsy 03:30 UTC 06 Oct 2008 | Hello I'm interested to spend a holiday in Vanuatu, and I'm also interested to practice speaking French. I am hoping someone can give me an idea about how much French is spoken on the islands and if there are any areas best to visit for speaking French. Thanks for you time Mids |
mandja 09:51 UTC 06 Oct 2008 | Ive been to Vanuatu a couple of times , but each time around Vila, the capital. Very little French was spoken there. Maybe its different in the islands away from Vila, but I doubt it. "are any areas best to visit for speaking French." You would be better off visiting New Caledonia to practice your French where it is the norm. | 1
newfie43 22:49 UTC 06 Oct 2008 | I don't recall any French being spoken in Vanuatu but did notice a French influence in some of the cafes and restaurants, so I would assume there are some French speaking citizens around. We visited Tanna and did not see any signs of French, in either the language or culture. As Mandja has noted, New Caledonia is the place for French. We found on Ile de Pins that English is not spoken by many people, even in the tourist areas. | 2
deerose 00:40 UTC 07 Oct 2008 | French is still spoken in Vanuatu, but english and bislama are more commonly used. The ex-pat French community do of course speak french, but the Ni-Vanuatu tend to use bislama or english to speak to tourists. The Ni-Vanuatu have many different indigenous languages depending on the area they are from and so they use Bislama as the common language. You could consider combining a holiday to Vanuatu and New Caledonia very easily by flying Air Calin/Qantas into Noumea and onwards to Vila or Air Vanuatu/Qantas into Vila, etc., both are fantastic places to visit. | 3
midsy 07:03 UTC 07 Oct 2008 | Thanks for the advice Mandja, newfie43, and deerose. I really appreciate your efforts. Good one Mids | 4
Laszlo 09:21 UTC 07 Oct 2008 | French is still well-spoken in many parts of Vanuatu, but in specific Francophone/Catholic areas or villages. In those places very little English (but much French) is spoken, alongside Bislama and the local language. Interestingly, Francophone areas are often more traditional than Anglophone ones. Sure, more French is spoken in New Caledonia, but that is a very different country, so if prefer Vanuatu, dont be put off! There are still many, many French-speaking areas there. | 5
eddyv 22:47 UTC 08 Oct 2008 | I've just spent 6 weeks solo traveling in Vanuatu. My impression was that out in the villages and on the less-visited islands, French is more widely spoken than English by the ni-Vanuatu. Of course it depends on whether the local school is Anglophone or Francophone but I remember meeting more people who spoke reasonable French than I did English. | 6
midsy 08:08 UTC 09 Oct 2008 | Cheers for the posts. I wish i had more time and could go to both Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Maybe next time. Anyway, thanks for the input and assistance, this time New Caledonia is likely to be the option. Vanuatu looks like the better place for a proper exploration. Enjoy your travels, journeys and home life. | 7