Languages and dictionary

Mauritius is a multicultural country, so it is no surprise that many different languages are spoken on this little island. English and French are the de facto official languages, although French is used mainly in the media. Both are taught in Mauritian schools, where Kreol and the ancestral Asian languages are offered as optional subjects. Because people of many different origins live in Mauritius, you can also hear various Chinese and Indian languages.

In daily life one language is spoken by almost everyone, no matter how old they are or where they originate from: Kreol. In the 2022 census about 90 % of Mauritians said that they speak it at home. The language is closely related to French. Since 2011 there has been an official way of spelling Kreol words, but you will still see many different spellings; the table below uses simple spellings that are easy to read aloud. Kreol came into existence during the colonial period, when slaves were forced to learn the language of the French landowners. In this way Kreol became a language that derives from French and absorbed Malagasy, Swahili and Tamil expressions, among others. About 1.1 million people speak Mauritian Kreol at home.

As a tourist you can get by in Mauritius with English. However, it is often very useful to know some French or Kreol expressions. Because French is similar to Kreol, Mauritians tend to understand and speak it better than English. Here is a little English-French-Kreol dictionary with helpful expressions and phrases.