Learning the Local Language in Palau: Becoming Truly “d’a tekoi er a Belau”

Published on April 23, 2026 and written by Cyril Jarnias

Moving to Palau with English in your pocket is enough to work, study, or handle administrative tasks. But to truly enter Palauan society, understand conversations at the market, jokes with your host family, or village meetings, you need another passport: the local language, Palauan, which locals call a tekoi er a Belau.

Why Palauan really matters for an expatriate

Palauan is one of the two official languages of the country, along with English. It is the native language of about 17,000 people and, according to national figures, over 60% of residents use it as their main daily language. In practice, about 80% of the population over five years old speaks it at home.

In institutions, English dominates: government, justice, business, secondary and higher education, tourism. Yet, in villages, families, markets, and customary meetings, it is Palauan that carries the emotions, implications, and a good part of social life.

For an expatriate, this implies several very concrete things.

Furthermore, Palauan is direct access to local culture, traditional songs, oral stories, conversations about fishing or clan decisions. One can live in Palau using only English, but then remains on the periphery of what constitutes the soul of the country.

Finally, learning a language known to be difficult like Palauan, with its rich grammar and specific pronunciations, is excellent cognitive training and a professional asset for people working in cooperation, education, research, sustainable tourism, or marine conservation.

Understanding the linguistic landscape of Palau

Before diving in, it’s useful to grasp the linguistic environment in which you will operate. In Palau, several languages coexist, with different official statuses depending on the islands.

Here is a simplified overview of the spoken languages, based on census data and official texts.

Approximate distribution of spoken languages

Language	Estimated share of the population	Status / notes
Palauan	~64.7%	Official language of the country (except island exceptions)
English	~9.4%	Official language, very present in administration
Filipino (Tagalog, etc.)	~13.5%	Significant Filipino diaspora
Chinese	~5.7%	Notable Chinese community
Carolinian	~1.5%	Neighboring Micronesian language
Japanese	~1.5%	Mainly elderly people, official language in Angaur
Other Asian and various languages	~5–6%	Various communities

In addition, there are special situations:

– in Sonsorol, Sonsorolese and English are official,

– in Tobi, Tobi and English,

– in Angaur, Angaur, Japanese, and English.

What does Palauan look like? An overview to get your bearings

Palauan belongs to the large Austronesian family, more precisely to the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup, but it has the particularity of not having any identified very close “cousins.” It also differs from neighboring Oceanic languages, making it a particularly interesting subject for linguists.

Pronunciation: few sounds, but pitfalls

The sound system of Palauan is relatively compact: about ten consonants and six vowels. But behind this apparent simplicity lie rules quite confusing for a French or English speaker.

Some key points useful for beginners:

(velar nasal), which can assimilate contextually. The “ch” is now pronounced as a glottal stop [ʔ], and no longer as the historical fricative [x]. There is no distinct /n/ phoneme, as it has merged with /ŋ/. Finally, the syllable structure is strictly CV or CVC, with borrowed words adapting to it.”]

Another surprising feature for a beginner: when a word starts with a vowel, a supporting [ŋ] often slips in front (for example ŋak for “I, me”), which can give the impression that this sound pops up everywhere.

Writing: a well-thought-out Latin alphabet

Palauan is written with the Latin alphabet, in an orthography standardized in the early 1970s by a Palauan spelling committee, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii. The basic principle is quite reassuring for the learner: “one phoneme, one symbol” as much as possible.

The alphabet includes: 26 letters.

– twelve “native” consonants,

– six consonants for borrowings (to note sounds from Japanese, English, etc.),

– ten vowels, including several officially recognized vowel sequences (about twenty “diphthongs” or vowel sequences in one syllable).

Some spelling choices have evolved: for example, the schwa was once noted by an “ę” with an ogonek in some grammars, but this notation has been abandoned in favor of a simple “e”, which simplifies life for beginners.

Grammar: rich, structured, very different from European languages

Palauan grammar is much farther from English or French than, for example, Tagalog or Indonesian, despite the Austronesian kinship.

Some structuring differences:

An important example for daily life: the future is constructed with mo + verb. This same mo has a broader meaning of change of state (“to become”), which adds a semantic component to its memorization. We also find perfective and imperfective markers that transform the root form, sometimes by deleting an initial consonant or adding an infix.

For the expatriate, this means not getting discouraged if verb forms seem unstable at first. The important thing, in the first weeks, is not to master complete paradigms, but to recognize key verbs in a few frequent constructions.

The first words to master to survive… and start a conversation

In an environment where everyone speaks English, one might be tempted to neglect the basics. Yet, a few dozen Palauan words and expressions are enough to change the tone of all your interactions.

We can distinguish three groups of phrases: greetings and politeness, practical daily management, and slightly more personal exchanges (introductions, family, health).

Greeting, thanking, being polite

Here is a small sample of formulas heard everywhere and that are valuable to know how to pronounce.

Function	Palauan	Approximate meaning in English
Hello / hi (formal)	Alii	Hello, hi
Good morning	Ungil tutau	Good morning
Good morning (late morning)	Ungil chodochosong	Good morning (late morning)
Good afternoon	Ungil sueleb / Ungil iita sils	Good afternoon
Good evening	Ungil kebesengei	Good evening
Goodbye	Mechikung / Mechikung me a uriul	Goodbye, see you later
Thank you (formal)	Ke kmal mesaul	Thank you very much
Thank you (common)	Ke mesulang / Mesulang	Thank you
Thank you (very familiar)	Sulang	Thanks (very casual)
Please	Adang / Choll	Please
Sorry	Komeng / Kora	Pardon, sorry

A simple complete greeting, like “Alii, ng ungil tutau” (“Hello, good morning”), followed by a “Ke ua ngarang?” (“How are you?”) and a “Ke kmal mesaul” when leaving, creates a warm atmosphere with most interlocutors.

Saying yes, no, and managing misunderstanding

For a beginner, it is essential to quickly learn to say “yes”, “no”, “I don’t understand”, “can you repeat?”.

Basic expression	Palauan	Approximate translation
Yes	Choi / O’ / Oi	Yes (various forms)
No	Ng diak	No / there isn’t
Maybe	Locha	Maybe
I don’t know	Ngaukai	I don’t know
I understand	Ak medengei	I understand
I don’t understand	Ng dial kudengei	I don’t understand
Speak more slowly, please	Bo mokokau el melekoi	Speak slowly, please
Repeat, please	Mluut el molekoi	Repeat, please

Being able to say “Ng dial kudengei, bo mokokau el melekoi” (“I don’t understand, speak more slowly”) is often the key to turning a blocked exchange into an impromptu mini-lesson with a kindly speaker.

Introducing yourself and talking a bit about yourself

Palauans are curious to know where foreigners living among them come from. Mastering a few phrases to introduce yourself creates an immediate bridge.

Idea	Palauan	Comment
What’s your name?	Ng techa ngklem ?	To ask for the first name
My name is…	A ngklek a …	“My name is…”
Where are you from?	Kę chad ęr kęr ęl beluu ?	Lit. “You are a person from which country?”
I am from…	Ak chad ęr a …	“I am a person from…”
Where were you born?	Kę mlechell ęr kęr ęl beluu ?	“You were born in which country?”
I was born in…	Ak mlechell ęr a …	“I was born in…”
How old are you?	Ng tela rekim ?	Lit. “What is your number of years?”
I am … years old	Ng … a rekik	“My years are …”

A phrase like “Ak chad ęr a Frans” (“I am from France”) or Ak chad ęr a Belguim (if borrowing the English name) is often enough to start a discussion about your home country.

Where and how to learn: courses, resources, and immersion

For an expatriate, the classic dilemma is the same as elsewhere: should one aim mainly for structured courses, or dive into immersion and “learn on the go”? Research on language learning shows that the combination of both is most effective: a solid base in class, then lots of practice in real life.

In Palau, several types of resources exist, even if the online offering is more developed than classic mainstream apps (Palauan is not yet available on Duolingo, for example).

Palau Community College: structured courses to go far

The Palau Community College (PCC), based in Koror, plays a central role in local training. Even though many courses are in English (business, environmental science, etc.), the college also offers Palauan language and culture teachings.

For example, you can find:

– a Conversational Palauan (PW 101) course dedicated to the basics of vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and useful sentence structures in social or professional situations,

– a Palauan Language and Culture course that, beyond language, covers history, arts, traditional forms like song (chelitakl), stories (cheldecheduch), or dance (ngloik),

– more advanced courses, like PW 119 (Advanced Palauan Grammar) where you work on spelling, reading more complex texts, and writing two- to three-page essays with correct spelling,

– PW 189 (Palauan Literature) which explores Palauan literature and how it reflects traditional values and social changes.

These courses can be taken as part of a degree program (associate degree in education, liberal arts, etc.) or as isolated units, sometimes non-credit, making them accessible even to those without a full academic project.

Tekinged.com: the reference online portal

For independent work, the site tekinged.com is an essential resource. It is a linguistic portal dedicated to Palauan, officially supported by the Palau Language Commission since 2015.

Its core is a very rich online Palauan-English dictionary: over 26,000 Palauan words, grouped into about 8,500 families, with nearly 3,000 example sentences and over 250 proverbs. The database is regularly updated, and users can report errors or suggest additions by email.

For a learner, this dictionary has several advantages:

– it distinguishes parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective…), which helps understand sentence structure,

– it provides examples in context, allowing you to see how verbs conjugate, how possessive suffixes attach to nouns,

– it integrates perfective and imperfective forms, spelling variants, and unifies them under a base entry (for example, the different forms of medengei “to know, to understand”).

Tekinged also offers a Dosuub section with explanations on pronunciation, common errors, affixes, numbers, grammar, as well as a page dedicated to common phrases. You’ll find many expressions that you can listen to, repeat, and integrate into your survival vocabulary.

For an expatriate, reading children’s books in Palauan may seem childish, but it is actually one of the most effective ways to quickly develop written comprehension and vocabulary, especially if you read alongside the English translation when available.

“Speaking Palauan” collections and other bilingual books

A series of books titled Speaking Palauan was originally designed to help Palauan children, including those born abroad, learn their heritage language. These works contain simple words, phrases, traditional colors, the alphabet, etc.

Even though they primarily target a young audience, they are excellent resources for beginner expatriates:

– they start with concrete, everyday vocabulary (body, house, colors, animals),

– they offer a bilingual Palauan-English approach,

– they are often illustrated, allowing you to directly associate image and word without systematic mental translation.

You can also find thematic books in Palauan with English translation, such as books on body parts or shapes and colors, available on online platforms.

Books with religious or cultural purposes complete the offering, for example Teach Me to Pray in Palauan (five simple Christian prayers in Palauan and English) or My First Palauan 200 Picture Word Book, a picture book of 200 words.

For an adult learner, these materials are perfect for:

– anchoring concrete vocabulary,

– working on pronunciation from small, easy-to-repeat words,

– revising in a light way, with children or Palauan friends.

Phrasebooks, conversation courses, and apps

There are Palauan conversation guides for travelers, with the most useful phrases for ordering at a restaurant, asking for a price, finding your way, etc. Some are sold as small manuals or integrated into courses for business travelers.

On the digital side, while major platforms like Duolingo or Babbel do not yet offer Palauan, you can still repurpose several generic tools:

– flashcard apps like Anki to create your own cards from vocabulary lists on tekinged.com or from books,

– tutoring platforms like Preply, Verbling, or others to search, if possible, for an online Palauan teacher (even though the offering is still very limited for this specific language),

– language exchange apps (Tandem, HelloTalk, etc.) – the important thing is to explicitly mention “Palauan / Palau” in your profile to be spotted by the few registered speakers.

Local media and online content

Even though audiovisual production in Palauan is not abundant, you can find:

– YouTube videos like “Learn basic Palauan”, sometimes hosted by young Palauans explaining greetings, numbers, essential phrases,

– excerpts of traditional songs, dances, commented ceremonies,

– blogs or short texts in Palauan, useful for getting used to the written language.

For the learner, the goal is not to understand everything right away, but to get familiar with the musicality of the language, identify already known words, and “let the ear work.”

What research says: immersion, classroom, or both?

Studies on foreign language learning, whether on French, Spanish, or other languages, converge on one point: immersion is decisive for developing oral fluency, listening comprehension, and social ease, while classroom learning is more effective for consolidating grammar, reading, writing.

In other words:

– the classroom gives you the structures,

– immersion gives you spontaneity.

Work conducted over several decades shows that learners in an immersive context acquire:

– better pronunciation,

– finer listening comprehension,

– more developed pragmatic competence (knowing when to use which formula, at what level of formality, with what implications).

But they may have more written grammar errors if this dimension is not specifically worked on.

For an expatriate in Palau, this argues for a mixed strategy:

A neurological study on adults learning an invented language showed that only those who benefited from immersion-type training developed brain patterns close to those of natives for grammar processing. Even though Palauan is more complex than an experimental mini-language, the principle remains valid: natural, interactive exposure plays a key role in the long-term installation of the language in the brain.

Concrete method for an expatriate: from arrival to the first months

Applying these broad principles to the Palauan context requires taking two factors into account:

– you operate in an environment where almost everyone speaks English,

– Palauan is considered difficult, particularly for French and English speakers.

This can encourage linguistic laziness. The solution is to create a framework, a routine, and a few rules of the game for yourself.

The 4 first basic objectives

In the first weeks, instead of aiming for vague “mastery”, aim for four very concrete objectives:

1. Know how to greet, introduce yourself, and thank in Palauan without hesitation.
2. Be able to express that you don’t understand, and ask to repeat or speak more slowly.
3. Know how to ask basic information (“Where is…?”, “How much does it cost?”, “What is your name?”).
4. Integrate about thirty everyday verbs and nouns (eat, drink, house, water, work, school, friends, family).

Rely on the most frequent words

Here is a small excerpt of this type of frequency list, which can guide your first memory cards.

Palauan word	Category	Main meaning
a	modifier	if, when
el	conjunction / link	who, that, which
er	preposition	at, in, of (depending on context)
e	conjunction	and, then, but
ngii	emphatic pronoun	he/she/it (non-human too)
mo	auxiliary	future / to become
diak	stative verb	to not be, to not exist
chad	noun	person, human being
ungil	stative verb	good, well
beluu	noun	country, village, place
tekoi	noun	word, language, speech, action
blai	noun	house, home, family
kall	noun	food
medengei	transitive stative verb	to know, to understand
chelechang	noun	now, today, nowadays
tekengel	possessed noun	speech, language, matter, subject

By learning these words with examples and pronunciation, you will already be able to decipher a large number of statements heard around you.

A typical learning day in Palau

Imagine a day for an expatriate who wants to make real progress:

This short but regular routine (15–30 minutes of targeted work + real interactions) is infinitely more effective than a big weekly block of three hours.

Immerse yourself in the culture to better retain the language

In Palau, the language is intimately linked to culture, traditional kinship structures, and the relationship to the ocean and land. Language learning therefore greatly benefits from relying on opportunities for cultural participation.

Workshops, museums, community life

Workshops on weaving, carving, painting, or traditional dance are sometimes offered by museums, cultural centers, or heritage projects. Even if English remains present, simply being present at these activities exposes you to natural Palauan, vocabulary related to objects, actions, instructions.

The important thing is to dare:

– ask for the Palauan name of objects you handle,

– repeat out loud,

– note down afterward a few words to add to your memory cards.

Host families, neighborhood, religious communities

Many expatriates live in private residences or staff housing, but seeking to get closer to a local family – even through regular visits – is a fantastic immersion opportunity.

Palauans generally have a sense of hospitality: they won’t expect you to speak perfectly, but will often be delighted to help you correct a sentence or find a word.

Managing specific difficulties of Palauan

For a Western expatriate, several points can be particularly confusing.

Complex verb grammar

Palauan verbs often change form according to tense, aspect, transitivity, and the possible presence of incorporated object pronouns. You encounter perfective, imperfective, causative, directional forms, etc.

Rather than trying to master everything at once, it is more realistic to:

Word order and absence of articles

The VOS organization can give an impression of “disorder” for a French speaker. Again, massive exposure to complete sentences helps internalize the pattern. Reading or listening to basic dialogues, repeating out loud, then trying to improvise short sentences following the same scheme allows for more secure progress than a purely theoretical approach.

“Floating” vowels and prosody

The alternation between [ɛ] and [ə], diphthongs, the insertion of [ŋ] before certain vowels, all of this can be confusing at first. The only realistic solution is:

– listen to a lot of Palauan,

– record yourself repeating model sentences,

– compare and adjust, ideally with feedback from a native speaker.

The good news is that most Palauans are used to hearing foreigners butcher their language and remain indulgent, as long as the effort and respect are there.

For expatriate children: leveraging school and youth resources

Expatriate families with children often find themselves in international or private schools, where English dominates, sometimes with other languages of instruction (American programs, IB, etc.). Palauan is variably present there.

Children can still benefit:

The Speaking Palauan series and bilingual picture books are particularly suitable for family learning, where parents and children discover vocabulary together. Repetition through images, nursery rhymes, and little stories is a very natural way to anchor the language in the young.

For parents, this can also be a motivation lever: learn to help the child with Palauan homework, or conversely, let the child serve as a “teacher” to teach parents what they learned at school.

Measuring progress and staying motivated

A common difficulty, in a context where English is enough for practical life, is maintaining motivation in the medium term. Several strategies can help:

One of the collateral benefits is that learning Palauan deepens not only your understanding of Palauan society, but also your own relationship to language, identity, and the way a small island community articulates tradition and modernity.

In conclusion: making language a gesture of respect

In Palau, English opens administrative, academic, professional doors. Palauan, on the other hand, opens the doors of homes, end-of-day conversations, village decisions, jokes that are never translated.

With courses at Palau Community College, online resources like tekinged.com, bilingual books, cultural workshops, and above all the kindness of a community ready to hear you stammer Alii, ke ua ngarang?, you have everything you need to make Palauan more than just a “plus” on your expatriate CV: a genuine link with your host country.