The country has around 850 languages, the majority of which have barely been studied at all. This means that the academic world is missing out on a wealth of information on human language and language diversity.

‘The people in the village had designated Keke, a village elder, to teach me their language,’ Renger explains. ‘He came to the house where I was staying at 8:00 every day, with a margin of three-quarters of an hour because he told the time with the sun. Then I would ask him questions and would record stories.’

Renger also did literacy work during the placement. Close to the village is a school that almost all the children attend. The language of instruction is English, and although the children learn to read and write, they don’t do so in their native language. During his stay, Renger did activities such as reading games with words from Binumarien. Renger: ‘It came as a surprise to many of the children and parents that they find it fairly easy to read words in their own language too. This was a fun way to practise, but ultimately more will be needed to make the children proficient in reading and writing in Binumarien, including dedicated language lessons and reading material.’

On a personal level, it was a real character-building experience. ‘There was no telephone connection, running water or electricity in the village. A quarter of an hour up the mountain was a point where I could send apps on cloudless days. Washing was done in the river and I had a folding solar panel with me to charge my laptop and recording equipment. These different living conditions took some getting used to, but after a while I began to feel at home, and the experience that it has given me has been invaluable,’ says Renger. 

Renger, complete with all his data and unique experiences, has since returned to the Netherlands. He will be presenting his findings at a big language conference in his student town of Leiden.

‘Thank you Leiden University Fund! Or, as they say in Binumarien, dúfi dúfi.’ - Renger van Dasselaar

‘I’m so pleased that I had the chance to go to Papua New Guinea because I learnt such a lot personally from the experience and hope that my thesis will contribute to research into languages in Papua New Guinea.’