Have you ever thought about learning a language, but then took one look at size of the dictionary and thought, “I can’t learn all that”? Enter Toki Pona.
What is Toki Pona?
Toki Pona is a constructed language by created jan Sonja (Sonja Lang) in 2001. The language is minimalist, only having a core vocabulary of 120 words, though this number varies from speaker to speaker. jan Sonja created the language to simplify her thoughts and promote positive thinking. Its name comes from the two Toki Pona words: toki, meaning language, talk, or hello, and pona meaning good. Language enthusiasts are its primary speakers, with no speakers claiming it as their native language.
Beginnings
In its beginning, the communities that used the language were pretty small. Since then, the language’s following has grown, but still remains small. As of 2024, ma pona pi toki pona (lit. good place of good language) is a popular Discord server in the community with over 14,000 members. There have also been several literary works released by jan Sonja since its inception. The first book, released in 2014, is Toki Pona: The Language of Good (or “pu” in Toki Pona), containing 123 core words used by speakers at that time. She released a second book, the Toki Pona Dictionary (or “ku”) in 2021, which compiles 11,000 example translations. She released her newest book in 2024, a translation of The Wizard of Oz in Toki Pona as part of a series named “su.”
So Why Should I Learn It?
There are several reasons you might want to learn Toki Pona. Maybe you think it could be cool to say you have learned a second language. Perhaps the study of languages interests you. Or maybe you want to try to simplify your thoughts like jan Sonja. Whatever the reason, consider learning it. If you need a guide through this (fairly short) journey, consider checking out Lesson #0 to pick up the basics.