But this does not seem to be the case as Solomon Islanders tend to shy away from speaking the 'official language'.

"Speaking in English is not common on the streets because of the locals' tendency to tease," people approached told Solomon Times.

It is not because they don't want to speak English or cannot speak it as the majority of the locals are good English speakers.

"There is nothing wrong with getting the sentences all mixed up in English, this is all part of learning something new everyday," a young Airlines worker told Solomon Times.

She reasoned that some people are ashamed to speak out in public because of lack of confidence in the language that is not their mother-tongue.

"We have to get out of this mentality and be more encouraging in order to match up with other neighbouring countries in the region," she added.

It was agreed that not taking things seriously is doing nobody any good but "making a fool of themselves".