Briefly explained, Pidgins are languages created for communication among people who speak different languages but have no interest or opportunity to learn each other's native language. They typically emerge as a result of international trading relations connected with slavery and colonization.
"Creole " is not a synonym for "Pidgin". Different from Pidgins, Creoles have native speakers, a fact that requires a higher level of linguistic development, and gives Creoles the status of natural languages. As language is always related to culture, it is important to read about the communities that speak Pidgins and Creoles in order to understand better these languages.
As Patricia Nichols says in her text "Pidgins and Creoles"*, these languages "allow us to observe the birth and evolution of a language within a highly compressed time frame", which is one of the main reasons why the study of Pidgins and Creoles is so interesting.
So, here is a list of websites where you may learn more about Pidgins and Creoles.
We hope you find what you are looking for!
*In "Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching", McKay, S.L, (org), New York: Cambridge University Press, 1966.
