Pacific Islands

Malo e lelei!

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Celebrate Tongan Language Week 30th August – 5th September 2015.

Tonga

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This year’s theme is Fakakaloa Aotearoa ‘aki ‘a e faiva ‘a e Tonga – Enriching Aotearoa with Tongan arts. This celebration provides an opportunity to celebrate through music, song, dance, food, crafts and language.

Did you know…? There are more Tongan people born in New Zealand than there are in Tonga, giving lea faka-Tonga (the Tonga language) and anga faka-Tonga (Tonga culture) a special place here.

Have a go a Lea Faka-Tonga.

The basic level of counting in Tongan is easier then you think. All you have to do is learn the numbers 0-10 then you can count from 1-99. Follow these simple rules.

Counting 1-99 in Tongan

  • numbers 0-9 noa, taha, ua, tolu, fā, nima, ono, fitu, valu, hiva
  • the number for 10 is hongofulu (hoh-ngoh-foo-loo)
  • the number for 100 is teau (teh-ah-oo)
  • every other number is literally the words 0-9 combined: twenty becomes two zero – ua noa
  • three exceptions to the rule 22, 55 and 99 words shortened to uo ua, nime nima, hive hiva

Example: How do you say the following numbers in Tongan?

  1. 19 (nineteen) – taha hiva
  2. 44 (fourty four) – fā fā
  3. 99 (ninety nine) – hive hiva
  4. 87 (eighty seven) – valu fitu

Test: Can you saying the following numbers in Tongan?

  1. 15 (fifthteen)
  2. 33 (thirtythree)
  3. 50 (fifty)
  4. 11 (eleven)

Here are some fun online learning games for Tongan, and a simple guide to the language for beginners.

 Or try a book!

 

Niue Language Week 6-13th October

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Falaalofa lahi atu!

 

The theme for Niue Language Week is ‘fakamau, fakamanatu mo e fakaaoga tumau e vagahau Niue‘ which means ‘maintain, retain and develop the Niue language’.

The Pacific Island of Niue is very small and has a population of 1’400 people. It’s known as The Rock of the pacific, and is located about 2’400kms northeast of New Zealand. Niueans are automatically New Zealand citizens and have the same queen as New Zealand – Queen Elizabeth II.

90-96 % of Niueans live in New Zealand (22,473 people in 2006) and is our 4th largest Pacific Island population group. This also means that 70% of those that can speak Niuean live in New Zealand.

This week is Niuean Language week . Because the population is small and most of the Niueans live in New Zealand (where English is mostly spoken), it’s really important that the language is learnt and used by Niueans so that it survives.

Here’s a useful language guide for everyday words. You can also visit the official Niuean language website too, and the Wikipedia page is good for language experts. Why not give some words and sentences a go?

 

Here’s some cool facts about Niue:

  • It’s the largest coral island in the world
  • It was settled by Polynesians from Samoa in 900AD. The first European to see Niue was Captain James Cook in 1774AD
  • Captain Cook called the island Savage Island because he thought the islanders had blood smeared all over them. ‘Niue’ means ‘behold the coconut’.
  • Niue has free wireless internet for everyone who lives there. The first country to do so.
  • Every primary and secondary student has a lap top provided for them to do their school work on.
  • There is only 1 TV channel, 1 newspaper and 1 radio station.
  • Air New Zealand is the only airline that flies to Niue.
  • February is the hottest month, and March is the wettest (most rain falls over summer). Temperatures as high as 38 degrees have been recorded in Niue! That’s hot!
  • Niue is home to the Coconut Crab, that largest living crab in the word! It can grow up to 91cms wide. Scary!
  • Niue is on the other side of the International Date Line, which means that is is 23 hours behind New Zealand. Which means that at the moment it is yesterday in Niue.

Tongan Language Week 1-8 September

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Mālō e lelei! This week is Tongan Language Week – Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga

Did you know…

  • At the time of the last census (which was in 2006), there were 50,000 Tongans in New Zealand
  • They were the third largest Pacific group, after Samoans (131,000) and Cook Islanders (58,000), and the fastest growing group
  • Tongans born in New Zealand account for 56% of the total world-wide Tongan population. this means there are more Tongans born in NZ then there are in Tonga.
  • Just over 60% of Tongans speak the Tongan language, but only 40% of those born in New Zealand speak it.
Why not give the Tongan language a go this week? Here’s some great books to get you started:
 
And here’s a great website with some useful phrases. See if you can you figure out what this means: Hoku vakapuna tētē ‘i ‘olunga fono ‘i he toke

Toki sio!