Sāmoan Language Week – Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa

Sāmoan Language Week - Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa celebrates the third most spoken language in New Zealand. In 2018, it ran from Sunday 27 May to Saturday 2 June. Sāmoan is spoken by over 3,700 people¹ in Christchurch. This page highlights Sāmoan language resources and links to this year's events at Christchurch City Libraries.

Sāmoan Language Week 2018

The theme for 2018 was:

Alofa atu nei. Alofa mai taeao – Kindness given. Kindness gained

We celebrated Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa with storytimes in Sāmoan, card making, and a computer session.

Read the article in uncover huraina issue 7
Read it in the PDF version of uncover huraina issue 7 [6.5MB PDF]

Talofa banner

Find Sāmoan resources in our collection

Sāmoan songs

Watch our wonderful colleagues Tai Sila and Jan-Hai Te Ratana perform some short Sāmoan songs:

Sit down

The Colour song

Listen to Sāmoan words

Tālofa - Hello

Tofa - Goodbye

Malo - Well done

Fa'afetai - Thank you

Fa'amolemole - Please

Sāmoan language resources for kids

Sāmoan language books and resources for children

Cover: How Do You Say thank you? How do you say ‘thank you’? Karamia Müller, J 499.462 MUL
Alofa and Filipo want to learn gagana Sāmoa so at bedtime they ask their parents how to say various things in the Sāmoan language.

Counting fish in Sāmoan and English Ahurewa Kahukura, J 499.462 KAH
Count from 1 to 20 in Sāmoan and English.

Learning transport in Sāmoan and English Ahurewa Kahukura, J 499.462 KAH
Introduces the Sāmoan words for different kinds of transport including cars, buses and space ships.

Cover: Samoan Word Book Sāmoan word book Aumua Mata’itusi Simanu Papali’i, 499.462 PAP
Features beautifully illustrated vocabulary words, a pronunciation guide, and a glossary. Word categories include family, home, school, the body, opposites, numbers, nature, and time. Illustrations by Regina Meredith Malala bring terms to life.

Teuila Festival: aso fa’ailogaina ’o le Teuila Fiti Leung Wai, J 899.462 LEU
Bilingual reader about music festivals.

Faitauga numera: counting numbers in Sāmoan and English Bettina Ikenasio-Thorpe, J 499.462 IKE
A colourful, clear book of counting numbers in Sāmoan and English.

Sāmoan alphabet Lori Phillips, J 499.462 PHI
This book is part of the Island Alphabet Books series, which features languages and childrens’ artwork from the U.S.-affiliated Pacific. Each hardcover book contains the complete alphabet for the language, four or five examples for each letter, and a word list with English translations. The series was co-published with Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, a non-profit corporation that works collaboratively with school systems to enhance education across the Pacific.

Taumafa Sāmoa J 899.462 TAU
Introduces children to the preparation of traditional Sāmoan foods.

Sāmoa John MacKinven, J 745 MCK
This book is a resource book of patterns from Sāmoa used on siapo and in weaving. These resources can be utilised as a starting point for drawing, painting and printing activities, using materials readily available in New Zealand.