Samoa Language Week - Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa
Samoa Language Week - Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa celebrates the third most spoken language in New Zealand. In 2020, it starts on Sunday 24 May. Samoan is spoken by over 3,700 people in Christchurch. Find Samoan language resources in our collection.
Join us in celebrating Samoa Language Week.
Polokalame eseese o lo’o tutupu ile Vaiaso O le Gagana Samoa.
The Samoa Language Week theme for 2020 is:
Tapena sou ōso mo lau malaga
Prepare yourself a gift for your travels
Faitauga Tusi Samoan Storytimes with Tiresa
Learn the Samoan alphabet and sing a favourite song!
Samoa Language Week craft - Pale Fuiono
Talofa lava. Samoa Language Week - Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa starts this Sunday 24 May. Here is a Samoa Language Week craft from Tiresa.
Samoan songs
Watch our wonderful colleagues Tai Sila and Jan-Hai Te Ratana perform some short Samoan songs.
Sit down
The Colour song
Listen to Samoan words
Tālofa - Hello
Tofa - Goodbye
Malo - Well done
Fa'afetai - Thank you
Fa'amolemole - Please
Find Samoan resources in our collection
Samoan resources in our collection
Samoan language resources for kids
Sāmoan language books and resources for children
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.
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.
More Samoa Language Week resources
Read Pasifika salutations on the Pacific Languages Week webpage, Ministry for Pacific Peoples.
- Samoa Language Week page on Facebook
- Human Rights Commission
Previous Samoa Language Weeks
