Samoa Language Week

About Samoa Language Week 

Samoa Language Week / Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa is organised by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples to maintain and promote the language and culture of Samoa. Gagana Samoa is the second most spoken language in some cities like Auckland and Porirua, and the third most spoken language across New Zealand. 

Samoa Language Week celebrates the identity, language, and culture of students from Samoa and students whose families are from Samoa; supporting this group of learners to engage and achieve success.  

This special week helps all New Zealanders journey towards shared cultural understandings. 

Curriculum connections 

Samoa Language Week supports the curriculum principles of cultural diversity and inclusion, and provides an opportunity for students to explore the values of diversity and respect. Students who learn about the language and culture of Samoa can make use of key competencies and achieve learning outcomes described in the learning languages learning area.

How can you get involved? 

Some ideas for classroom programmes or school-wide activities:

Use your students as teachers
There is a high chance that you will have some speakers of Gagana Samoa in your school. Encourage those students to be experts during Samoa Language Week, and validate their expertise in front of other students. Support them to speak Gagana Samoa to each other and to others in the class. Invite these students to prepare the Samoa Language Week celebrations for the school, investigating the value of fa‘asamoa to others and placing an emphasis on shared language experiences.

Make connections to your community
Samoa Language Week is an ideal opportunity to engage with aiga in the school community. Acknowledge expertise, encourage a steady flow of Gagana Samoa speakers into the classroom, and let the community guide the teaching and learning in a fa‘asamoa way. Family members might like to share their customs and beliefs with the students. This is a great way to practise Gagana Samoa, as students can interact with fluent speakers in an everyday situation.

Discussion starters 
Use the following questions as discussion starters with your class – "Why is it important for all New Zealanders to celebrate and learn Gagana Samoa?" "What benefits will this bring to New Zealanders of Samoan descent?" This video could be used to explore attitudes towards learning Gagana Samoa. 

Learn some simple words and phrases
Words and phrases that you could try:

• Tālofa lava: Hello (formal)
• Mālō le soifua: Hello/Good health
• ‘O ā mai 'oe? How are you? (to one person only)
• Manuia fa‘afetai: Good, thank you
• Manuia le aso: Have a great day
• Tōfā soifua: Good bye (formal)

Speech competition
Hold a school Gagana Samoa speech competition, using senior students or parents as the judges.

Create a language resource 
Support students to create a Gagana Samoa resource that can be used by teachers and students across the school. Students could create a picture book, a simple language game, a vocabulary poster, a digital slideshow, etc. 

Read books written in Gagana Samoa 
Share books that are written in Gagana Samoa with your students. You could ask a grandparent or parent who is fluent in Gagana Samoa to come in and read. Check your resource room for Pasifika dual language resources. They are designed to support the early language and literacy learning of Pasifika new entrant students in English-medium classrooms. 

Download apps
Help your students download and use apps specifically designed with Gagana Samoa learners in mind, such as Little Learners Sāmoa and Fa'a Samoa.

Get involved in events
Find information about Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa and related events on the Ministry for Pacific Peoples website, on this Facebook page, or on the website of your local city library.

Instructional series

Another great way to get your students involved in Samoa Language Week is to incorporate it into your reading and writing programme. The Instructional Series offers several texts about the culture and language of Samoa. Here are our top picks:

Dances of Samoa, School Journal Level 2, October 2012
This article describes three well-known dance forms from Samoa. The article is accompanied by colourful, high-energy photos of students from a Porirua primary school performing the slap dance and the sāsā. 

Uncle Tino, School Journal Level 2, October 2012
This is a story about twins, Jessie and Jonas, who are embarrassed by their exuberant uncle who has recently arrived from Samoa. The lively story is woven through with Samoan concepts and values as Jessie and Jonas gradually change their attitudes toward Uncle Tino.

White Sunday in Samoa, Ready to Read, Level 1, 2003
This factual recount describes how a young Samoan boy, with the support of his family, gets ready to celebrate White Sunday. There is a glossary of Samoan terms and extra information about White Sunday at the end of the book.

School stories

Find out how schools are designing their curriculum to include connections to the language and culture of Samoa. 

Rangikura School – Pasifika parent group leads learning
During Samoa Language Week the staff, students, parents, and wider community of Rangikura School came together to enjoy an array of activities and celebrations which were organised by the school’s Rangikura Matua Pasifika Parent group.

Papakowhai School – Celebrating Samoa Language Week
This snapshot describes an integrated art and social sciences project that was planned for Year 5 and 6 students for Samoa Language Week. Find out how the NZC principles of cultural diversity and community engagement were brought to life through this sequence of learning activities. 

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