Celebrations continue this week as we are also celebrating the Tuvalu language. There are more than 3,500 people of Tuvaluan heritage living in New Zealand to date. The language is called Tuvalu and is similar to Samoan. With Tuvalu being one of NZ’s smallest Pacific communities Tuvalu Language Week encourages people to work together to protect Tuvalu culture for future generations.
Check out our fun fact sheets and video's
Tu means ‘to stand’ and valu means eight.
Therefore, Tuvalu can be interpreted as eight islands standing together’.
Where is Tuvalu?
The island is located in west-central Pacific ocean. Its neighbours include Kiribati to the north, Fiji and New Caledonia to the south. It is made up of a chain of 9 small coral islands.
Sharing the "Ministry for Pacifica peoples" : Due to COVID-19 Alert Levels across Aotearoa Vaiaso o te Gana Tuvalu – Tuvalu Language Week will be celebrated online. Celebrate and connect online by visiting the official NZ Tuvalu Language Week Facebook page.
Try learning some everyday greeting and saying them back to people you know.
Or extend your learning to phrases. If you know someone form Tuvalu having a birthday this week , try wishing them a Happy Birthday , they will be impressed!
Learn to count to 10 in Tuvalu.
or wow them with learning the alphabet
Take a look at some of the incredible Tuvaluan objects that can be found at the Auckland Museum
To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world -
quoted: by Chinese proverb