Tongan Language week events

This week is Tongan Language Week and Unitec and MIT are running a joint programme. Click here for the full programme

This year’s theme for Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga – Tonga Language Week – is: Ke Tu’uloa ‘a e lea faka-Tonga ‘i Aotearoa, which means Sustaining the Tonga Language in Aotearoa. 

Ke Tu’uloa ‘a e lea faka-Tönga′ ‘i Aotearoa has a positive and progressive connotation. To support the overarching Language Weeks theme of Sustainability, the word TU’ULOA in the theme this year means to continuously grow, nurture, and sustain a valued idea, practice, event, or memory in an enduring way.

In his acknowledgement of Tonga Language Week, Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio urges Tongans everywhere to embrace Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga, to help stop the decline in its use by the New Zealand born Tongan population.

As well as Unitec and MIT, activities and events will be hosted throughout Aotearoa, to embrace Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga. Given the success of Tongan Language Week online last year, some community groups are planning to deliver their initiatives online, while the majority will be face-to-face. Many of the initiatives this year continue to focus on youth and the passing of cultural knowledge from the elders to young people.

Stay connected online by visiting the official NZ Tonga Language Week Facebook page.