Tongan Language Week: ‘Let’s preserve our language by speaking it at home’

​It's Tongan Language Week, and advocates are calling for a wide response to stop dwindling rates of Lea Faka-Tonga speakers.

This year's theme is “E tu'uloa 'a e Lea Faka-Tongá 'o ka lea’aki 'i 'api, siasi (lotú), mo e nofo-'a-kāingá”, which means the Tongan language will be sustainable if used at home, church and in the wider community.

Reverend Kalolo Fihaki encourages every Tongan-speaking person to make sure it is cultivated.

“Leave the teaching of English for the teachers at school, let’s preserve our language by speaking it at home.”

Fihaki was part of the first committee to run Tongan Language Week in 2011. Speaking to Levi Matautia-Morgan on ​531pi's Pacific Mornings, ​Fihaki says he wants to make sure church services remain enriched with Tongan language. 

“There’s a trend to move on [from] bilingual language at church, but at the same time, it’s always good to encourage parishioners to speak.”

Secretary for Pacific Peoples Gerardine Clifford Lidstone is encouraging all Tongans to embrace their culture and language this week.

“The 2018 census shows the Tongan population has increased to over 82,000," she says.

"Of those Tongans who call New Zealand home, 40 per cent speak the language, 57 per cent of New Zealand-born Tongans speak Lea Faka-Tonga, and only 12 per cent of those under 15 speak the language.”

Minister for Pacific Peoples Barbara Edmonds says Pacific communities are vital to the diversity and culture of New Zealand, and language is a large part of that.

“For our Pacific communities, language is more than just a means of communication. It’s an important way to link generations and maintain connections to our ancestral roots.

“We’ve heard from our Tongan community that grassroots initiatives, speaking Lea Faka-Tonga at home, and total immersion in culture are important to strengthen and maintain language.”

More information and resources can be found on the Ministry for Pacific Peoples website.