about

Mālō ‘etau lava pea Mālō ho mou lava mai! Greetings and WELCOME to “Letʼs Learn Tongan”.

My name is Hema Fifita, I am a mother and a teacher to my children. Passing on the Tongan language and culture to my children is very important to me as it will help them successfully navigate this modern world.  HOWEVER there are very few resources in the Tongan language form! This fact makes it very challenging for parents and children that like to learn and want to engage in the language.

My intention for LetsLearnTongan.com is to be a great resource to make learning the Tongan language fun. This blog is based on my own experience engaging with my children in Tongan and my own internal questions about the Tongan language. My passion is to continually learn and share with you all.

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What can you expect to find here?

  • games and ideas
  • songs to listen and repeat
  • hands-on learning activities
  • printables
  • Make arts and crafts projects
  • book reviews, recommendations for our favorite products
  • parenting & teaching tips and ideas
  • plus more!!!

12 responses to “about”

  1. Shara Halaʻapiʻapi Avatar
    Shara Halaʻapiʻapi

    Mālō e lelei
    I just wanted to say thankyou so much for this site!! I am married to a Tongan man and have been teaching our 2 small children for a few years, but as I am basically self-taught resources like this are so precious!! I really hope you keep it up and I canʻt wait for more songs/acitivies for kids!!
    Shara Halaʻapiʻapi

    Reply
    1. Hema Fifita Avatar
      Hema Fifita

      Mālō Shara for your support 🙂 I really do enjoy it seeing my kids so engaged. Even more knowing you guys do to.

      ʻOfa atu ē

      Reply
      1. Shara Halaʻapiʻapi Avatar
        Shara Halaʻapiʻapi

        Mo au pē 🙂 Also, do you know of any songs that teach the Tongan days of the week, my sonʻs finding it a bit hard to remember Tuʻapulelulu lol
        ʻofa atu

      2. Hema Fifita Avatar
        Hema Fifita

        I use the Adams family tune (start with tokonaki mo monite, tusite pulelulu koe ngaahi ʻaho ʻoe uike (da-da da-da-da-da snap fingers) tuʻapulelulu (slow emphasis on tuʻa then sing rest as normal) mo falaite fakaoc ʻae tokonaki koe ngaahi ʻaho ʻoe uike 🙂 i will definitely make a clip. Have fun! 🙂

  2. Shara Halaʻapiʻapi Avatar
    Shara Halaʻapiʻapi

    Mālō ʻaupito! Yes post a clip that would be great!

    Reply
  3. PasifikaObserver Avatar
    PasifikaObserver

    Brilliant! I love it and I’m gonna use it! Great job!

    Reply
    1. Hema Fifita Avatar
      Hema Fifita

      Thanks for feedback Dagmara, much appreciated!

      Reply
  4. Lusia Latu Avatar
    Lusia Latu

    Thanks Hema for this site – this is brilliant and will be of great help to me and my Tongan-palangi household.

    Reply
    1. Hema Fifita Avatar
      Hema Fifita

      Mālō Lusia for taking the time to comment I am encouraged by your support

      Reply
  5. Meleate Puniani-Tamanika Avatar
    Meleate Puniani-Tamanika

    Malo Hema,

    Super proud seeing something like this on the Internet. Just thinking about all people around the world who want to learn their language but have no tutor or someone to learn off.

    Also very happy seeing you use my version of “KO HOKU LOTO” on here. NJ10 is me.

    Keep up the good work

    ‘Ofa Atu and God bless

    Reply
    1. Hema Fifita Avatar
      Hema Fifita

      Malo Meleate thanks for the support. I love your version of “Ko hoku loto” 🙂

      Reply
    2. Hema Fifita Avatar
      Hema Fifita

      Mālō Meleate, thank you for your support, I love your version of “Ko Hoku Loto” it is a favourite. Hope to hear more ‘Ofa atu Hema

      Reply

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