Author Archives: Ms Whaea

Mother, Teacher, Storyteller. Bilingual journey. Nurturing one's own Tongan roots, One word at a time.

Pronouncing the Tongan vowel A

Pronuncing the Tongan vowel A

Do you know someone who does not pronounce their vowels correctly? Or perhaps it is yourself. There are no more excuses with this visual 🙂 Share it with your friends and family and lets learn Tongan 🙂

The Tongan vowel A for beginners! All you need to know about the vowel A.

  •   IT IS ALWAYS PRONOUNCED AS (AH)!
  • There are marks (diacritical marks) added to the vowels which gives it a special pronunciation.
  1. The toloi (macron) gives it a long vowel (ā) AH sound.
  2. The fakaʻua (glottal stop) gives it a short sharp (ʻa) AH sound.
  3. The fakamamafa pau (definitive accent) gives it an exaggerated (á) AH sound at the end of a word. Think of resume and resumé.

COMPARE with the more complex English vowel a:

  • THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO PRONOUNCE THE A VOWEL
  1. MAN has an (ae) sound
  2. MARS has an (aer) sound
  3. MAKE has an (ei) sound
  4. MA has an (ah) sound

Learning from Tongan hymns: ʻEiki te u ʻi fē?

Hymns are a great way to learn Tongan language. With not much resources around they are a great way to start.

Lyrics

ʻEiki te u ʻi fē, kapau ʻe ʻikai te ke kau mo au
ʻI ho haʻofinima naʻa ne pukepuke au
Ne u hē he teleʻa ʻo e mate ʻEiki ē
Ka kuo ke haʻu ʻo fakahaʻofi au

Where will I be if you are not with me, Lord
He held me so in the palm of his hands
Oh Lord! I was lost in the valley of the death
But you have come to save me!

Malimali means Smile!

 

malimali

In anyoneʼs language kids know how to smile and give them a toy camera and they start acting like professional photographers and happily snap away. So this is a great way to teach Tongan to your kids. Not only are they having fun but they are also learning simple phrases.

Here are some useful vocabulary when you’re playing imaginary paparazzi and superstar or for real life photo shoots.

  1. For Beginners: You could take photos until they get familiar with the phrases.
  2. For Intermediate: They could take photos of you and give you directions

Ko e ngaahi kupu’i lea ma’ae toko-taha fai-ta’ (Phrases for the photographer)

  • Malimali! – Smile!
  • taha ua tolu malimali – 1 2 3 smile!
  • Hanga mai! – Turn this way!
  • Hanga ki hē! – Turn that way!
  • Unu atu! – Move away!
  • Unu mai! – Move closer!
  • Tu’u ma’u! – Stand still!
  • Tangutu ma’u – Sit still!
  • Sio mai! – Look this way!
  • Sio ki ‘olunga – Look up!
  • Sio ki lalo – Look down!
  • Ko ia – that’s it!
  • Faka’ofo’ofa – beautiful
  • Talavou  – handsome
  • Ai fakalelei – Do it properly
  • La’i tā – a photo
  • tangata fai-tā – photographer (male)
  • fefine fai-tā – photographer (female)

Hope this helps you and if you have other phrases to add let me know

Tu’a ‘ofa atu

Television Tonga News Youtube Channel

http://youtu.be/OT2GxeGluB8

Ongoongo means news pronounce (oh-ngoh-oh-ngoh). Ongoongo Televisone Tonga’ = Television Tonga News

I’m quite excited to find out that Television Tonga has its own Youtube Channel. For this month it has been regularly uploading its full news program in English and in Tongan.

What a great resource to have available for those living outside of the Kingdom. Not only for the Tongan community in general wanting to keep in touch but also as a learning tool for those who want to learn and improve their language skills.

TIPS to watching Television Tonga News for beginners.

  1. In order to learn you need to listen (fanongo).
  2. Need to actively listen (listen for key words).
  3. Need to practise focused listening for 10mins.
  4. Subscribe to their Youtube Channel
  5. Next step is to find people to converse with.

Counting to 100 in Tongan

Counting in Tongan

So you want to count in Tongan! The basic level of counting in Tongan is easier then you think. All you have to do is learn the numbers 0-10 then you can count from 1-99. Follow these simple rules.

Counting 1-99 in Tongan

  • numbers 0-9 noa, taha, ua, tolu, fā, nima, ono, fitu, valu, hiva
  • the number for 10 is hongofulu (hoh-ngoh-foo-loo)
  • the number for 100 is teau (teh-ah-oo)
  • every other number is literally the words 0-9 combined: twenty becomes two zero – ua noa
  • three exceptions to the rule 22, 55 and 99 words shortened to uo ua, nime nima, hive hiva

Example: How do you say the number …. in Tongan?

  1. 19 (nineteen) – taha hiva
  2. 44 (fourty four) – fā fā
  3. 99 (ninety nine) – hive hiva
  4. 87 (eighty seven) – valu fitu

Test: Can you saying the following numbers in Tongan

  1. 15 (fifthteen)
  2. 33 (thirtythree)
  3. 50 (fifty)
  4. 11 (eleven)

Lords Prayer in Tongan

Iʼm currently teaching this to my kids. Hope this helps you in your efforts 🙂

Ko e Lotu ʻa e Eikiʼ

Ko ʻemau Tamai ʻoku ‘i Hēvani,
Ke tapuhā ho huafaʼ,
Ke aʻu mai hoʻo puleʻangaʼ,
Ke fai ho finangalo i mamani;
Hangē ko ia ʻi Hēvani
Foaki mai haʻa mau meʻakai ki ʻanai.
Pea fakamolemoleʻi ʻemau ngaahi ʻangahala
ʻO hangē ko ʻemau fakamolemole ʻa kinautolu kotoa pē ʻoku moʻua mai.
Pea ʻoua naʻaʼke tuku kimautolu ki he ʻahiʻahi;
Ka ke fakahaofi ʻa kimautolu mei he fili.
He ʻoku oʻou ʻa e puleʼ, pea mo e mālohiʼ, mo e kololia,
ʻO taʻengata pea taʻengata. ʻEmeni

The Lords Prayer

Our father who art in Heavan,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in Heavan.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us and those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and glory is yours
Now and forever Amen.

Cold or warm season begins

1st day of June and itʻs that time of the year when seasons change. Which season is it for you?

Kuo kamata ʻa e faʻahitaʻu momoko he ʻahoʼni.  Winter time has started today.

Kuo kamata ʻa e faʻahitaʻu māfana he ʻahoʼni. Summer time has started today.

Bilingualism Across the U.S.

Another reason to learn Tongan. Another reason to motivate children to learn Tongan and be bilingual. It makes YOU and THEM SMARTER!

Egg critters colouring in Activity

Egg Critters colouring In Activity

We are celebrating the royal birth of Prince Taufaʻahau Manumataongo, first child for Crown Prince and grandchild for King Tupou VI this past week with a colouring activity for all the little ones. The Egg as in Easter symbolises birth and new beginnings and he is the future of the Tupou royal household and of our kingdom nation.

It takes a village to raise a child so we must not forget about our children, we must encourage them, question them, and engage them to embrace their culture and language.

These 7 egg critters will definitely keep your little ones occupied and engaged.

  1. Click picture above for printable pdf format
  2. There are prompt questions in Tongan to help engage your child
  3. There is a vocabulary list of Tongan words to help with questions
  4. At the end get them to do show-and-tell
  5. Remember encourage, encourage, and encourage with words like “poto, clever pronounce poh-toh” “mālie, good pronounce MA-lee-eh”
  6. anything iʼve missed out on or could add let me know!

Mālō tuʻa ʻofa atu

My Tongan Charts: Share 2 Win!

My Tongan Charts: Share 2 Win!

I am very excited to announce our first SHARE2WIN giveaway of “My Tongan Charts”. As a thank-you to all the people I have connected with, learnt from and fellow students of the Tongan language here are 5 packs available for you all to win.

Starting Monday, 1 pack will be given away daily. This competition is simple, you can either share here or on facebook WHY learning the language is important to you OR simply SHARE THE PICTURE ABOVE throughout your family and friends network and remember to post up “shared” on our facebook page.

They have been designed by myself as a way to engage children and I am happy to say they have the tick of approval by my own three kids ranging from 7 – 2 who happen to be very opinionated as to what they like and donʼt like. If you donʼt win they are still available via my online store in A4, A3 and A2 sizes.  My next goal is to expand the range of affordable educational resources with  an ebook picture dictionary for children in the Tongan language. Any comments or feedback please feel free to post.

You can check out the charts on my online store tonganmade.com

Mālō and happy sharing.