Tongan Language Week Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga

Tongan Language Week will be held from 2-8 September. The week is promoted by the Aotearoa Tongan Teachers Association in partnership with the Human Rights Commission, other organisations and members of the Tongan community. For further updates visit the Tongan Language Week Facebook page.

The goals of the week are to:

  • celebrate the Tongan language and culture in New Zealand
  • Promote the teaching and lpearning of the Tongan language
  • raise awareness of the Tongan language as a language spoken by a significant number of people in New Zealand
  • promote initiatives to maintain and grow the recognition, learning and use of the Tongan language in the home, in education, at work, in government, in the media, in sport, in the arts, in the church and in the community.

Some background on Tongan people in New Zealand

At the time of the last census (2006), there were 50,000 Tongans in New Zealand. They were the third largest Pacific group, after Samoans (131,000) and Cook Islanders (58,000), and the fastest growing group since the previous census. Tongans born in New Zealand account for 56% of the total Tongan population. Around 80% of Tongans live in Auckland. Just over 60% speak the Tongan language, but only 40% of those born in New Zealand do so.

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