Kiribati Language Week 2024
It is Kiribati Language Week | Wikin te Taetae ni Kiribati and to celebrate the third Pacific Language Week of 2024, we are proud to share the language story of an AUT alumna, Lisa Ngauea — Bachelor of Health Science (Nursing).
In this video, Lisa describes how her strong involvement in the Kiribati community in Aotearoa since she was a very young child has helped her sustain her language. She also speaks about the importance of sustaining it for future generations to come.
“Sustaining our language is paramount to anyone’s cultural identity, particularly for our smaller nations as we begin to see the effects of climate change. With the possibility of Kiribati no longer existing, our language will be our only connection to our culture and it’s therefore pivotal to maintain it to ensure it lives on through generations to come.”
The 2024 theme for Kiribati Language Week is ‘Eutakirakean ma kabwaekekean ara taetae ni Kiribati ma kateira ao rabakaura, bon maurin ao tokabetin te I-Kiribati - Thriving and flourishing our Kiribati language, culture, and knowledge builds I-Kiribati resilience and prosperity’.
This theme derives from the overarching Language Week Series theme for 2024, 'Sustainability'.
AUT’s videos are a celebration of the power of language and culture featuring a diverse range of alumni, from business leaders to educators, community leaders and more who are all passionate about sustaining languages for future generations.
Through their stories, it will be evident the many ways in which language is a vital component of cultural identity and the ways our alumni have implemented it into their daily lives.
Kiribati greetings and other resources for Wikin te Taetae ni Kiribati | Kiribati Language Week, including email signatures and printable posters, are available on the website of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples. Ko raba (thank you)!
2024 Pacific Language Weeks
To watch each video in the 2023 AUT Pacific language video series as they are launched, follow the Pacific at AUT Facebook page or watch on YouTube.
- Cook Islands Language Week: Sunday 4 – Saturday 10 August
- Tonga Language Week: Sunday 18 – Saturday 24 August
- Tuvalu Language Week: Sunday 29 September – Saturday 5 October
- Fijian Language Week: Sunday 6 – Saturday 12 October
- Niue Language Week: Sunday 13 – Saturday 19 October
- Tokelau Language Week: Sunday 27 October – Saturday 2 November
- New: Papua New Guinea Pidgin Language Week: Sunday 10 – Saturday 16 November
- New: Solomon Islands Pidgin Language Week: Sunday 24 – Saturday 30 November.