You may have noticed. Many Samoan families have a preference for arranging their living rooms in a large, inward-facing oblong or oval formation, with the backs of all the couches and armchairs pushed up against the walls. If you know anything about life in Samoa, you might guess that this practice is just a remnant […]
The Creation Story in Samoan (with audio)
The best way to learn a language is to just dive in and learn it, right? As part of my goal to speak Samoan like a matai, I’ve been trying to stay immersed in the Samoan language – as much as I can in New Zealand. I’ve been hanging out with my matai uncles, listening […]
How to Greet a Samoan Matai (Chief)
The heartbeat of Samoan culture is love and respect, or fa’aaloalo. How we greet people is a very public demonstration of this respect. Like a lot of languages, we have informal greetings for our peers and friends and then formal greetings for people we don’t know as well, or for those in authority over us […]
12 Alagaupu (Samoan Proverbs) about Family
A few years ago I told you about my grandfather’s api (notebook) full of alagaupu that I wanted to study and really understand. I was going to look at twelve of those proverbs, consult with the Samoan cultural experts in my life then share with you what I had learned. At LONG last (island time, […]
![Matai – How to become a Samoan Chief [Part 2]](https://i0.wp.com/1samoana.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/1samoana1.jpg?fit=600%2C426&ssl=1)
Matai – How to become a Samoan Chief [Part 2]
This is the second part of our series on The Path to Becoming a Samoan Chief. Please read Part 1 first, if you haven’t already. Part 1 gives you a bit of background – where do matai titles come from? Who decides how your family’s titles are distributed? How do you become a candidate for […]
20 Most Asked Questions About Samoa – Answered by Samoans
We’ve all seen it. You’re Googling something to do with Samoa and you see from the search results that others have been asking questions about Samoan people, too – but they’re really basic questions that you thought everybody knew the answers to by now. Surely! But then you realize the world is a big place […]
15+ Samoan names for your lover (from old Samoan love songs)
What is your favourite loved up pet name for your significant other? It is babe? Baby? Bae? Honey? Hun? Sweetheart? Sweetie? Darling? Dear? So many Samoan couples I know have adopted these English terms of affection, but until quite recently, I had no idea how many mushy nicknames we also have in the Samoan language. […]
Translating Naumati Lagona
Music has been a huge part of my life since, as a very young child, I couldn’t go to sleep without somebody singing to me… and then they must have got sick of it cause next minute I get this portable radio thing for my birthday… To this day I STILL find it easier to […]
Samoana, Ala Mai: Translating Lota Nu’u
You know how at the end of a long Samoan (usually family) function, someone says the closing prayer then everybody gets up to sing a song together? I love that. Not just because it means we can go home soon and eat the food we’ve already loaded in the car (who does that?) ’cause of […]
The two Samoan languages
While I was slowly picking up Samoan from my family and friends, I’d hear references to another, mysterious, ‘higher’ version of the language. ‘It’s different from our everyday Samoan,’ …they would say. ‘It’s the language that matais and ministers use’. And I would think, OK, so… what is it? Do they just use bigger words? […]
