Niue Language App Launched

An innovative new tool in the effort to sustain the Niue language is being launched in Manukau, Auckland on Saturday 9th July 2022.

Called Fakaako e Vagahau Niue, the tool is an interactive mobile application that can be downloaded to smart devices to access information and knowledge relating to Vagahau Niue (the Niue language).

The App is designed to enable you to learn Vagahau Niue at your own pace, and in your own time, from anywhere in the world.

It includes information on the Niue alphabet, everyday conversations, family, parts of the body, numbers, colours, villages, the calendar, seasons, sports, health, time, values, proverbs, and places of work. Also featured are pages including an interactive map showing villages and the singing of prayers and hymns.

To support effective learning, Fakaako e Vagahau Niue features synchronised narration in Niue language, tap to hear correct pronunciation of Niue words and the ability to record your own narration.

Fakaako e Vagahau Niue was developed jointly by the Vagahau Niue Trust and Takatakai Moana and, funded by the Pacific Education Innovation Fund.

There are fewer than 50,000 Niue people scattered across the globe and under 2,000 remaining on Niue Nukututaha.

This initiative recognises that Vagahau Niue is under threat because it is not being widely used and is not being passed on as gift to the next generation. With that, the loss of language will lead inevitably to a loss of culture and identity.

Pacific leader Sir Collin Tukuitonga said, “This app is designed to assist all learners of vagahau Niue. I hope they find the tool useful. The future of our language, our koloa uho is up to us. We need to use the language and we need to share it with our children. Let us not permit our vagahau to be lost.”

The app was produced by Auckland-based cultural creative agency Kiwa Digital. The company works with indigenous organisations in Aotearoa and globally to sustain and revive heritage languages.

In welcoming the launch of the App, Managing Director Steven Renata said,

“We congratulate the Vagahau Niue Trust,Takatakai Moana and all involved in this ground-breaking initiative. For the first time, Niuean people, and all interested in Niuean culture, have an accessible interactive tool that recognises Vagahau Niue as key to their health and well-being.”

To download the app for your device, please search Fakaako e Vagahau Niue on the App Store and Google Play.

About Vagahau Niue Trust

The Vagahau Niue Trust (VNT) is primarily focused on the strategic protection, maintenance, retention and development of VAGAHAU NIUE (Niue Language). For more information, visit https://vagahauniuetrust.nu/

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