Joomla! site syndication http://www.saolelei.com Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:19:51 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.saolelei.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.saolelei.com Joomla! site syndication http://www.saolelei.com/content/view/41/52/ Samoan Language Course Now Available We are pleased to announce our new language course. Knowing the Samoan language opens the doors to the culture of Samoa To preserve our culture we need to know the language. As we familiarize ourselves with the language we can better understand the culture. Cultural understanding breeds appreciation and respect. This appreciation and respect for the culture inspires us to know the language better. As we involve ourselves in this cycle of learning we enrich our own character and become respectful people; we become Samoans. The Samoan language is very rich and it is easy to describe or say the same thing in many different ways. Therefore, the focus of all these lessons is on COMMONLY SPOKEN SAMOAN. We will teach the language that you are most likely to hear spoken around you. We will not go into writing or proverbial speaking. Samoan Success Steps The following steps will greatly help you to become a fluent Samoan speaker: 1. We encourage you to speak Samoan as much as possible to everyone you know. Even if they don't understand. Why? Because, the brain grows by use. Similarly, our language skill will grow by use. There is no better way to solidify what you have learned than by applying what you have learned in as many situations as possible. 2. Teach someone else what you have learned. It is often said that a teacher gets more out of a lesson than the student. Take time to teach someone ...anyone who is willing to listen, what you have learned. Kids are usually willing students. 3. Ask your spouse, friend, grandma, auntie, or dad to reply to you in Samoan. We say reply because often when you ask a Samoan a question in Samoan, they will reply, out of respect to you, in the language of your greatest comprehension, in your case this is probably English. 4. Listen. Listen to others speak Samoan. Listen when they speak to you. Listen to yourself speaking Samoan. This is a good start of a list. As we hear from you what has worked we will add to this list. Gagana Samoa - Course Intro Mon, 28 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.saolelei.com/content/view/16/39/ Samoa Sa'o A gathering place for information on our islands In progress is our effort to gather together everything you could need to keep up with what is going on in Samoa. By Samoa we mean those who speak the Samoan language (../../../content/section/6/54/) and those who don't, the Eastern and Western Islands and all the new islands like Long Island NY, Grand Island NE, the North Island NZ, any island), those who are Samoan by birth or by adoption. Basically, anywhere you are we want to tell you about it or know about it. The people of our islands An abundance of facts have been gathered but, most of all we want to know what is going on right now. The forums can help us to acheive that goal. A few catagories have been initiated and there will be more to come. Anyone may view the posts in the forum but you must be registered to post to the forum. All you need to do is register for free at the login area to the left. Click Create One (index.php?option=com_registration&task=register) enter your email and you're a member. If you have suggestions on what to put into the forum just register and post it or click contact and drop us a line. Hope you enjoy the forum. Samoa le penina We have a shop and are frequently adding (pearls) items of interest to it. We currently have Samoa Fire knives (../../../mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=S&Category_Code=FK3), Vinyl Car Stickers (../../../mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=S&Category_Code=Sticker), and coming soon books on Samoan language and people. Please visit the store to see and check back often for new items. Samoan language It has been said that language defines culture. And so it is with the Samoan language (../../../content/section/6/54/). We hope that our resources become useful for you and your families. We encourage a bilingual forum. We also, as has been mentioned, will have our books ready soon. So please check back. Fa'afetai Lava SA'O News - Latest Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:15:06 +0100 http://www.saolelei.com/content/view/50/48/ Eight things I learned on the Aiga Bus. Fifty cents goes a long way – It’s amazing that you can get all the way to Tula on $0.50. Another amazing thing is that there is someone willing to take you there. If you are interested in seeing the island you can actually ride from Tula to Pago then from Pago to Tafuna then from Tafuna out to Poloa if you like. It might cost you a little more than fifty cents but it is worth the ride. Music is king – Arguably, the most often played song on the busses in Samoa is “E Fasia o le Gata” by Five Star. The extravagant sound systems in these busses makes riding a cultural experience as well as a way to get from A to B. Sure you can pass up one of these busses and get on the R B bus. But if it is your first time, take the Samoan music bus. Capitalism is alive in Samoa – It is fabulous to see that a little ambition can go a long way. The transit system is privately operated. The drivers usually own their own bus and profits go directly to provide for their families. There are no major government regulations to bog down the system with unnecessary bureaucracy. The market determines the amount of busses. I don’t think capitalism functions this well in the states. It’s OK to wait for the next bus – If a bus is approaching and you see a bunch of people wearing white coats, let that bus go by and wait for the next. Why? Just trust me on this one. No bus stop but you can stop the bus – Why people don’t wait together is an enigma. The frequent stops to pick up passengers 30 yards apart always puzzled me. But isn’t it convenient that you can get on wherever you want? Samoan Language - Faa Samoa Mon, 06 Feb 2006 11:37:13 +0100 http://www.saolelei.com/content/view/48/48/ Fa’afetai i le Atua Muamua ona si’i le fa’afetai i le Atua… (I would first like to give thanks to God…) How often have we heard this phrase spoken or seen it written? It prefaces letters to not only loved ones but letters that are more of an official nature. Even public speakers will begin speeches with the phrase. This familiar phrase reveals an insightful fact about all Samoans; they love and openly recognize the hand of God in their lives. There was a teacher, a palagi atheist, in Samoa who expressed his irritation with his students who would hand in essays each of which began with: Muamua ona si’i le fa’afetai i le Atua… He frequently stated that it was unnecessary and should not be included in any assignment that was to be handed in. Alas, essays weren’t the only homework that contained this or similar phrases, there were also narratives, journal entries and more. As you might imagine the teacher didn’t last long in Samoa. Not that he didn’t have a valid point, but more importantly he didn’t take into account the influence of the culture of Samoa on his students, a culture that recognizes the importance of God. The importance of God in the culture of Samoa is evident in the village. Take for example the faife’au (minister). Although not of the same gafa (genealogy), the minister receives similar gifts and formal greetings as the village matai (chief). This honor is received because the faife’au is seen as a person doing chores (faife’au) for the Almighty. Like God is to be thanked and recognized, so also are his servants thanked and recognized by Samoans. Samoan Language - Faa Samoa Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:56:22 +0100 http://www.saolelei.com/content/view/39/48/ The Shark, the Samoan, and the boy from New York CityWe read this story and thought it both humorous and insightful in regards to Samoan fishing. The author kindly gave permission to SA'O to publish it here. I was living as a peace corps volunteer in a little village called Aleipata on the southeastern tip of the island of Upolu, Western Samoa. This is a small village composed mostly of fishermen. From afar, it looked like the idyllic South Seas paradise with palm trees, thatched houses without walls sitting atop platforms of lava rock, and blindingly white coral paths weaving their way through the village. Offshore, were a few small, uninhabited islands with names like Nu'utele, Nu'ulua, Namu'a and Fanuatapu (a former leper colony) that form the basis of another tale. One of the things I used to do as part of my job was to go out daily to catch fish to feed the baby sea turtles that we were raising in the hatchery (yet another story). We had our own boat but I would often go out with the local fishermen as well. The most common boat in Samoa was a small (15-18') dugout canoe with an outrigger to one side to prevent it from rolling over in the high, pacific swells. Remember, Samoa is in the middle of the pacific with the next land to the east being South America, nearly 6,000 miles away and to the south, Antarctica. So, there is little margin for error when you run around those waters in a small boat. The smaller boats were paddled, and generally stayed within the reef, fishing for things like reef fish and octopus in the relative calm of the reef-protected lagoons. The larger canoes (18-24') often have a small, 25 horsepower outboard strapped to the outrigger support. You haven't lived until you have tried to make it through a narrow opening in the reef, at night, when the wind is knocking the crests off the waves and all you have to navigate by is the sound of the surf crashing on the coral heads on either side of the opening. Anyway, I digress. One afternoon, I went out with one of the local fisherman to see what we could catch. I think his canoe was about 18 feet and it certainly wasn't one of the newer models. It had seen it's share of coral heads over the years and the engine looked like it would have been more at home in a museum rather than on a fishing boat. Oh, just in case you are wondering, nobody in Samoa has ever heard of life jackets. Besides, it is a pretty safe bet that the sharks would find you long before another boat would. So, we head out east from the village (remember, next stop, South America) and go about 15-20 miles offshore when we spot a school of tuna feeding at the surface. The way you spot a school of tuna is to look for birds. The tuna chase large schools of small fish up to the surface and just pick the ones they want for lunch. The poor little fish with nowhere to go to escape the voracious teeth of the pursuing tuna, jump out of the water, only to be pounced on by the flocks of diving seabirds, screeching at the top of their lungs. It is really something to be in the middle of since the birds and tuna are both in a feeding frenzy and completely ignore the boat. The sounds of splashing, the large tuna leaping out of the water in pursuit of their prey, and the screeching and crashing of the birds as the hit the water trying to catch the same, poor little fish from above. Not a good place to be if you happen to be a small fish. So, here we come along with our little boat and a few squid-like lures, trolling through the middle of this scene right out of Dante's Inferno, and within seconds, tuna are hitting the lures, mistaking them for the little fish that they have their minds set on. Within minutes we must have caught 25-30 small skipjack tuna and a few larger yellowfin tuna. So we are literally sitting there in the boat with fish, some of them pretty darn big, jumping like crazy. Now tuna have a very interesting anatomical feature at the base of their tail fins called scutes. These sharp, hard protrusions can break your hand if you are not careful. Remember, that tuna are some of the fastest swimmers in the sea and they have some serious strength in their tails. Before I go any further, I need to add one more bit of information. Now, when tuna are feeding on small fish, they don't always chew with their mouths closed as we have all been taught to do. So consequently, the waters around one of these feeding frenzies are often littered with bits and pieces of partially eaten fish and whatever used to be on the insides of those fish....including blood. And, what animal in the ocean is attracted by blood in the water? Come on now, you know the answer to that one..... right! SHARKS. Samoan Language - Faa Samoa Wed, 23 Nov 2005 00:47:27 +0100