Introduction

Sa ou 'āmata ona a'oa'o fa'aSāmoa i le 2008. Sa ou pisikoa mai le 2008 i le 2010. Ou te talanoa feololo, ‘ae e faigata faitau ma tusi. Ou te iloa tele o ‘upu, ‘ae lē iloa kalama lelei. Ou te mafai tautala o ‘K’ gagana lelei.

I began to learn Samoan in 2008. I was a Peace Corps volunteer from 2008 to 2010. I speak so-so, but reading and writing is difficult. I know a lot of words, but don't know grammar well. I can speak 'K' language well.

Samoan has so many pronouns. I was so intimidated when I saw the pages dedicated to pronouns in my Samoan language book! Interestingly, though, Samoan pronouns are not gendered. After the initial shock, Samoan pronouns are actually really intuitive. Samoan has two different forms for second-person (e.g. we, us) one is inclusive of the listener and the other does not include the speaker. So, if you're saying "We're going to the market" (Matou te ō i le maketi), you can make it clear whether or not the listener is invited! In addition to singular and plural pronouns, Samoan also has dual pronouns for "the two of us" (mā‘ua or tā‘ua), "you two" (‘oulua) or "those two" (lā‘ua).

Samoan Language Week is observed during the last week of May. Educational organizations in New Zealand will often share and publish free infographics and language learning materials during this time.

At-A-Glance

Native To	Samoan Islands
Native Speakers	430,400 (Ethnologue, 2021)
Language Family	Austronesian / Polynesian
Dialects	None
Writing System	Latin
Spoken In	(Western) Samoa, American Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, United States
Regulated By	None
Observations	Samoan Language Week (Last week of May)