Tongan Language Week

This guest blog is contributed by Georgie Archibald, Learning Advisor Pasifika:

Mālō e lelei, this week from 1-7 September we celebrate Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga – Tongan Language Week! It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate the language and culture of more than 60,000 people of Tongan heritage who live in New Zealand.

There are many ways to connect with this year’s theme, “Fakakoloa O Aotearoa ‘Aki ‘A E Tauhi Fonua: A Tongan perspective of enriching Aotearoa, New Zealand.” For me, it particularly feeds into our Tongan value of matakāinga – behaving like family with mutual care and respect. Embracing and living the value of matakāinga certainly enriches our communities.

At Ara, the Pacific Island Students of Ara (PISA) are celebrating Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga with events at Madras and Woolston campuses where there will be performances and food to share. To join the celebrations, head to the Rakaia Centre at Madras campus on Monday 2nd September 12noon and to the Student Hub at Woolston campus on Thursday 5 September 12noon.

‘Oua lau e kafo kae lau e lava – Stay positive and count your blessings

Are you looking for work? Do you have a disability?…then join us for free pizza!

Ara Institute of Canterbury and Workbridge, New Zealand’s largest organisation that works with disabled people to assist them into work have formed a new partnership. 

The purpose of the partnership is to help get Ara students into work.  If you are studying at Ara and have a disability, then you need to join us for this evening.

 

What:                    A pizza night

When:                  Tuesday 27^th August

What time:         4.00-5.30pm

Where:                 Rakaia Centre, L202

Whether you are interested in working part time whilst you are studying, working more regular hours now that you have your qualification or you just have some questions about Disability and Employment, then please come and join us for this night.  Representatives from all three services will be there and it’s a chance for you to meet and talk to all of us, as well as to interact with other disabled young people who are also looking for work. 

 

 Please contact Pauline.melham@ara.ac.nz to let her know you are going to attend the event.  If you have particular dietary requirements then please let us know this as well.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Pauline Melham and the Disability Services Team. 

 

Do these two things to improve your finances

Like every one of us, students need to look after their finances well. We all need to know how much money is coming in and how much money we are spending.

Tracking these two amounts and using the following tips will enable you to manage your finances better. You’ll also stress less about money.

#1 Track Your Money

The first step towards improving your financial situation is to know where you are financially. It means you need to be aware of the amount of income you have and the amount of spending you’re making.

A good habit to nurture is to track your money regularly. Use this Student Budget Tracker to record all the amounts that you spent in the past month. Try and include every single purchase or payment you made.

Then write down all your sources of income that you received last month. These may include your student allowance and the income you made from working part-time.

Compare the amount you spent to the income you received last month. Did you overspend and exceed your income? Or did you spend less than your income?

Congratulate yourself if you had surplus money last month. I hope you saved up that amount.

But if you spent more than your income, do not despair. Read on to find out what you can do to improve your money management.

#2 Buy What You Need

Do you save money regularly? Or do you spend more than your income?

Whatever your money situation, it’s a very good idea to set the goal of reducing your spending. The old adage “a penny saved is a penny earned” remains relevant today.

People who manage their money well know the difference between what they need to buy, and what they want to spend on. Develop the self-discipline to avoid always buying the things you want – this is successful money management.

Let’s look at an example. A pair of Nike Air shoes usually costs around $200 or more.

$200 shoes are clearly a want and not a need. If you buy Nike Air shoes, you are paying a premium for a famous brand, and becoming poorer by $200!
But if you buy a more affordable pair of shoes (just to replace an old pair that’s worn out), you can easily save more than $100. This $100 can become part of your saving or emergency fund.

Let’s look at another example:

If you continue using your current phone that’s working well, you can easily save yourself $400 to $600 or more, by NOT buying a new phone.

I know of Ara students who have chosen to work extra hours and pay by hire purchase, just to own a pricey phone. They are paying a lot of interest with their hard-earned money. This isn’t advisable as it harms their finances.

Therefore, set the goal now of buying just what you need. Question your spending.

Avoid buying the things that you want but actually don’t need.

Your finances will improve greatly when you:
• Track your income and spending
• Avoid unnecessary spending and develop a saving habit.

Check out this money advice for students: Victoria University of Wellington.

LinkedIn Learning – Video tutorials

LinkedIn Learning which used to be Lynda.com now enables you to build on your qualifications with mini or microcredentials. For any course you complete you can download your certificate of completion and you can add this to your LinkedIn profile.

If you are a first time user, read our guide to accessing LinkedIn Learning for the first time.  Whether you are LinkedIn member or not you can choose the option to “continue without connecting my LinkedIn account”. However to make the most of the full features of Linked In Learning it is a good idea to link it to your LinkedIn account.

The following video covers what you can expect from this amazing resource which you can access through Ara for free.

You will always find the link to LinkedIn Learning from the Databases tab in Primo Library Search which you access from My Ara. If you log in to LinkedIn Learning from the app just remember to choose to do this via the organisational account option and use your student email address and network / Moodle password to log in the first time.

If you have any problems logging in to LinkedIn talk to the library staff or ring (03) 940 8089.

So get LinkedIn today and launch your own self-directed lifelong learning journey.

Edible Book Competition 2019: All hail the victorious winners….

Here are the winning entries for the 2019 Ara Edible Book Competition:

Julie Humby collects her certificate for Most Imaginative entry

Best in Show:     Little Yellow Digger– Sherelle King

Most imaginiative:     The case of dancing sandwiches– Julie Humby

Most delectable looking:     Feathers for peacock– Deidre Fraser

Best interpretation of a book:     Lovely Bones– Steven Russell

Funniest entry:     The message for the last days– Kevin Brennan

Peoples Choice:     Moonwalking with Einstein– Karina Fragini

 

As always we would like to thank our judges:

Joe Benett, Christchurch Author

Mary Lovell-Smith, Journalist

Bruce Russell, HOD Art & Design at Ara Institute of Canterbury

Tracey Berry, DCE Student Services, Ara Institute of Canterbury

 

Judging done…let the eating begin!

Little Yellow Digger goes under the knife

The audience enjoy eating the cake entries

 

We would like to thank all those who participated in this year’s event. Be sure to like us on Facebook to keep up with other activities in the Library.

 

Photos of the 2019 Edible Book Competition entries

Ara Library are proud to present the 2019 Edible Book Competion in the Atrium at City Campus from 10 am this morning.

We have had a wide and eclectic mix of entries this year, with over 35 entries from various Ara staff and students who are taking part.

Come down and have look at the entries and while there vote for the peoples choice winner. Once the judging has been completed around 12.30 we will be eating the entries so come along for your daily slice of cake.

We hope to see you there.

 

Entries in the 2019 Ara Edible Book Competition on display in the Atrium

 

 

Oi Frog, Kes Grey and Jim Field

A box of delights, John Masefield

A thousand splendid suns, Khaled Housseini

The little yellow digger, Betty and Alan Gilderdale

The message for the last days, K J Soze

Holes, Louis Sachar

Star of the north, D.B. John

The case of the dancing sandwiches,

 

A cup of light, Nicole Mones

 

A little life, Hanya Yanagihara

 

 

The complete book of flower fairies, Cicely M Baker

The particular sadness of lemon cake, Aimee Bender

Oranges are not the only fruit, Jeannette Winterson

The house at Pooh corner, A.A. Milne

Moonwalking with Einstein, Joshua Foer

Bounty, Micheal Byrnes

A clockwork orange, Anthony Burgess

The lovely bones, Amelia Sebold

Tea-Bag, Henning Mankell

The contemporary buttercream bible, Valerie Valeriano and Christine Ong

Green eggs and ham, Dr Seuss

The woman in white, Wilkie Collins

Bread and roses too, Katherine Patterson

He ika nui (A big fish), Hannah Rainforth

Chocolate kisses, Judith Arnold

Te ‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani: Cook Islands Language Week 2019

Kia Orana! The Annual ‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani: Cook Islands Language Week is happening this week (Sunday 4th August to Saturday 10 August). The theme for 2019 is “Taku rama, taau toi: ora te Reo” – “My Torch, Your Adze: The Language Lives”.

Cook Islanders are an important part of Ara, as staff and students. The chair of Ara’s Pasifika Advisory Group (PAG) is Maria Pasene, who has ancestral links to Rarotonga, Atiu and Aitutaki Cook Islands through her mother – she introduces herself here: http://www.ara.ac.nz/maori-and-pasifika/pasifika-advisory-group/maria-pasene. Another example is Frances Oberg-Nordt, Qualifications Coordinator in the Hospitality and Service Industries department. Last year she shared reflections on being a New Zealand born Cook Islander, her desire to speak fluent Cook Island Māori and some phrases and words you can try: https://aralibrary.wordpress.com/2018/07/31/epetoma-o-te-reo-maori-kuki-airani-cook-islands-language-week/

Some facts about Te Reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani – Cook Islands Māori Language

• Cook Islands Māori language or Māori Kūki ‘Āirani or Rarotongan is the country’s official language
• Cook Islands Māori is closely related to New Zealand Māori but is a distinct language.
• Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that belongs in the same language family as the languages of New Zealand Māori, Hawai’i and Tahiti.
• Cook Islands Māori has a number of dialects: Pukapuka; Aitutaki; Ngāpūtoru (the dialects of Ātiu, Ma’uke and Miti`āro); Mangaia; Manihiki-Rakahanga; Penrhyn (Tongareva).
• There are five vouvera (vowels): a, e, i, o, u. These have the same pronunciation as other Pacific languages, including te reo Māori (NZ language).

Check out this video of Cook Islands High Commissioner to New Zealand, Her Excellency Elizabeth Wright-Koteka talking about why it’s important that we celebrate Cook Islands language in Aotearoa.

This is an opportunity for Cook Islanders to show their pride in the language and culture, and everyone to take the opportunity this week to learn some more about Te Reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani and give it a go. Kia Manuia!