24 Jul 2012

Say it in Fijian

To walk the walk first you must talk the talk.  Every time I head to a new country on holiday I like to first try and learn a few common phases for when I get there.  Like how to say hello, good-bye and of course how to order another beer.  For those of you getting ready for your trip (or planning a trip) to Fiji here is your first Fijian language lesson.

First we'll start with a few rules.  
   "A's are long as in master
   "E's are long as in pet
   "I's are pronounced as a hard "E" as say street.  So Viti would be 'vee-tee'
   "O" and "U" are long say like in logo and lucy
   "B" is "mb"  as in member
   "C" is "th" as in the
   "D" is "nd" as in candy
   "Q" is "ng"  as in tounge

Now about about some common words and phrases.


English
Fijian
Hello or Greetings
bula
Good morning
yandra
Excuse me
tulou
Good-bye
moce
Yes
io
Thank you
vinaka
No
se'ga
No worries
se'ga nalanga
Eat
kana
village
koro
Lady/madam
marama
Mr/sir
turaga
A little/small
vakalailai
Great/a lot/more
vakalevu
Fast
vakatotolo
House
vale
toilet
vale lailai
One more
dua tale
One
dua
two
rua
What is this
na cava oqo
Slowly
vaka malua