This week New Zealand is marking Tuvalu Language Week - Te Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu, for the fourth time.
The theme, "Ulu kite fatu e malu ei koe - shelter in the rock for your safety" focuses attention on the climate change and sea level rise facing Tuvalu.
The secretary of the Tuvalu Auckland Community Trust, Sagaa Malua, said it came after consultation with elders in the community.
Tuvaluan language boards like this are on display in various libraries around NZ Photo: RNZI / Koro Vaka'uta
Ms Malua said the 'rock' theme is symbolic of god and the coral rock of Tuvalu's atolls.
"And also, we look at our language, and without language there is no identity for us." she said.
"So, with the language we are able to identify ourselves as Tuvaluan."
Only 14-hundred of the 3500 Tuvaluans in New Zealand were born in Tuvalu, according to the 2013 census, but over 2,300 of them speak Tuvaluan.
