Te Reo at Home

I was surprised to learn recently that there are as few as twenty Maori families in the South Island, who are raising their children in a full immersion Maori language environment. There are many more people who speak te Reo of course and Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu does have an active Te Reo in the Home programme running to encourage its people to learn the language. These two little guys are members of one Ngai Tahu family that does speak te Reo almost all the time. The words on the fridge are just one way the parents encourage their boys to keep learning new words. www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Te Wiki o te Reo Maori

I’m a few days late in addressing the fact that it’s Maori Language Week in New Zealand but I got here in the end. It’s a time when the focus goes on the fact that despite a huge renaissance, Maori language is still not ‘out of the water.’ The theme this year is Te Reo i te Hapori – Maori language in the community and many events have been planned around the country to encourage people to participate in the language in some way. Census statistics for 2006 showed that less than one quarter of Maori adults were proficient Maori speakers, so despite the fact that there has been an enormous increase in the use of te Reo Maori on television, in schools, on the radio and in everyday signage, the Maori Language Commission is encouraging people to use Maori language in the home to ensure its survival. Anyone visiting this blog regularly will know that I present a series called Maori Place Names. The one shown in the above image was photographed on East Cape. Long names are not uncommon in te Reo Maori – I’ve featured many of them here already – but the king of them all is found in the tiny North Island village of Porangahau, which is 55km south-east of Waipukura in southern Hawke’s Bay. As well as being home to the richly-named Rongomaraeroa Marae, it has the distinction of having a small hill (1,000ft) with the 92-letter name: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, which means ‘The hilltop where Tamatea, with big knees, conqueror of mountains, eater of land, travelled over land and sea, played his kaouau (flute) to his beloved.' Not surprisingly, it is one of the longest place names in the world.

Learning the Language

Sign. 2008. Ajr

I came upon this sign some time ago. I can't remember where but I thought it a cute tool for helping children learn Te Reo (Maori language).

Roughly translated

• harikoa=happiness
• pukuriri=anger
• pouri=sadness
• mauiui=sickly/tired
• hiamoe=sleepy
• hoha=bored
• rangirua=uncertain

Te Reo Maori - Language

Every year, a week is set aside to celebrate Maori Language - Maori Language Week – something that has occurred in New Zealand every year since 1975. In 2008 Maori language (te Reo Maori) was recognised throughout the country and celebrations followed the theme, te Reo i te kainga – Maori language in the home. When I was in the Ngai Tahu offices here in Christchurch during that time, I was lucky enough to see parts of a video that was been prepared as part of the Ngai Tahu language initiatives. I also picked up the above brochure (image), prepared as part of Ngai Tahu’s Generation Reo campaign, Kotahi Mano Kaika, Kotahi Mano Wawata (One thousand homes, one thousand aspirations), which was established to raise awareness of and an appreciation for Maori language among Ngai Tahu people. There has been a huge resurgence in te Reo Maori, especially since New Zealand officially became a bilingual nation in 1987. Generation Reo is all about encouraging families to speak Maori at home and it’s about a whole lot more than just giving the next generation a second language; it’s also about strengthening identity and saving another of the world’s languages from extinction. As someone who is passionate about language fullstop, I find it very gratifying to see Ngai Tahu, as just one iwi (tribe) on a mission to restore te Reo Maori within homes. As their promotional material points out, “it takes one generation to lose a language and three generations to revive it.” www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz www.generationreo.com