Te Reo Māori Language Week
As part of our continuing professional development, we have started te reo Māori lessons.
With it being te reo Māori language week (09 – 15 September), it was a perfect time to share some of our learnings.
Our first learning, is that the language is so important, but it’s the door way into so much more. The offerings and understandings of culture, what it means to be indigenous, how we can be thoughtful and respectful, is the bigger picture to learning the language. We are grateful to have a teacher, who questions our thinking, provides background and meaning into the language and guides us to do better.
Our second learning is that a tohutō or macron or the hat upon the letter is critical. It dramatically changes the meaning of a word, depending on where a tohutō is placed. For those who don’t believe us… look up hāngi vs hangi.
The more you hear, the more you learn. Listening to snippets of te reo māori on TV increases your pronunciation. Nothing like screaming back at the TV ‘Po marie’ when you hear someone say it on TV, to look impressive in front of the family / whānau.
Ko wai tō ingoa? What is your name? Ko…. taku ingoa … is my name. Is a simple phrase that we banter around the office, although we all know each other’s name!
We aren’t concerned now with asking a silly question, asking the meaning behind words, how they are pronounced, we would rather ask and get it right in the future, than ignore te reo words.
How we can incorporate these learnings into our business and interactions with those attending conferences, including pōwhiri, mihi whakatau, and poroporoaki, is our constant challenge to rise too.
Without a doubt, we find it hard, the hour each week hurts our head, but we would find learning any language hard. We are at the preschool stage, mealy pointing at objects and saying words, but it’s a start. We love being more confident in speaking a few phrases, trying to pronounce te reo Māori words. Give it a go!
Mā te wā
