Raising bilingual kids
Jess Matthews spoke almost no te reo before marrying into a Ma¯ori family. She is now raising her two tamariki to be bilingual. Lee Kenny reports.
Jess Matthews considers herself to be a pretty typical New Zealander – but where she differs from most Pa¯ keha¯ is that she speaks te reo Ma¯ ori.
From knowing nothing but the basics eight years ago, she and her husband now raise their children as both English and Ma¯ ori speakers and she says that anyone can learn the language.
Born in Christchurch, she attended Papanui High School before training to be teacher in her early 20s.
She now co-owns the restaurant Fush, in Wigram, with her husband and sister-inlaw.
The mum-of-two says she learned basic te reo at school but it was not until she met husband Anton that she decided she wanted to be able to speak the language.
‘‘I see myself as a commonality in New Zealand. My mum’s side are from England and my dad’s side are from New Zealand,’’ she says.
‘‘As a white New Zealander I grew up quite ignorant of te reo. I knew the vowel sounds from school, but I had no more than what any other New Zealander would have.
‘‘When I met Anton I was 22. I knew it was something that was important to him in his life, so it was important for me too.’’
Anton began to teach Jess te reo at home, and she developed a novel way of overcoming the embarrassment of mispronouncing Ma¯ ori words, by practising on their pet dog.
‘‘Anton and his family had spoken te reo Ma¯ ori for a long time and at first the main thing for me was getting over the nerves.
‘‘We had a dog and I would give all the commands in te reo. It felt less embarrassing because it didn’t matter if I messed up.’’
Over the next eight years she gradually increased her knowledge and understanding of the language, and what makes her journey all the more impressive is that, even among New Zealand’s Ma¯ ori population, te reo speakers are in the minority.
According to a report published by Statistics NZ: ‘‘The proportion of Ma¯ ori able to hold an everyday conversation in the Ma¯ ori language decreased 3.7 percentage points between 1996 and 2013 . . . from 25 per cent to 21.3 per cent.’’
Despite being recognised as an official language in 1987, the number of te reo Ma¯ ori speakers was dwarfed by those who speak English.
Data from the 2013 census revealed that 96.1 per cent of Kiwis speak English, compared with 3.7 per cent who speak te reo.
Of New Zealand’s 148,395 te reo speakers, 84.5 per cent identified as Ma¯ ori, with the largest percentage of people aged over 70.
In fact, those aged between 80 and 84 are more than twice as likely to be able to converse in te reo than those aged 20 to 24.
Campaigns such as Generation reo, which promoted the language among young people, and Nga¯ i Tahu’s strategy of having at least 1000 South Island homes using te reo by 2025 have helped increase the number of Ma¯ ori speakers but the issue took centre-stage last month when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she planned to raise her daughter Neve Te Aroha bilingual.
‘‘I think it’s great that she has said that,’’ Jess says.
‘‘It’s huge for te reo that she wants to raise her daughter bilingual. Even if it just gets people talking about the language, then it’s been beneficial.’’
Today, Ma¯ ori words such as mana, wha¯ nau, kai and haka are commonly understood by most
New Zealanders, demonstrating the growth and cultural significance of te reo.
It is a far cry from the days when use of the language was actively discouraged.
In 1931 Bishop Thomas Strong wrote in The Education of South Sea Island Natives that ‘‘the natural abandonment of the native tongue inflicts no loss on the Ma¯ ori’’.
However, in the decades that followed, great strides were made to raise awareness and normalise the language’s use. In 1972 a petition was launched calling for the introduction of te reo classes in New Zealand schools.
The campaign by Nga¯ Tamatoa and the te reo Ma¯ ori Society was presented to Parliament with more than 30,000 signatures.
The same year saw the first Ma¯ ori Language Day – which was extended to Ma¯ ori Language Week in 1975 – while in 1978
Ru¯ a¯ toki Ma¯ ori District High School in the Bay of Plenty became the country’s first officially bilingual school. Although English was spoken by 25 times more people, te reo remained the second most widely used language – ahead of Samoan, Hindi and Chinese. And according to the Ministry of Education in 2014, about 9000 children were enrolled in 460 kohanga reo, kindergarten schools where lessons are taught in te reo Ma¯ ori.
Jess and Anton Matthews send their 5-year-old daughter Te Aria¯ Aroha to Te Kura Kaupapa Ma¯ ori o Te Wha¯ nau Tahi, a fullimmersion school in Spreydon.
And Jess says she attempts to communicate solely in te reo when she is at the school.
‘‘At home I use it as much as I can and, when I take my daughter to school, I try to only speak te reo.
‘‘At work about 75 per cent of the staff speak te reo, so that helps.’’
As well as giving her a huge insight into Ma¯ ori culture, the 30-year-old says learning the language has improved her appreciation of New Zealand’s wider heritage.
‘‘I wanted to learn more for the sake of my family, but I’ve enjoyed learning about the culture and heritage of New Zealand.
‘‘There are a lot of misconceptions about the Ma¯ ori language and culture. One of the things I like the most is the value that is placed on motherhood and the importance of the role. That’s definitely something that the rest of society could learn.
‘‘I also like the concept of manaakitanga and the need to offer hospitality to family members and guests.’’
She says anyone interested in speaking te reo should try, regardless of how little they
know. ‘‘It’s something anyone can learn.
‘‘When you are first learning it’s a good idea to practise the sounds to make sure you get those right. Also, making sure you hear as much of the language as you can, to get your ear accustomed to the sounds.
‘‘There are programmes on Ma¯ ori TV such as Funny Whare with Stacey Morrison, which you can watch even if you don’t speak te reo.
‘‘A really important thing to remember when you are learning is that most people who speak te reo want you to give it a go. Everyone will be very supportive.’’