Cafe embraces te reo M¯aori
Maz Williams is encouraging the use of te reo Ma¯ ori one kawhe (coffee) at a time.
Three weeks ago, the Urenuibased woman opened the doors to the small township’s newest cafe, The Corner.
The main drag eatery is slowly but surely duplicating its menus so they are offered in both English and te reo Ma¯ ori. ‘‘I just think that why not?’’ Williams said. ‘‘You should do. I think everybody should be encouraged to speak the language.’’ About five years ago Williams relocated to New Zealand from the north west coast of Wales where she ran a cafe for about 15 years. All of her patrons were offered menus in both English and Welsh. ‘‘You just wouldn’t open your doors without having both options.’’
When Williams arrived in this country she immediately noticed the lack of Kiwis using te reo Ma¯ ori. But with more businesses making a noticeable effort to incorporate it in their operations, she believed more people were becoming interested in learning and helping to preserve the language.
‘‘It’s becoming more popular and I would like to add to that,’’ she said.
In time, Williams would have her cabinet food and kitchen menu in both languages, as well as sentence structures available for people wanting to order their meals in te reo Ma¯ ori.
It was also a journey for Williams who is committed to learning the language.
‘‘I think kids coming in here, adults, young and old, we’re going to have some fun.
‘‘First learning coffee and learning how to say it properly.’’
So far the response from her customers had been positive, she said. Although some people were a little reluctant for fear of mispronouncing the words, Williams said the cafe was a safe environment to ‘‘give it a go’’.
‘‘We have fun and I help them. ‘‘Because I’m Welsh I think I have a bit of a headstart on a lot of the prounciation.’’