Forget your fear by having a laugh while you learn
Now that we are all past that initial awkwardness of having a go at a new language, it is time to have some fun.
My colleagues who put together the video series for Te Wiki o Te Reo Ma¯ ori — which can be viewed at nzherald.co.nz — had the same idea in mind, using humour and tikanga to break down stigma around te reo.
One video tackles the touchy subject of pronunciation, and how/ how not to approach someone who is struggling to roll their “r”s. Another looks at the “silent” Ma¯ ori language, using only eyebrows, while another dives into the thorny area of dialects.
Their idea was that some people were scared off from te reo and Ma¯ ori culture.
But as producer Allan George (Nga¯ ti Kahungunu) said: “Ma¯ ori culture is beautiful, yet funny.”
With that humour in mind here are some phrases I like to drop into ko¯ rero every now and then, known as k¯ıwaha, or colloquial phrases.
“Ao noa, po¯ noa”, one of most universal, means “all day, all night”, or “24/7”.
It is a nice and humble (cheeky) response when you get a bit of a compliment.
When someone says to me, “Kia ora, Michael. Awesome work on the reo blog!”, I respond, “Ao noa, po¯ noa, e hoa.”
Another confident expression is “ka¯ ore e kore”, which means “without a doubt”.
Millennials might like to throw around, “mea rawa ake”, or “nek minnit”.
If you want to compliment someone, try “pa¯ kia te ringa”, or “high five”.
Give those a go, and have some fun with te reo.
Hei a¯ po¯ po¯ , ka¯ ore e kore.