Raising bilingual kids in a bicultural family

Today marks the start of Te Taura Whiri i te reo Ma¯ori (Ma¯ori Language Week). Lee Kenny meets a Christchurch woman who chose to learn te reo after marrying into a Ma¯ori family.

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 said she learnt 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 said.

‘‘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 overcame 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 8 years she gradually increased her knowledge and understanding, 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 to 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.

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.

‘‘As a white New Zealander I grew up quite ignorant of te reo.’’ Jess Matthews