Chance to learn te reo for Māori Language Week
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) is a chance to support and celebrate Māori language and culture.
Between September 12-18, the teams at Taupō District Council’s libraries and museum are collaborating with Rural Education Activities Programme (REAP) to provide interactive and engaging learning opportunities.
Whether you want to ako (learn), whakarongo (listen), waiata (sing), pānui (read), tuhi (write), or kō rero (speak) te reo Māori, this is your chance to have a go.
On Monday, September 12, the Taupō Library is hosting Learn with HĀ , a two-hour beginners’ programme which will teach the basics of Mā ori language and culture, run by Taupō Museum programmes coordinator Hawira Karaitiana.
Hawira (Ngāti Tūwharetoa) has more than 20 years’ experience with Mā ori language education. Learn with HĀ is an opportunity to learn how to correctly pronounce Māori words, improve your knowledge of local place/street names and waiata (songs) in a fun and interactive lesson. Spaces are limited and you will need to register at www.taupo.govt.nz/ librarieswhatson.
On Wednesday, September 14, REAP’s te reo tutor Moepuke Church (Ngāti Tūwharetoa) will host Toddler Time in te reo Māori followed by ngā kemu me ngā waiata (games and songs) at Taupō Library. On Thursday, September 15, she will host Toddler Time in te reo Māori at Tūrangi Library.
Moepuke has 22 years’ experience in education, including kohanga reo with young children, mainstream intermediate schools and working with Māori men in Tongariro Prison. For the last five years she has been teaching adults te reo at REAP.
She says te reo Māori, as New Zealand’s first language, is a taonga (treasure) which should be shared and used to unite the people of Aotearoa. “I’m a keen supporter of Tū wharetoa’s work, with any age, to promote te reo Māori. I’ve waited a long time for it to be recognised country-wide. It’s definitely about empowering the language, but really it’s about unity, unity within our country, and I think te reo Māori is one of the best tools for that.”