Taumata 3: He Pihinga
Challenge Level 3: Grow your reo
Month Challenge:
Speak/write/sing/play in/learn/listen to te reo Māori for one to two hours per day.
Huatau | Language learning ideas
What you do to start learning and speaking is up to you but you won’t be alone. There are people from all sorts of backgrounds and levels of ability needed to revitalise te reo Māori, so get started using our ideas below. See how you can incorporate te reo Māori into your everyday life and be one in a million speakers by 2040. It could be as easy as playing a Māori language song, starting your Zoom call with “mōrena”, or starting lunch with a karakia!
Tēnā tirohia ēnei whakaaro whakatairanga – kōwhiria, mahia!
So check out these ideas – choose and use!
- Spend your lunch hour reading a te reo Māori book
- For beginners, try ‘Māori at Home’ ‘Māori 4 Work’ and ‘A Māori Phrase a Day’. For intermediate and higher see Mai i te Kakano, Te Rito and He Iti Kahurangi.
- Read the reo rua articles on Stuff NZ and share them with your organisation
- He Muka is the Māori Language Commission’s te reo Māori digital publication with guest contributors. Read some reo Māori articles and share them with your tari
- For rangatahi or Marvel lovers, read Māori legend comics in te reo or English with Sanctuary: Pūrakau Evolution
- Pick up a newly translated book by Kotahi Rau Pukapuka
- Learn more Māori metaphors and similies with He Iti te Kupu
- Use the signage list to put up signs around your workplace or try these labels.
- For rangatahi or Marvel lovers, read Māori legend comics in te reo or English with Sanctuary: Pūrakau Evolution.
- Organise a lunch time te reo Māori lesson
- Attend a lunchtime reo seminar online
- Take some te reo lessons online
- Practice your pronunciation and learn the Māori alphabet
- Learn about Māori place names with Sonny
- Watch Hēmi Kelly’s learning videos on the Facebook group ‘A Māori Phrase a Day’
- Watch a reo Māori learning show
- Set out to learn a word a day for a year – see 365 Māori words
- For kids, play Māori TV’s learning content for tamariki
- For tamariki you can re-watch learning content from Kura Mō Ngā Mokopuna. Developed during the first lockdown in 2019, this series of engaging educational videos is taught by experts as well as graduates from kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori
- The Māori Language Commission have created a reo Māori Kahoot quiz for beginners! Host your own session for whānau or colleagues. You’ll need access to internet and some devices!
- Host a te reo Māori quiz and test your organisation’s knowledge. Use these quiz questions to set-up your own – some are easy, some are hard, so grab some friends and a Māori dictionary!
- See Pania Papa’s video on easy Māori games to play with no equipment
- Download some Māori apps and play with your tamariki. See Pāpapa, Pipi Mā Tae, find more apps here.
- Create and host an online Kahoot quiz with your whānau and friends!
- Have fun with kupu with Kaupapa game.
- Play Fortnite in te reo Māori with this rauemi from Mahuru Māori.
- Get your tamariki together to do reo Māori yoga for kids with Mauritau Yoga.
- If you’re a game developer or collaborator, join the Māori Language Moment Game Jam and make games that celebrate te reo and Māoritanga.
- If you are into Cricket, check out the lockdown edition of CRIC-KIDS, 10 at-home activities available in Te reo Māori that requires minimal space and little to no equipment.
- Learn and sing the Māori alphabet
- Sing along to the Te Taura Whiro i te Reo Māori ‘Te Wiki o te Reo Māori’ playlist
- Learn iwi anthems from across the motu
- Get a group together and sing an easy te reo song, see ’Tūtira Mai’ ‘Te Aroha’ ‘National Anthem’
- Do or teach lunchtime kapa haka
- Popular New Zealand hits have now been translated into te reo! Waiata Anthems features the hit ‘Kia Mau ki tō Ūkaipō‘ by Six60 and Bathe in the River by Hollie Smith, now in te reo
- Listen to some talented and incredible rangatahi sing gospel songs on Mōhau – a Live Visual Album
- Dance and sing along to young talent, Atareta & Te Haakura! Check out their smash song Pakipaki Mai
- If you have a young pēpi, listen and sing along to this beautiful new lullaby ‘I te Tōnga o te Rā’ from Te Hiringa Hauora
- Listen to te reo Māori only for the day
- Play the ‘Te Wiki o te Reo Māori’ playlist in your business or workplace for everyone to hear!
- Hāni Dread sings ‘Kokiri’ in honour of the reo champions who marched to parliament to deliver the Māori Language Petition in 1972.
- Re-watch the Māori Language Commsission’s Rarangatahi seminars where rangatahi Māori talk about their journey with te reo Māori
- Listen to podcasts like Taringa or Everday Māori to sharpen your reo
- Back2Kura is a new podcast where two millennials are documenting their journey through a full immersion course
- Download the whare kōrero app to listen to Māori content from around the motu
- Tune in to Māori Television
- Listen to Hinewehi Mohi sing our national anthem in te reo Māori at the 1999 Rugby World Cup in England.
- If you have a young pēpi, play this beautiful new lullaby ‘I te Tōnga o te Rā’ from Te Hiringa Hauora
- Listen to rangatahi from Ngāti Porou sing with Rob Ruha in their new single ‘35‘
- Listen to the Waiata Anthems playlist, available on all platforms! Featuring hits ‘Kia Mau ki Tō Ūkaipō / Don’t Forget Your Roots’, ‘Kōrukutia / Bathe in the River’, ‘Karawhiua / 100’ and more!
- Hear Professor Rawinia Higgins talk about the thinking behind the Māori Language Act 2016
- Make ‘kia ora’ your first choice of greeting to everyone you speak to. If you’re on TikTok, watch Sonny explain the beauty of kia ora!
- Open your moment with a kaikōhau (expression of hope)
- Learn and use #MyMihi to introduce yourself to anyone new
- Prepare your whānau, friends or workplace to speak te reo Māori for the hour
- Open your news bulletin with te reo Māori
- Host a ‘Kōrero Kai’ for lunch where you only speak in te reo Māori
- Start lunch off with a karakia for kai
- Order your coffee in te reo Māori
- Set a ‘reo Māori only’ zone within your workplace or home
- Set a time where your whānau or workplace only speak te reo (i.e. 1-2pm)
- Call a mate or 2 and have a kōrero in te reo Māori
Thanks to the Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori team for collating and sharing these ideas. For more visit www.reomaori.co.nz/ideas
Learn to speak Māori - in class
Te Ara Reo Māori (He Pī Ka Pao)
If you want to learn some basic Māori language, this is the perfect place to start.
Level 2 | 38 Weeks - full-time | No fees
If you want to learn some basic Māori language, this is the perfect place to start.
Level 2 | 38 Weeks - full-time | No fees
Learn to speak Māori
Te Ara Reo Māori (He Pī Ka Rere)
If you know the basics of te reo Māori and want to take it further - here's your next step.
Level 4 | 40 Weeks - full-time | No fees
If you know the basics of te reo Māori and want to take it further - here's your next step.
Level 4 | 40 Weeks - full-time | No fees
