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Taumata 4: He Mahuri

Challenge level 4: Kōrero Māori

Your mahuru challenge:
Use your reo Māori and speak/write/sing/play in/learn/listen up for half your day everyday.

Next Steps: 

  • Connect with friends and family whom are also keen to kōrero
  • Let your friends and colleagues know that you are doing the intermediate challenge and will be communicating in te reo Māori during Mahuru.
  • Download our ‘Kaupapa Kāri‘ to present to people during Mahuru in order to set the tone of the communication. This way you and they can be patient as you engage across the languages.
  • Share your challenge on social media so people know you’ll be posting in Māori so they can support and engage in Māori too.
  • Tune in to iwi radio, Māori TV or podcasts so you here a wider range of reo spoken

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!

  • 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

Te Pūtaketanga o te Reo

Full Immersion
Want to speak te reo Māori? There's no better way than to immerse yourself in the language.
Level 4 | 40 weeks - full-time | No fees

Te Rōnakitanga ki te reo Kairangi

Full Immersion
Go well past the basics and focus on your grammar and conversational ability..
Level 5 | 40 weeks - full-time | No fees
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