Te Wiki o Te Reo MÄ�ori

New Zealand has 3 and half official languages, MÄ�ori, New Zealand sign language, English and our very own unique dialect of English known as New Zild.

This week we celebrate the the MÄ�ori language with MÄ�ori Language Week â€“ Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori. MÄ�ori Language Week is about people who don’t usually speak Te Reo ‘giving it a go’ and it’s about being supportive and accepting of those who choose to speak it as an everyday language. Every week is Maori Language Week at my whare. When our daughter was about 6 months old, my wife and I were invited along to a hui about raising bilingual tamariki. There we learned about the advantages of raising your child bilingually and about some of the wrongs of the past and the uncertain future that the mÄ�ori language faces.

So, because raising a child wasnâ€™t difficult enough already, we decided to raise ours with a language that we hadnâ€™t learned to speak yet. This seemed like a bad idea at the time, but our 2 year old girl is now very chatty in 2 languages. It hasnâ€™t been easy and itâ€™s not going to get any easier, we still need to keep studying and working hard to stay ahead of the superior learning ability that children possess. So MÄ�ori Language Week is important to my whÄ�nau because it helps create positive attitudes and acceptance towards Te Reo MÄ�ori and makes it a normal part of everyday life in New Zealand, if only for a week. Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu.

I really get a kick out of seeing Te Reo MÄ�ori in the mainstream for the week. For example, last year TVNZâ€™s morning talk show Breakfast was renamed Parakuihi for the week and this morning the used mÄ�ori placenames and days of the week for the weather report. Also, this year, Nickelodeon are playing Te Reo Maori episodes of Spongebob squarepants â€“ ara ko Spongebob Tarau PorowhÄ�.

So for a little Wiki o Te Reo MÄ�ori fun, hereâ€™s some kiwi placenames for you to try at home…

A nice easy one to get warmed up…