Ideas
What you do to start learning and speaking is up to you but you won’t be alone.
Get started! See how you can incorporate te reo Māori into your everyday life.
It could be as easy as playing a Māori language song, starting your Zoom call with "mōrena", or starting lunch with a karakia!
Check out some ideas below - we'll continue to share ideas and inspirations for you, your whānau, your school and workplace.
Join the movement >People that have joined the movement
Sarah just said Learn to be comfortable using Te reo in everyday life without having to really concentrate to switch
Esharnee just said Becoming more involved with my Marae, joined different te reo groups online and making a conscious effort to use more te reo in everyday life.
Lisa just said I am organizing a strategic plan that promotes and raises the status of te reo Maori mea nga tikanga. I want to select two goals one being a language acquisition plan and the other partnership in which I can support myself and also my co workers as we work with whanau and tamariki
Paranihia just said Currently my whanau and I are "I Reo I Kupe" Students, doing an online beginners class, I am also a member of the new Haka Roppu "Puangarua", which is Hokianga and Te Puu Ao combined. I would like to continue my Reo learning for my whanau and I by joining this roopu please. I speak very little because I am too whakamaa to say kupu incorrectly, so I hope to build my confidence and set my inner Reo Maori wings free.
Rangimarie just said I would love to speak to (and write notes) to my grand-daughter who was turned away from joining a Kohangareo preschool (Wellington) because she did not speak Te reo Māori. As a bright little girl, I’m sure she would have learned quickly.
Anaru just said I want to learn how to korero
Jan just said I am a keen te reo student, fortunate to have been in Scotty and Stacey Morrison’s Te Reo class at TVNZ in 2019, de-railed by ill health in 2020 but now back on track.
Gessica just said Kia ora whanau! I'm a Brazilian ECE kaiako who loves Aotearoa New Zealand! I know the importance of Te reo Maori on NZ tamariki lives, so I want to learn and support them as much as I can while I'm living here.
Mel just said Trying to find a Maori husband to join his marae lol but seriously I am using Drops (language app) and signing up for a te reo class next semester 2021
Kayla just said Learning the basics, practising a little, wanting to grow within, Learning whakapapa, sharing a little kupu with my children & ngeru, Learning songs, Kia Ora x
Natalia just said I ran a week of activities with my whānau, from connect Maor with English words, basic translations, spoke te reo the whole week and a family Kahoot quiz with prizes. Me and my little brother were the only fluent te reo speakers in our whānau, māmā is an average speaker but she helped teach us Ringatu karakia and waiata.
Here are some ideas to get you, your workplace, school, group, team or friends and whānau involved in the movement.
Kōrero | Speak
- Make ‘kia ora’ your first choice of greeting to everyone you speak to
- 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
Waiata | Sing
- Get a group together and sing an easy te reo song, see ’Tūtira Mai’ ‘Te Aroha’ ‘National Anthem’
- Do or teach lunchtime kapa haka
- Learn some waiata hou and sing along to our ‘Te Wiki o te Reo Māori’ playlist
- Learn and sing the Māori alphabet
Tākaro | Play
- Host a te reo Māori quiz and test your organisation’s knowledge. Use our 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!
Whakarongo | Listen
- Listen to te reo Māori only for the day
- Play our ‘Te Wiki o te Reo Māori’ playlist in your business or workplace for everyone to hear!
- Listen to a podcast and sharpen up your reo, type ‘Taringa’ or ‘Ako’ into your podcast app.
Turn on the radio or go online and tune into your local iwi radio station - 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.
Pānui | Read
- 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
- Use the signage list to put up signs around your workplace or try these labels.
- Hear Professor Rawinia Higgins talk about the thinking behind the Māori Language Act 2016
- For rangatahi or Marvel lovers, read Māori legend comics in te reo or English with Sanctuary: Pūrakau Evolution.
Ako | Learn
- 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 a reo Māori learning show
- Join the ‘A Māori Phrase a Day’ learning group on Facebook by Hēmi Kelly
- Set out to learn a word a day for a year – see 365 Māori words
