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
Reggae just said Kei te ako au ki te wananga o Aotearoa, te putakitanga o te reo tua wha.
Alex just said I've joined a group in my church called Te Kotahitanga - it's a group of Māori who have grown up being discouraged from speaking te reo and Pākehā who are curious about and supportive of te ao Māori. As a Pākehā, I want to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and do as much as I can to understand and support te reo Māori in my own community and whānau. I've also started the Māori Made Easy book by Scotty Morrison.
Maree just said I am wanting to start my Te Reo journey.
Corey just said Reflections on daily/weekly
Silvia just said I'm a primary school teacher and moved 2,5 years ago from the Netherlands to New Zealand. I would love to learn / improve my Te Reo skills. Not only for myself, but also for my students :)
Angela just said Watching Toku Reo TV online, doing online Wanaga course next year.
David just said All I want to do is listen and understand what is the korero at a gathering where Maori is spoken.
Rebecca just said Learning to pronounce words
Mark just said Working in the mine’s on a 7,7,7 shift wanting to be fluent in my reo at its highest possible standards
William just said go home to New Zealand and speak the reo fluently.
Toni just said Wanting to keep update to date and current with Te Reo Maori, even though I live in Australia.
Bill just said Planning to listen and learn.
Joseph just said Well I need to learn cause my grandchildren speak maori and I don't understand some of it just the basics
teena just said Kia ora, i am currently enrolled in a online course with Te Kura Wananga.
Marlene just said I will continue with my te Reo journey, dedicating time each week to learn more or consolidate what I have previously learned. I will continue to increase my te Reo use with the children at my Kura and will begin to use it with my whānau in everyday life situations.
Jennifer just said I have been on the journey of learning my te reo me ona tikanga for the past 20years
Lorraine just said Work in mental health and want to be able to korero Maori
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
