Swings + Roundabouts Spring 2020

REFLECTIONS ON LEARNING TE REO MĀORI Resources There are many options and opportunities to learn te reo Māori within Aotearoa/New Zealand. First, check what is available in your own community/city/region such as your local polytechnics, your local Te Wānanga o Aotearoa; and if Te Ahu o te Reo Māori is being offered close to you this is a great option for teachers, https:// education.govt.nz/our-work/overall- strategies-and-policies/te-ahu-o-te-reo- maori-fostering-education-in-te-reo-maori Online resource: ● http://www.tewhanake.maori.nz/ ● http://www.tokureo.maori.nz/index.html ● https://kupu.maori.nz/ ● https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/ international/where-can-i-study/study- online/toromai/toromai_home.cfm Useful books include: ● Māori Made Easy series by Scotty Morrison ● A Māori Word a Day by Hemi Kelly (also has a fantastic Facebook/Instagram and podcast on Spotify) Informative podcasts: ● Taringa (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa) ● Everyday Māori (Hemi Kelly) BY TRUDI SUTCLIFFE Learning te reo Māori has been a lifelong journey that is still nowhere near the finishing line! But over time alongside my increasing knowledge of te reo Māori, my understanding of te ao Māori has deepened. As Stuart and Remaka (2018) write in their abstract, “Language is a casement into cultures’ deepest meanings” and as Dr Rangimarie Turiki Pere states eloquently in Te Wheke, “Language is not only a form of communication but it helps transmit the values and beliefs of a people”. My first memory of learning any te reo Māori was through counting to ten and singing waiata at primary school. And that was basically my whole experience through the primary years until I started college. Unfortunately, even with this limited experience I still learnt to mispronounce the vowels, i.e. number 10 – tekau (which I learnt as tecow) and which is still a common mistake often heard. Mispronunciation, let alone speaking te reo Māori in a meaningful way, is still a hurdle many struggle with. One way to encourage correct pronunciation is waiata, with Ongley (2014) arguing the role of singing waiata to be one of the most effective methods of teaching te reo Māori for both adults and children. Certainly for myself the waiata, “A ha ka ma”, supports my pronunciation of the vowels, and whenever I’m stuck I go back to this waiata every time. Over the years I’ve learnt a little bit of te reo Māori here and there, and over the last few years I’ve committed to going to a local polytechnic once a week after work, completing several online courses and this year participated in the Ministry of Education initiative, Te Ahu o te Reo Māori — Fostering education in te reo Māori. This course provides teachers an opportunity to learn and integrate te reo Māori into the learning of all ākonga and tamariki through regional Iwi providers who share the unique language features and dialect of the region you undertake Te Ahu o te Reo Māori in. This initiative isn’t as yet nationwide, but if you have the opportunity I would recommend all teachers to commit to the weekly lessons for a formative and holistic way of learning and discovering not just te reo Māori but te ao Māori. Although I’ve committed many hours to learning te reo Māori I still struggle with introducing as much descriptive and meaningful language with the tamariki I work with as I’d like to. It’s also hard learning a language as an adult and if you aren’t exposed to the language in an emersion or fluent situation this adds to the difficulty. Therefore, if you are on this te reo Māori learning journey, just starting or considering taking on this commitment, I would definitely take on Scotty Morrison’s advice found within his first ‘Māori Made Easy’ book. This advice includes (but not exhaustively): be determined and tenacious, make sure you feel safe and comfortable, connect with the essence of the language, find a friend to learn with you (and as improve find ones more fluent than yourself), and learn words and phrases you will use regularly. Kia kaha te reo Māori. September 2020 { 21 }