Ako Reo Māori!

Kia ora e te whānau! Te Wiki o te reo Māori is here!

Why not take the opportunity during Te Wiki to learn a little bit of te reo Māori? Whaea Suezanne at He Matapihi Library has been helping the librarians by showing us how we can talk about what we’re going to do on the weekend (mutunga wiki) using a little bit of te reo! Here’s what she had to say:

Ko te kauapapa o te rā nei (the topic of the day) is the mutunga wiki (weekend)!
If you would like to practice a small conversation with someone, you can ask:

Kei te aha koe ā te mutunga wiki? What are you doing this weekend?

Here are some ways you can answer:

Kei te kore noa iho! — I am doing nothing!
Kei te mahi. — I am working.
Kei te whakatā — I am resting.
Ka haere au ki te toro i ōku hoa! — I am going to visit my friends.
Ka mahi mara au. — I’m going to help with the gardening.
Ka haere māua ki tetahi wharekai! — We are going to a restaurant!

Then you can ask…

Kei te aha koe ā te mutunga wiki? What are you doing this weekend?

And all of a sudden you are having a whole conversation in te reo Māori! Special thanks to A Māori Phrase a Day by Hēmi Kelly for this idea!

You can learn more te reo Māori by visiting LanguageNut online, or by borrowing one of our many books for kids on learning te reo! Check some out below:

Everyday words in Māori
“This is a bright and busy book that will give Maori language learners of all ages hours of enjoyment. A pronunciation guide and an alphabetical Māori/English list of all the words in the book are included.” (Catalogue)

Kuwi & friends Māori picture dictionary / Merewether, Katherine Q.
“From the bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator of the Kuwi the Kiwi series, Kat Merewether, comes a large scale, stunningly illustrated visual dictionary. Full of over 1000 basic words in te reo Māori and English, perfect for every New Zealander.” (Catalogue)

Picture dictionary : te reo Māori words & sentences / Holt, Sharon
“The book is a compilation of many of the words and sentence structures used in the previous books in our Te Reo Singalong series as well as some new ones. Use the app to check your pronunciation, and increase your fluency in Māori vocabulary and sentence structure.” (Catalogue)

First thousand words in Māori / Amery, Heather
“This bright and entertaining book provides a wealth of vocabulary-building opportunities for beginner learners of Māori. Stephen Cartwright’s delightful pictures encourage direct association of the Māori word with the object, which will assist towards effective, long-term learning. At the end of the book there is an alphabetical Māori/English list of all the words in the book.” (Catalogue)

My first words in Māori / Morrison, Stacey
“My First Words in Māori equips your whanau with the first words you need to speak te reo at home together With lively pictures labeled in Māori and English, each page introduces the concepts and words children use as they first begin to talk, get to know people and explore the world around them. Designed for parents and tamariki to read together, with plenty of detail in the illustrations to point out and name. This is the perfect book to bring the Māori language into your home and have fun with the kids on their language journey” (Catalogue)