Tēnā koutou - hello everyone.

It’s been a good week for practising te reo. It’s great to hear people giving te reo a go with me.

Upsize your te reo with ease

This week, we’re going to give ourselves a bit of a head start in our journey with te reo. We’re going to look at some of the words and phrases we already know - words we can add to our daily te reo practise.

We hear Māori language used around us in everyday conversation. Some of these words we hear and understand, others we hear but are not so sure.

The word marae is one that is often seen or heard, and doesn’t generally require translation because it is so widely understood.

I’d like to list a few I already know, and look at how I could use them in conversation.

Interestingly, I saw with some satisfaction the ones I selected for this week are all on the list of ‘100 Māori words every New Zealander should know’ on the New Zealand history online website. This means we’ve already got a head start on our te reo journey.

We’re off and running. Let’s upsize our te reo vocabulary.

Aotearoa - the Māori name for New Zealand.

Nō Aotearoa ahau - I’m from New Zealand.

Haere rā - Goodbye (said to someone who is leaving).

Haere rā e hoa - Goodbye my friend

Haka - a chant with associated actions that issues a challenge.

Kei te haka te kapa Ō-Pango - The All Blacks are doing their haka!

Ka pai! - Good, well done.

Ka pai tāu mahi! - You did a good job!

Kia ora - Hello. also used when you want to express thanks or agreement.

Kia ora e hoa! - Hi mate! Thanks mate!

The difference in meaning with Kia ora is all down to context. If you see your friend, it's obviously a greeting. But if your friend passes you a drink, ‘Kia ora e hoa!’ becomes ‘thanks mate!’

So, you do know quite a few words in te reo already. You can try this week to bring out the Māori words that are locked in your memory through repeatedly hearing them in everyday conversation or in the media.

Upsize your te reo. We’ll all be speaking full sentences in Māori before we know it.

Check out te wiki o te reo Māori here 

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