Tēnā koutou - hello everyone.

How are you going in your te reo journey?  It’s great to hear people giving te reo a go with me.

A couple of weeks ago, I answered a question about swearing. It got me thinking.

In every language, there are idioms, colloquialisms and slang. It can be quite problematic when learning a new language, because these expressions usually don’t have a literal meaning that you can check in a dictionary. They tend to have a special meaning, known only by the country, district or communities that created them.

There are always new ones being created as the world changes, and they are generally used in conversation.

Think about expressions like ‘raining cats and dogs’.  That would sound very strange to someone just beginning their English language journey!

There are many, many idioms and colloquial expressions that Māori use. I thought I would refer to author and te reo Māori expert Scotty Morrison for some common phrases to add to our vocabulary.

One I have heard used before by a whaea to a child:

Nāwai rā, nāwai rā. Eventually.

And some more:

Aua atu Don’t worry.

Mō taku hē! I’m sorry! My Bad!

Ka tau kē! Fantastic!

Koia kei a koe! You’re awesome!

We’ll look at a few more useful and interesting phrases next week. In the meantime, Kia pai te rā. Have a great day.

Check out te wiki o te reo Māori here