Kia kaha Te Reo Māori

Kia kaha Te Reo Māori | Let’s make the Māori language strong

One element that made a strong appearance at this year’s Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ) Annual Surgeons’ Meeting, held in Queenstown from 1 to 2 September, was the Māori language. There were a whole range of competencies on show but what shone through was the desire to integrate te reo, the language of the tangata whenua—Indigenous people—and an official language of AoNZ, into the everyday. Two weeks later, from 12 to 18 September, AoNZ celebrated 50 years of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori—Māori Language Week— with events, exhibitions and experiences held across the motu (country). Many show their support each year by learning a new word or phrase a day, signing up to te reo language courses or learning a pepeha—a traditional way of introducing yourself in Māori. RACS marked the occasion with a series of posts on social media with some simple ways to engage with te reo. Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori is a government sponsored intiative, which began in 1972 and is growing in prominence as efforts to revive the Māori language increase. Te reo is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as ‘vulnerable’. The government hopes to change that and has set a target of a million speakers of basic te reo and 150,000 proficient speakers by 2040. The same initiative wants Kiwis to value te reo as an integral part of their national identity. In 2008, Google Māori—a Māori-language version of the popular search engine—was launched to celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. The national cricket team, the Black Caps, played under the name Aotearoa to mark Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori in 2015. Two year’s later the Disney film Moana was translated into te reo and, in 2021, 1.1 million people set out to speak Māori at the same time. It was also during Te Wiki o te reo Māori in 2021 that the Māori Party began its petition to adopt Aotearoa as the official name of New Zealand.

Why not have a go at learning some te reo, even by incorporating some simple greetings and sign offs into your emails?

Greetings Hi: Kia ora Hello to one (formal): Tēnā koe Hello to two (formal): Tēnā kōrua Hello to three or more (formal): Tēnā koutou Morning: Mōrena Good morning: Ata mārie Sign offs Regards: Ngā mihi Many thanks: Kia ora rawa atu With best wishes: Ngā manaakitanga Until next time: Mā te wā

See you again: Ka kite anō Need help with pronounciation? Try the Māori dictionary (https://bit.ly/3RCTiyr) Want to add those pesky lines over the long vowel sounds (known as tohutō or macrons)? There are some simple instructions here (https://bit.ly/3TWJ8KV)