Te pae kōrero | Our why

There are many things that define New Zealanders and connect us to our home: and te reo Māori is one of them.

Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to learn te reo and see it become normalised and spoken nationwide. Explore them below and share your favourites to inspire others to get involved.


Add your 'why'

Te reo Maori is an essential part of my identity as a Pakeha New Zealander.

Mary

Because if there are going to be one million te reo speakers by 2040, one million people have to start somewhere. I have started, and I want to keep growing.

Janet

Ko taku hiahia kia kōrerorero i ngā wā katoa ki aku Tamariki.

Jason

I believe Te Reo is much like one of the few important creatures currently on our endangered species list. We may be in awe of the animal and understand its rareness and value to the world, but we need to keep talking about it and bringing attention to it so as to stop it from disappearing forever. By practising Te Reo in our normal everyday settings, I believe we help to keep the language alive.

Helen

To ensure our cultural heritage lives on.

Iona

He tino ataahua te reo Maori!

Jill

To honour the taonga that is Te Reo, special to New Zealand and part of who we are as a people.

Jenna

Kia ora we are a rural set kindergarten with kaiako of mixed cultural backgrounds. We speak both Te reo Maori and english and are learning sign language to support our practices of authentic Te Tiriti o Waitangi inclusive educational practices.

Whaea

my desire is to be one of the million reo speakers - always has been

linda

As a teacher, I really want to connect my students to te ao Māori me te reo Māori, hopefully helping them to develop a love, appreciation and understanding for Aotearoa's first language and culture. I hope that by doing this, that we will be working towards a more united and equitable future for Aotearoa.

Mathew

I love my culture

Aroha

Te reo should be our first language and taught in schools. As a white middle class older woman i am ashamed that i dont speak this beautiful language. I am now trying.

Karen

Being adopted, and finding out when you're 26 that you're descended from Maori is quite a life-changing thing. Picking up some simple Te Reo in the Army over 8 years played a large part in where I am now. My children are aware of their Whakapapa, and are proud of their heritage.

Peter

Te reo Maori is what connects me to people and place. I love the stories, the history and the melody of our language. Te reo Aotearoa Maori also connects me to my te reo Rarotonga Maori and reo Tahiti Maohi; my language transcends oceans

Because my children deserve to know more about where they came from and who they are as Maori. I always wish I learnt more when I was younger, I want to do the Mahi so I can teach my tamariki.

Bex

Kia ora tatou, Susannah here, I am longing to speak te reo Maori because I am of NgaPuhi descent and Irish, both have beautiful languages. I am a complete beginner, lived in the Philippines in the slums and learnt Tagalog reasonably easy as was living close as to people. Te Reo has illuded me for years as practice is a big part of how I learn. Having lessons on line one on one with a wonderful women just now.

Susannah

Ko tenei Te Reo o oku tupuna ehara tetahi atu. Kotahi rau whitu tekau o nga tau kua hipa ka wikitoria a Te Ruki Kawiti me tona ope iti rawa ki nga kai toa o te emepaea. Mo te aha? mo tatou Te Iwi Maori ko matou nga hua ka puta.

Te Rangi

Tōku reo tōku ohoho, tōku reo tōku māpihi maurea

Nicola

whakahihitia tou maoritanga

frank

ko tenei waiata hei arahi i taku ako i te reo Kotahi kapua ki te rangi, hei marangai i te whenua (x2) kua whiti te ra ki tua - ko Kahurangi e kore koe e ngaro taku reo rangatira (x2)

Paula

Kia whakapakari ai tō tātou reo rangatira

Kerira

Te wiki o te reo Maori has become a long line of language weeks. The key differences are this is tanagta whenua tikanga it is Aotearoa's official language. I suppose I would like to see a sustainable change in te wiki o te reo more about celebrating our accomplishments of the year instead of trying to rebrand or launching new initiatives. Te reo maori should be every week.

Greg

Because it is a part of my own identity and the identity of all the students I teach in Aotearoa

Pip

My family was whitewashed and kept from my maori heritage. This year I have started to repair that and have emerged myself in the culture

izzy

Hapai Te Reo Rangatira Hapai tou whanau whanui Hapai ou tatou wairua Tautoko

Brian

It became important when I moved to NZ. To immerse myself in the language and culture that truly IS this country. And then to fall in love with a Maori fella made it even more important. For him, for his family, for us and for our future kids.

Karolina

I am ready and inspired to help start creating our new normal in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Ali

Paying respect to tangata whenua and embracing their language and culture.

Losaline

We need to acknowledge our language as a country

Raphael

Mostly as because I don’t see te reo as a different language in New Zealand, it’s all one to me and I really want my children to feel the same. It’s no just one moment or month of te reo it’s life practice.

Anita

I was removed from my whanau at birth. My papa had no knowledge that I was a live pepi but a son whom had passed at birth. I lost my whenua, my immediate and extended whanau, my rights to be brought up with Maori, a totally absence of tikanga, reo or whakapapa. . . instead became a stranger, in my birthright and brought up in a Pakeha'world. For me this is massive it means I'm truly Maori, not a brown face in a primarily white scciety. I am define by both, due to my adopted upbringing, but my Maori whakapapa is soooo inspirational to me ❤❤ Arohanui

Catrina

I'm a 7th generation NZer and Maori is part of my heritage. I would like to learn more about how to pronounce Maori words correctly. I try to practice on signs and information boards but struggle to read and speak Maori properly. That's why I signed up

Shelly

Its important because a being nzer, maori culture/language is so much a part of our heritage. I have grandchildren who speak and are part maori. Also because of working with Maori where I work it would be so good to be able to communicate with them in Maori. It shows I value and respect them.

kaye

Kia ora We have our first mokopuna and I want her and every future moko we are blessed to have to know how to speak Te Reo. Our language must survive. It is the heart of who we are. It cant be lost. . Nga mihi

Margie

To show my children our language is important

Taekata

Tena koutou katoa Kāore koroua korero maori ki te kura Kei te tau whitu tekau mā tahi ahau Ka ako te reo Maori ahau mõ õku mokopuna Ko Dianne tõku ingoa My grandfather was not allowed to speak Te reo māori at school I am 71 years old I want to learn Te reo for my grandchildren My name is Dianne. Kia ora katoa.

Dianne

Kia ora. I have been teaching and leaning Te Reo for fifteen years. Over that time my love for the language and Māori culture has continued to grow. It is my belief that te reo Māori is integral to the healing of our nation and my deepest desire is that all our tamariki will all have the opportunity to learn it throughout primary and secondary school. The Māori Language Moment I have organised (a reo focused school assembly involving performances from both the Junior and Senior Kapa Haka) has had to be postponed a week due to Level 2 restrictions unfortunately, but I hope to gather my two Kapa Haka together to sing waiata at noon on the 14th. Ka nui te mihi ki a koutou :)

Ailsa

I am a kaimahi at TWOA and I want to do my all inside of class but also outside of class

Stephen

Ko te reo Māori te reo tūturu o tēnei whenua.

Sue

I want to take part because Māori is part of me but. . . . . I was raised by my British father after my mother passed away when I was 9. Because of this, I never learnt about my Māori heritage or the language. Now that I have children of my own, I feel the need to connect with that other half of me.

Nadia

I believe in the values of biculturalism; Toi te mana, Toi te whenua, Toi te Reo: Preserve the Prestige, Preserve the Land, Preserve the Language of the Tangata Whenua!

Emere

I have been married to a wonderful man of Ngai Tahu/Ngati Kahungunu descent for 32 years. We have children so they too are of Maori descent with one attending full immersion for a time. This year I decided it was time I learnt the family language and enrolled for a year long course. Eight weeks to go and I will have level 2! It hasn't been easy but it has been worth it.

Tracy

Tena ra koutou katoa, The importance for me to take part in Te reo Maori is for my papa who passed away 2yrs ago, I want to be serious this time about taking part in something that is part of me and I have been denying it for years. So my taking part on the 12th of September and have enrolled in Te reo Maori learning is the first steps to knowing who i am as a Maori individual. Nag mihi Kia ora.

Omeka

I think this is a great kaupapa because it promotes our language and encourages all people to korero or waiata regardless of the individuals level of knowledge , for people begging there Reo Māori journey its a great way to participate and those who are intermediate speakers its an awesome opportunity for them to test there knowledge and continue to grow with that knowledge. For fluent speakers it's a great opportunity to tautoko and manaaki but most of all encourage others . Our language can be a normal feature in everyday life for the whole of New Zealand so my passion of te reo Māori encourages me to help the many great hard working kaiako , kuia and koroua bring back the normalization of our Reo. Nō reira , he mihi atu ki a koutou e tautoko ana i tēnei kaupapa . E mārama ai ki te reo Māori korerotia, E mōhio ai tātou ki te reo Māori, waiatatia E matatau ai tātou ki te reo Māori , matuarautia i a tātou mokopuna kia rere tonu atu te wairua o te reo o rātou kua tae tua o Paerau . - Nāku te rourou nāu te rourou ka ora ai te tangata.

Denny

Because the Maori language is a beautiful taonga that needs to be cherished and protected.

Bridget

To keep the reo alive. I have just begun my learning journey, but I wish I had started earlier. I love to take what I know and share it in my workplace. (early childhood kaiako) it gives me joy to see our tamariki learn alongside myself

Mairatea

Whakapapa

Arihia

I was raised in a pākeha whanau, and don’t know a lot about my heritage, other than a few basic words and myths, so I would like to learn more, and pass that knowledge to my children, and they can be proud to know about their Māori ancestry as well, and pass it to the next generations

Jo

It is important for me to take part, to promote and support Mana Maori! Kia kaha te korero mai!

Errol

I want to learn more about my roots.

Vee

I think all New Zealanders have a responsibility to be able to speak te reo Māori.

Dan

Learning my language is important to me because it connects me to who I am and where I'm from and makes me proud to be maaori.

Penny

New Zealand has done an exemplary job of integrating 2 cultures, and celebrating the differences of both. Especially when it comes to the Maori people, it is of utmost importance that their culture, language and natural characteristics are preserved, after having been suppressed for so long. The Maori culture should be celebrated, and that’s my wa.

Ko wai au?No whea au?He Maori ahau. . Ko te reo, he tino taonga ō tātou katoa e te iwi Maori. . E pīrangi au me whai tonu nga tapuwae i ōku Mātua Tūpuna. . ❤️

Amo

Kia ora koutou, teenaa koutou katoa! Ko Maukatere te mauka, ko Rakahuri te awa, ko Makawhiua te waka, he uri ahau noo Kai Tahu raaua ko Ngaati Porou! Ko tino nui ki ahau teenei kaupapa, mo te haereka o te reo Maaori ki waekanui te motu katoa. He kaimaninirau ahau, ko maninirau te kupu Maaori moo circus, ara ko maninirau toohoku waa harikoa nui, whaihoki, ko toohoku hiahia ki te tiritiri te kaakano o teenei kaupapa ki kaa tamaariki me rakatahi Maaori, moo te whakaharikoa ki a raatou. Ko teenei toohoku kaupapa i teetehi whakatauki noohoku i tito: Maninirau naa Maaori, Moo Maaori, I te reo Maaori. Circus by Maaori, For Maaori, In Maaori. Ko teenei he kiriata o toohoku mahi whakaari "Iti Kahurangi", titiro mai! https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=R-yMPh3fFdU&t=11s&ab_channel=Ignauhak Kia pai too koutou waa Maaori!

Kahuraki

As a young wāhine Māori, I believe firmly in the revitalisation of our reo for everyone, the same reo our tīpuna used for hundreds of years before it was stripped away from many of them. Te Reo Māori is a unique and integral part of this country's history and mātauranga Māori, and so I personally believe that upkeeping Te Reo Māori is important, not only for us but for the future generations of tamariki

Raiha

Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Maaori

Anna

As a Pakeha grandparent my 'why' is my mokopuna.

Kayleen

So my tamariki are strong and proud of who they are! 😝

Natasha

If you think with language, then being monolingual is a limitation to your capacity for thought. Te reo Māori, provides us with a unique opportunity to expand our language, and thus expand our thought. And through bilingualism some may discover a state where thoughts can exist free of the words. Kei te hiakai au ki te ako te reo Māori!

Prageeth

I want to be able to korero in te reo Māori & need to stop being shy and grow my kupu . . . that's how I'll get better

Eleanor

Learning Te Reo is important to me as it connects me to my whakapapa. It empowers me, it instills a part of myself I felt was missing. It strengthens my personal view of who I am

Connie

I can not speak te reo and would love to learn my language. I do know a few waiata so on this day I will listen and sing along to Maori waiata.

Tania

Kia ora! I've started making a new comic, which story's main character was grown up in a Maori family, so I've decided to learn and research everything about this culture. I'm from Hungary, Middle Europe, so really far away from this world, and it's causes a lot of hard working to get some informations, so I've just started learning te reo Maori few months ago, to make the reasearching easier and my main character much more authentic vibe in the story of it. I really enjoy the feeling when every cultural things get some meanings for me, more and more with the way of learning and searching. I really like this culture, and I'm very excited every single time when I see a sentence in te reo Maori and I've already understand it. So I keep on learning Ngā mihi nui! Réka

Reka

Because we are blessed to be a bicultural nation and helping our tamariki understand the value of Te Reo and Tikanga is a vital part of their heritage and legacy.

Cristal

Tena koe! Learning the language is the way to understand Maori culture at it's truest and most basic level. Nga mihi Priya

Priya

My want of learning is so I can speak every day! Participate in korero, understand and respond. The more I speak, the more those around me (whanau, tamariki) learn. My hope is that my whanau and I will be fluent and this will be our everyday language.

Kerryn

Ntm ma te Korero Mäoro i roto i o tätou kainga Ka ora ake ano to tatou reo rangatira

Donna

To build confidence in each other to speak te reo in our ece and embrace te ao Maori.

Jodie

Why?- it is who we are and what we are to become, as kaiako, tamariki, whanau and community It is a commitment to maori language and culture now and for the future- to firmly cement this taonga as part of our identity

Haley

Ko whānau he take nui rawa māku kia koorero te reo Māori.

Lee

Ki au nei, ko taku aroha mo te reo o toku mama, o oku tipuna.

Carol

No Ingarangi ahau no reira he tika te whakataukī ko te reo te taikura o te whakaaro marama. He tino hohonu, he tino ātaahua hoki te reo Māori. Ma tātou te reo e whakairia ki runga.

Chrissy

Learning the reo will complete me.

Ann

I do it to gain knowledge and to encourage my sons to learn the heritage from there familys generations before them I hope to better understand from what I do now Its a special language that I wish not to fade away do to the worlds use of technology and to be able to acknowledge what our family's sacrificed for us to be here now and have what we do

Shan

Te Reo Māori is part of the culture of Aotearoa, and part of my culture as a young Māori. I haven't been brought up being able to speak the language, but now, I am pursuing it as I recognise the importance of language in keeping culture alive. Te Reo is part of my whakapapa and I want to be able to pass it on to future generations.

kia ora ai te reo kamehameha o te whenua nei

Glenis

To feel more deeply connected to my roots! To be able to normalise Te Reo where ot can become our future generations first language!

Cassia

Be the change you want to see. If I want to live in a truly bilingual country where the language of the tangata whenua is commonplace, safe and valued, I have to be one of those walking the talk.

Liz

I am a Nanny to mokopuna who need to know there whakapapa if I don't tell them their mokopuna will never know who there Nana Latimer was

Ashleigh

Ehara ahau i te tangata noa. . . He Māori ahau, he uri nō rātou mā Ehara taku reo i te reo noa. . . He reo rangatira tonu, te reo o rātou mā Ka kōrero ahau i te reo rangatira i te mea ko au te whakatīnanatanga o ngā moemoeā o aku tīpuna Nō rātou te reo, nō rātou hoki ahau

Te Hāmua

Te reo Māori is a beautiful language which can open doors to a whole world of knowledge/mātauranga Māori. I would encourage anyone and everyone in Aotearoa and beyond to learn te reo Māori - it is unique to our country and is part of our culture. It's never to late to learn. As a Māori I think it's very important we learn about who we are - our culture identity and language - this can be a foundation to give us the strength to succeed in whatever we do. Kia kaha rā tātou ki te ako i te reo Māori hei oranga mō tātou katoa otirā mō ngā uri whakatipu o te āpōpō.

Patrick

It’ is my right to speak reo maori 😍 to speak reo maori I have to learn te reo maori.

Sariah Abish

Kia ora ano e te whanau o Taura Whiri i te reo Maori Ko te tino kaupapa ko te whakawhiti korero, whakawhiti whakaaro me te whakawhanaungatanga o roto i a Aotearoa. He kaiako ahau e inoi atu ana mo te whiriwhiringa te reo Maori me ona tikanga ki nga tangata katoa ahakoa te aha no hea koe, ko wai koe. Kia Maori mai a Aotearoa. Ko te mea tuarua, kia whakawhetai atu ki nga tangata a whakakaha ai te reo Maori i nga wa katoa . . . he toa rangatira ratou. Aa no reira, nga tino manaakitanga ki runga i a tatou katoa Naku noa Aroha Reid

Aroha

To me, Te reo is such a beautiful language and I feel a great sense of pride when it is spoken. My why is to reignite the confidence I had when I was younger, and use it as part of my daily life again.

Manu

My Dads wish before he passed away a few weeks ago was to learn Māori, he spent his younger years working on the farm and so did not have the time to learn Te Reo. He would listen to us use basic commands with our son and would ask each time what they meant. He loved listening to Mr 5 say his kai karakia before each and every meal. So I along with my husband would teach Dad a few basic phrases in Māori and share their meanings in English like e noho - sit, e tu - stand, wharepaku - toilet, waiata - sing, ano - again, taiho all of which were words we would use to assist him while taking care of him. I want to be able to learn more myself and continue teaching my son in honor of my Dad. "Poipoia te kakano, kia puawai - Nurture the seed and it will blossom"

Becks

Whanau is most important to me. We now have a mokopuna but I am not allowed to show her. I first learned some reo about 33 years ago at Wintec where we were taught using the Rakau method- " he aha te tae o tenei rakau? I then went to other night classes to learn some more and also attended University classes since I was teaching at Te Whare Wananga o Waikato. Some of my teachers there were Timoti Karetu, Murumara Moorfield, Te Haumihiata Mason and I got to meet Hirini Melbourne, Te Wharehuia Milroy and others. It was all thoroughly enjoyable and the staff were very friendly and welcoming (well except Sam! ). I have been able to use my Maori on many occasions where understanding of protocols and expressions were important( eg te wa o te mua for the past). Waikato is currently having a review of structural racism in the institution which review is being promoted by the Dean Brendan Hokowhitu(FRS), the Tohunga, Pou Temara and Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith. I am tautoko to one of the current Maori staff in her submission to the review and am submittting myself on serious racist effects in the Wananaga. I believe Maori language would be more easily learned through waiata and focusing on the language structures in the waiata since it involves action learning- just a thought.

tony

It's what connects me to being Māori, it's my language so I have a responsibility to ensure it lives on for generations to come.

Dinah

Te reo Māori and to te āo Māori is what makes New Zealand unique in the world. if we as New Zealanders do not stand up and be counted and strive to learn and acknowledge te reo Māori it will die. it is the duty of all us who live in Aotearoa be we Pākeha, Māori or recent immigrants to ensure that a culture and a language exists after we as individuals have left this earth.

Takapuna Primary School

Aotearoa is a bilingual country

Pru

Te Reo is more than just a language. Learning the language and using it is also a sign of respect, It is essential to keep the language alive for partnership, participation and protection of the Maori culture.

Robert

Tō tātou Reo Rangatira is the language of my parents, and their mokopuna. Its my privilege to have been raised listening to them and to now be listening to their mokopuna. It is my responsibility to learn their Reo.

Isa

Because Te Reo Maori is a beautiful language and not only be fought for but should be thriving.

Brooke

Te reo Māori is a taonga belonging in Aotearoa. It has no other place to call home. As we protect our kiwi, our kaka, our kereru, we must protect and preserve and promote the first language of this land that was nearly lost.

Andrea

I want to be part of bringing back an important language so that we can all enter the world of te ao Māori. I’m tired of not understanding Māori worldview and living in the comfort of my Pākehā privilege. It’s not fair. I hope that we can all thrive happily and healthily alongside one another! I figure learning Te Reo is part of this journey. X

Karen

I am a 65 yr old Maori woman unable to speak my own language. - yet and I feel so whakama. Te Reo Maori is so beautiful so to have a week where I can be part of doing special things myself to use Te Reo I will + having an entire week focused on Maori language is fabulous and fun!

Sharon

I am urban Maori raised in an English speaking household. I want to connect with my culture and honour the unique gift of my tupuna by learning te reo and help be a part of the movement to increase use and awareness of not only the beautiful language but the deeper awareness that understanding tikanga Maori could bring to the wellbeing of all New Zealanders through transformational change.

Claudia

Because Te Reo is unique to New Zealand, I am personally proud as a Pakeha to share this proviledge. Excuse spelling. I am a proud Kiwi and love our Heritage. Kia Kaha

Gwen

Tēna tātou kua hikina ahau i tēnei wero kia kaha rangona aku tamariki i te Reo Māori e rere ana. Ko tētahi atu take i hikina au i te kaupapa nei nā te rangatira o te kaupapa.

Rangiwahia

As an Irish person I am aware of the struggles involved in keeping our native language alive and allowing it to thrive in our modern society. I am delighted to do my bit for Te Reo Maori. Kia kaha

Teresa