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'

In Corrections we work closely with Maori every day and its important to be able to speak some Te Reo and have more knowledge of Tikanga in order to minimise causing offence to our Paihere.

Heidi

Maori is my culture, Maori is me. Without it, I dont know who I am. I find connection through my culture.

Heeni

To support my caulture

Heavenleigh

Because learning te reo Maori is a great way to connect to where I live, its history and peoples. It is enriching. I am also a doctor in an ED and knowing a but of Maori helps me connect to my patients, their whanau and my team, and helps me deliver more equitable, connected care. Mauri ora

Heather

It where I come from, a part of me. I want my moko to be able to hear it, speak it, sing it.

Heather

Personally, as a pakeha with nearly 200 years of whakapapa here in Aotearoa NZ (since 1823), I feel an affinity for Te Ao Māori, having wanted to speak Te Reo as a child. As kaiako of nga mokopuna I believe I have responsibility to encourage and facilitate an understanding of and love for Te Reo in their hearts and minds. As kaiako, I have a responsibility to practice my teaching with the principles and tenets if Te Tiriti O Waitangi - part of this is to nurture the language. Our ECE curriculum is bicultural, and thus there is professional expectation to support this for all our mokopuna.

Heather

To introduce Maori language and its culture to those willing to learn and participate.

Heath

to do more than just acknowledge te reo māori, to value and legitimise te reo māori as one of our official languages of Aotearoa. Te Reo Māori is the reo of aroha, when it is spoken the essence of te reo is manaaki and aroha. The use of te reo at mahi provides our patiences with a sense that we value and uplift tangata and culture of Māori. Taking part is to encourage others to join the mass embrace of te reo māori - it evidences the number of people affirming the reo, the culture and then naturally the people. The more people hear and see te reo māori, the more it becomes our daily practices.

TeAo

Because te reo Maaori is the language of Aotearoa. It is beautiful and unique and as a kaiako and parent I want to continue my journey with learning and teaching te reo and te ao Maaori to my tamariki.

Hayley

I studied Te Reo Māori language last year at Te Wananga O Aotearoa and it was just a amazing experience, I learnt so much and now I am passing my knowledge and experiences onto the other staff at preschool

hayley

I use Te Reo everyday in my home with my tamariki as I learnt Te Reo in school and believe it’s important for my tamariki to know as it’s apart of their culture

Haylee

Educate the younger generation about the importance of the language so going forward they can be better than we are in respecting and upholding Te ao Māori within society

Harriet

Part of my culture and my school

Harper

Kia takaro

Hariata

Because it is so important for not only māori to learn te reo in order for it to become as normal as English in NZ as it should be.

Hannah

Te reo maori should be used more by more everyday. It should be naturally apart of being a New Zealander 🇳🇿❤️

Hannah

As a kaiako at a high school with a large Māori roll it is essential to acknowledge those ākonga because of the bicultural foundation of Aotearoa.

Hannah

Participating in what's unique about this land

Hana

Important for our akonga to use Te Reo in their everyday world and feel comfortable doing so

Haley

For my children to live confidently and comfortably, as proficient bilingual speakers of te reo Māori and English, communicating in both languages during their day to day life

Haley

To be a part of the bigger picture. To nurture the language for future generations.

Hakaraia

I want to speak te reo fluently.

Natasha

This is our national language. It’s unique to New Zealand. I teach our tamariki who would love to honour their heritage and feel proud to be Maori. I love celebrating our tamariki . 💖💖💖. I will listen for waiata and will play Aotearoa by Stan Walker 😃🎉👌

Greta

Ko te reo Māori te reo tuatahi, te reo taketake o tēnei whenua. I tata ngaro i ngā tau ka hipa nei. Ki te kore tātou -- Māori mai, Pākehā mai -- e whakamahi i te reo, mā wai te whakaora? Ina ka ākona e koe he reo hōu, ka whiwhi koe i tētahi ao hōu.

Greg

I would my like family and I to be bilingual

Greg

To promote te reo

Greg

My journey to understand the history, culture and my place within it has led to a desire to understand and be fluent in Te Reo Maori.

Grant

I think it's vital that students have an understanding of Te Reo and that it gets incorporated into our lessons and classrooms more effectively.

Graeme

To honour and support our culture and language.

Golden

I have just started my Te reo māori journey and this is another step in my commitment to learn

Glenda

I'm taking part because 'He pai ake te iti i te kore' (A little is better than none).

Ginni

It's part of my heritage and I want te reo to flourish.

Gina

Because it us our official language and it has and does have the power to bring us all together no matter what our background is .

Gina

I am a Teacher Aide at a school using Te Reo.

Gillian

It's an acknowledgement of my whakapapa, and been a long time coming.

Gillian

it's a language i grew up around and it's not heard as much as we used it now and it should be. It's a wonderful memories of my childhood from the 70s and i miss it.

Gillian

I am on a learning journey with Te Reo so the children I teach and I are learning together

Gill

I need and want to learn more.

Gill

he tautoko au te reo o matou tupuna.

Gilly

For the Future of Māori Culture

Gianni-Mia

It's a way of recognising the specialness of this place, and the people who first made it home.

Gerald

It's important for me to take part because I want to engage more into Te Reo Maori. By supporting this kaupapa this will help me improve my Te Reo and hopefully be able to persuade others around me (family, friends, partner) to want to learn too. I also believe that as a maori you should be willing to learn Te Reo Maori or have a little bit of knowledge because it's important for us to know our cultural backgrounds.

Georgina

Because its important for new zealanders to embrace there national languages

Georgia

It’s so important to keep such an important taonga alive, especially in light of its vilification in the past.

Georgia

Doing my part to connect to the language of the whenua and taking steps like learning te reo to honor the treaty and join on the journey of reconciliation with Māori

Georgia

To balance the books

Geoffrey

Te Reo is our lanuguage. I see the language has also many lessons or rather tikanga that will help our nation reshape its future. We should be promote Te Reo more as it identifies us as tangata whenua of our land - within this world we live in. Its our identity - no one else. . . kia kaha, kia maia, kia manuwanu

Geoff

To understand and learn then share the knowledge

Genevieve

To honour the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi

Genevieve

It is important for me to take part because I believe that every child should learn te reo Maaori from the moment that they start school. And on that note, teachers should also learn te reo Maaori as well. Aotearoa will eventually become a koorero Maaori nation when this happens!

Geneveive

I am currently teaching Social Movements as an inquiry with my class. It is great to be part of this event as NZers and promote that idea of change.

Gemma

Because I want to learn the native language of Aotearoa. It is important because I want to be apart of the change that this country needs.

Gem

Ko te Reo Māori he taonga tuku iho mo ngā tangata o Aotearoa katoa. Ngā mihi!

Gavin

Just to show support for the kaupapa mainly

Gary

I am an import ( from South Africa) and feel it’s important to know a bit more about how NZ got to where it is today

Garon

I need to be a role model for my own children and others.

Gareth

Because I've got to get started learning te reo

Gail

Important part of New Zealand's history and what makes us unique today.

Gabrielle

To create a more understanding and connected New Zealand

Gabrielle

I am in my senior years. My mother was Māori and my father English and as a child I never learned my mothers tongue. After living in Australia I returned to NZ and eventually took up a course with TWoA at Canning Crescent in Mangere to learn Te Reo. I LOVE my language with a passion, and I'm not a great speaker but I am learning and for me now this will be a lifelong journey. I feel proud that I can now converse in te reo comfortably enough to be understood. It is a privilege to speak our beautiful language.

Frankie

It’s a beginning.

Frankie

Revitalise our language

Francis

Mō oku tamariki

Francis

My heritage and my whakapapa

Franceska

Because I'm Māori, and I want to be able to speak my language without feeling whakamā.

Frances

Maori language and culture is something so special and unique to us as New Zealanders and we ALL have a responsibility to preserve it

Frances

Part of our NZ culture!

Fran

Kia ora, I am Maori and proud to be, my reo is not the best but my beliefs are strong I was lucky to have a cuzzie drop the necessary brochures off to our cafe so we could support te reo māori today. And if you check out our FB And instragram pages you can see what we have done. Good luck Aotearoa. Nga mihi Fleur

Fleur

I have a wee bit of Maori ancestry and would like to celebrate that. Also, Maori is one of the official languages of our beautiful country and I would like my class of Year 3s to be more aware of the importance of its use.

Fleur

Te reo Māori is a taonga and I want to participate in expanding its influence. As a Pākehā treaty partner it is part of 'the deal': growing te reo Māori is part of sharing power and showing respect for te ao and tikanga Māori.

Fiona

Te Reo Màori is one of Aotearoa's most precious taonga.

Fiona

My husband and I came here on a working holiday from Ireland 10 years ago, and have made NZ our home. Our daughter, who is almost 5, is first generation Irish-Kiwi. We believe that it is important that we embrace and learn about the real history of Aotearoa, and learn the language as it's the heartbeat of a culture. Learning more about te ao Māori and the language is inspiring us to reconnect with and explore our Irish ancestry and culture more deeply. Knowing our whakapapa is particularly important as we have changed the course of our families lines by coming here and raising our daughter here.

Fiona

I feel that it is important to celebrate and learn te reo so that I can incorporate it into my everyday life - it is our unique national language and teaches us about our history and culture and connections to this amazing country.

Fiona

It's a goal of mine this year to improve my knowledge of Te Reo and use it more widely with my class.

Finn

I would love to speak confidently in public & have it roll off my tongue without thinking. If I learn now then I can teach my children one day & it would be amazing to be a bilingual family. I wasn’t born here but I’ve lived here my whole life. I may not have a connection to the land but I think it is incredibly important, as Pākehā, to acknowledge, value & learn the beautiful language of Aotearoa ♥️

Fi

Te reo is essential to the Maori people because it is core to a culture. I am pakeha and as I am New Zealander it is also part of my culture. I look at our classrooms and the faces are Indian, Asian, African, Maori, etc. and the bond that is common to us all. When we have a powhiri at school it is so special to see an Asian child standing beside a Maori child and both speaking te ro with confidence and pride. I find it offensive to hear something as simple as place names pronounced incorrectly. If that was Italian or French we would be appalled. Imagine ordering a bottle of wine and pronouncing it incorrectly or ordering a croissant and calling it a crowsent. It is seen as cultured to pronounce French and Italian correctly but not te reo. I hear people say, " oh you know she speaks fluent French and again it is seen as special. I am proud to be able to say "oh do you know she speaks fluent Maori" Signing up will hopefully add to a huge list of people who will show New Zealanders this is important and the anti will become the minority. It will show the government we are serious.

Felicity

To present who we are and our ancestors who taught us to be respectful in any context! As travellers from our lands, we pay respect to the people of the Aotearoa-the land of the long white cloud, tangata whenua. Showing appreciation of allowance to reside on their lands contributing to the development of it holistically from grassroots to national levels in all respects.

Feiloaiga

I need some experiments about learning this knowledges. Hope this will help.

Faasulu

Ko te Reo Māori ko te Reo o te whenua

F. Jorge

Maori is important to NZ and it should be more commonly used and taught.

Evana

It is important so that our reo will continue into the future.

Eunice

Kia fora. Kua tata ngaro te reo Catalan. Me mau tonu nga reo iti hei hanga i te ao he waahi whai rawa i nga ahurea rereke. Kia kaha

Esteve

I am a planner, new to job. . IWI relationship is one of the focused aspiration. When I got introduced to Te Reo Maori, I could see a connection as I am coming from diverse cultural background and always keen to learn new language/culture. . and i thought to improve myself using and pronouncing everyday. .

Eshita

I AM MAORI. .

Errol

Tautoko for rangatahi Māori who I work with. As tauiwi myself, I hope I am setting an example for those of all cultures who I work with, and raising my children to see the beauty in Te Ao Māori.

Ernest

It is important for us and our tamariki to be part of significant events such as these, even though te reo is a major part of their everyday, as it gives them moments to remember where we are part of something greater than our classroom or our kura or our whānau. It's important for them to see others valuing our reo me ōna tikanga.

Erina

To show my support of progressing Te Reo Maori.

Erin

As both a first generation immigrant and fourth generation Pakeha, I believe that using te reo in my everyday life is a way of respecting the gifting to te reo to Aotearoa

Erin

So that l can enforce my te reo journey. And support my daughter and l towards speaking te reo maori fluently

Erica-Jayne

I am part Maori but I look European so have lived a life privileged due to my skin colour. We still lived in the ‘ghetto’ part of town and I grew up with all Maori friends. I became a teacher at our local high school and watched the children of my friends experience a biased and racist school life. I am so passionate about the Reo and Tikanga and want to do all that I can to be part of a positive change for our rangitahi. Part of that means that I need to learn more and every year I learn a little more.

Erica

It is important for young children to have access to all cultures that reside in NZ. Maori is an official language and being exposed to this in a fun way will encourage further learning. Let's keep the reo alive!

Erica

One for all, all for one

Eric

We are a bicultural country

Eric

I want to make sure I give my son the best bi-lingual start

Emma-Jayne

To revitalise Te Reo with my learners and increase my own capability.

Emma

It’s important for me to take part so I can embrace my whakapapa. Reclaim what was taken from my whanau and learn more te Reo to share the world.

Emma

This is a beautiful Reo and ALL New Zealanders need to make sure it is never lost

Emma

It’s important to me that we decolonize our language and remove the barriers to knowledge of indigenous taonga like weaving, carving and tattooing, as well as the spiritual knowledge of our people that is unfortunately disappearing with our tūpuna. All Māori have the right and deserve the space to speak our native tongue, to know what our ancestors knew and practice our art forms with dignity and respect, however long and windy the journey back to our culture may be.

Emma

I’m not of Māori descent but I still think it’s important for Te Rēo to be recognised more in NZ than it has been. To have the opportunity to learn more is always a blessing. Then hopefully I can pass what I’ve learnt onto people I know and create a chain of knowledge and understanding 👍🏼

Emma

Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Māori! !

Elsdon