Mauri ora ki a tātau katoa.
Nau mai haere mai ki tēnei perehitanga mo Te Arohi! Kaore he kore e mōhiotia whānuitia koutou ko te kaupapa mo tēnei wiki, ko te reo Māori. Ko ōna pikinga, me ōna hekenga i roto i ngā tau kua hōri. Hei kupu tīmatanga māku e tika ana kia mīhia koutou ngā kaimahi o Te Arohi, nā koutou tonu tēnei wiki i whakawātea mai kia taea tātau te hunga pīkoko, te hunga hīkaka ki tēnei ārero tūpuna te hāpai i te whānau whānui o te whare wānanga ki te kōrero, ki te ako hoki i te reo. Tēnā rawa atu koutou.
Kia ora e te whānau. My name’s Karamea and welcome to Te Arohi. If it isn't obvious enough, the focus of this issue is Mahuru Māori — Mahuru meaning the month of September, and Māori, well, that's pretty self explanatory.
There are a few differences with Mahuru Māori this year. The first being that this year Mahuru Māori is following the maramataka Māori, the Māori lunar calendar, instead of the Gregorian solar calendar that we follow most days. When the Whiro (first moon phase) rises with the sun on 7 September, that is when the month properly began. And when the Mutuwhenua (last moon phase) sets on 5 October is when Mahuru Māori will finish.
The other cool thing about Mahuru Māori is that they have challenges that you can do for the month. They’re all different levels of difficulty depending on how good your reo is.
- Do all greetings and farewells in te reo Māori
This is good for those of us who have absolutely no knowledge of Te Reo at all. I also encourage you to continue this into your everyday life. I’ve done it for almost two years now and you get to a point where it becomes second nature.
2. Speak te reo for one or two hours per day every day of the month.
These are good challenges to do with a friend, flatmates or your whānau. Jump on Zoom, grab a coffee or kai, and chat in te reo. If you’re a bit of a gamer you can talk to other gamers in te reo. There are so many resources out there to help you with your vocab.
3. Speak te reo half a day every day for the month
Whether you’ve been learning te reo for a while or you're a bit rusty, this one’s for you. Make sure you surround yourself with people who can speak or understand you in order to make it easier. Set up an alarm or notifications on your phone to remind you. You may forget and accidentally speak English but, kei te pai tēnā. The main thing is to pick it up where you left off and haere tonu.
4. Speak te reo the whole month of September
Now this is huge. If you’re a student and you crack this, I will literally buy you a feed. Heoi anō ko tēnei wero, he wero mo te hunga ngākau nui ana ki te reo me tōnā katoa, ā, mēnā e taea ana koe ki te kōrero ki ngā wāhi katoa, ahakoa te aha. Tēnā, karawhiua!!
Anyway, if your goal is to learn more kupu, challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone, become more fluent, support your whānau or community, support the kaupapa or all of the above. I highly encourage you to do so!
Nō reira hei whakakapinga ake i tēnei wāhanga āku nei rā te kaupapa-āpiti mo tēnei marama.
Me kite, me rongo, me kōrero!