Let's not let te reo fall into extinction

Thursday, 30 August 2018

If you think te reo Māori doesn't have a use, it's probably because you don't use it, Sarah Moore writes.

Sarah Moore is taking part in a 12-week te reo course in an effort to show her irāmutu (niece) her whole family values her Māori heritage. This is her seventh column.

OPINION: Every week I sit in my car for hours, stuck in Auckland's traffic listening to bad radio (yes, I have heard of podcasts). I frequently find myself admiring other people's lives on Facebook and Instagram then sit there feeling average about my own.

These are two things I do regularly that don't enrich my life in any way. Things that don't have a use, that distract me from tasks and experiences that are actually purposeful.

Similarly, plenty of people reading this weekly column have commented that te reo Māori doesn't have a use.

**READ MORE:

Stacey Morrison Daniels is an advocate for te reo Māori.

* Making te reo part of everyday life harder than expected

* Getting Māori place names right is a matter of respect

* The Warehouse staffer charms Auckland customers with her use of te reo**

Ignorantly, I probably would have agreed with this a few months ago.

But learning te reo is fast proving to be one of the most useful things I've ever done for myself.

I'm now six weeks into my studies at AUT and I'm seeing firsthand the many ways a basic comprehension of te reo, and indeed an interest in it, can open doors.

Since starting my studies, I've been invited to speak at a school, pulled into new projects at work and asked to advise on how to connect more non-Māori with te reo. And, of course, I've started this column. Each of these opportunities involve the use of te reo.

Te reo revitalisation advocate Stacey Morrison says it's up to this generation to define the use the language has in New Zealand today.

'We can really express the true biculturalism of New Zealand when we embrace te reo,' she says.

'Being bilingual is within our reach, and there's so many opportunities that come with it.'

In Stacey's world, te reo is spoken every single day; she and her partner Scotty are raising their children in a bilingual household.

She encourages everyone to step out of their paradigm a little.

'Know that the people who speak, watch and participate in Māori language exist, just maybe not in your circles,' she says.

'Recently there were 700 people a day who came to the Ngāti Kahungunu reo symposium, all to listen to and interact with te reo Māori, with live English translations available if wanted.

'If the only value given to language is measured by how many people speak that language, we will never win. But New Zealand never wins anything by winning in terms of numbers; when we win, we win with heart and determination.'

If you think te reo Māori doesn't have a use, it's probably because you don't use it (outside of our unavoidable Māori place names).

In my own circles, I very rarely hear Māori spoken in public in informal settings.

Ata, at my local Warehouse, is the exception; she ensures every transaction comes with a touch of te reo.

I haven't seen Ata recently but next trip I'll definitely be responding with a 'Kei te pai' when she asks 'Kei te pēhea koe?'

I'm guessing many of you reading this don't hear it in your circles either. But it's my belief that most New Zealanders want to hear te reo spoken more.

I was talking about my studies to a colleague recently and he mentioned he feels self-conscious speaking to his little daughter in te reo in public. 'Please do it,' I begged him.

So to all te reo Māori speakers, I implore you: if you're comfortable doing so, please, use te reo with your families when you're out and about. Greet me in te reo and I'll do my best to respond.

Include it in your emails (translations will be appreciated!). Help normalise it. Make it heard. Spark curiosity. Demonstrate its purpose. Create opportunities to practice. Tell others why te reo is important to you.

There are about 6000 languages spoken around the world, with one falling into extinction every couple of weeks.

Is this what we want for te reo Māori? We humans have a very unfortunate habit of only truly appreciating something after it's gone.

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