Inspired by the use of te reo by educational leaders such as Mark Osborne and Maurie Abraham, I have taken on the wero/challenge to increase my use of te reo this year. After a long break since my 4 years of te reo at high school, it was time to regain my ability to speak Māori.

I have recently finished an online course through Te Wananga o Raukawa (https://www.wananga.com/certificate,portfolio,,39,Certificate+in+Huia+Te+Reo.html) which was a great way to increase my reo. This has increased my vocabulary with many words and phrases which I can use in my day to day life (My daughter is not so impressed that I can now tell her to go straight to sleep in both English & Te Reo Māori) and enabled me to confidently whaikōrero on behalf of our school during pōwhiri. Thanks also here to Whaea Jennifer Leauga and (Aunty Whaea) Kiri Turketo at Lynfield College for your encouragement, support and pushes in the back to speak at each of these events.

As this is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori here in New Zealand, I thought it would be an appropriate time to try to write a blog post in te reo (with translations provided).

Tena koutou, Tena koutou, Tena koutou katoa

Hello everyone

E ngā kaiako, e ngā akonga, e ngā kaipānui
Haere mai ki Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.

To the teachers, the learners, the readers. Welcome to Māori Language Week.

Tena koutou ki a koutou
Kua tae mai nei
Ki te tautoko te kaupapa
O tenei wiki: Kia Kaha te Reo Māori

Hello everyone, it is right that we gather to support the purpose of this week: Let’s make the Māori language strong.

Ko Rangitoto tōku maunga
Ko Pupuke tōku roto
Ko Te Cressy te waka i rere mai i ōku tūpuna
Ko Ngāti Whatua te iwi o te wāhi e noho nei au
Ko Steve Mouldey toku ingoa

Rangitoto is my mountain, Pupuke is my lake. The Cressy is the ship of my ancestors. Ngāti Whatua are the iwi/tribe of the place where I live. My name is Steve Mouldey.

E tika ana te korero,
I o tatou tupuna

Ko te manu e kai ana i te miro
nōna te ngahere,
Ko te manu e kai ana i te mātauranga,
nōna te ao.

As our ancestors have said in the past: The bird who feeds on miro has the forest
The bird who feeds on knowledge has the world (This proverb is used here to encourage you to seek new knowledge in te reo this week).

Kāore i tua atu i a NZC Online mō rauemi ipurangi http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/National-events-and-the-NZC/Maori-Language-Week 

There is noone better than NZC online for online resources: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/National-events-and-the-NZC/Maori-Language-Week

No reira,
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

Therefore, greetings to you all.

I hope you are all able to take up the challenge this week to seek new kupu (words) and kīanga (phrases) that will help to strengthen the indigenous language of our land.