Te Wiki o te Reo Māori - Māori Language Week

Māori Language Week has been marked and celebrated every year since 1975.

The Māori Language Act 1987 declared te reo Māori to be an official language of New Zealand. This led to the establishment of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission) to promote te reo Māori.

Find out more about Te Wiki o te reo Māori on Te Taura Whiri te Reo Māori (The Māori Language Commission) website

How to celebrate

For Māori language to flourish it needs to be spoken in everyday situations. For a range of suggestions on what you, your colleagues or whānau (family) can do to celebrate Māori Language Week, and Māori language visit the ReoMāori website.

Here are some ideas you might like to try:

• answer your phone or greet people with ‘Kia ora’
• attend one of the events at your campus
• get a Māori dictionary and learn a word each day
• practice what you learn as often as possible
• play cards in te reo
• use the Māori name for your college in correspondence
• try out some kīwaha (idioms and colloquialisms).

You can also visit our Te reo Māori pronunciation and translations page for information about:

• pronunciation
• using te reo in letters and emails
• ordering coffee in te reo Māori
• Māori proverbs
• karakia (incantation)
• te reo translations for common objects
• kīwaha (idioms and colloquialisms).