Tēnā koutou e te whānau. At the time of writing this it is one day to go before the start of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week (you might read it after the week has passed). According to Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission) it is an annual celebration for all New Zealanders to show their support for the Māori language, an official language of this country.
It is apt that I share my experience of learning te reo Māori. The theme of this year’s Māori Language Week is ‘Ake Ake Ake – A Forever Language’, which is serendipitous because at the start of the year I had decided that my commitment to the language of this land will not be piecemeal with sporadic classes every couple of years but a long-term commitment to attain an intermediate to conversational level fluency within a few years. In short, for me it’s not Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, or Te Tau o Te Reo Māori (The year of te reo) anymore, but it’s now Te Koiora o Te Reo Māori (the life of te reo).
Peculiarly, this desire to commit to learning Māori has its roots in the birth of my daughter in November last year. When I became a father, I made sure that the first words my daughter heard were in my ancestral language: Urdu. My biggest fear is that my daughter will lose her language as she grows up in a predominantly English-speaking New Zealand so I only speak to her in Urdu.
As she grows up she will learn Māori because it is the language of the land and .