Keali'i Reichel wrote:"Aloha kâkou! Ua lohe au: `O kêia ka makahiki `ôlelo Hawai`i. He ho`omaka maika`i kêlâ, akâ na`e, `a`ale lawa. `O kêia ka wâ `ôlelo Hawai`i, `eâ? No leila, pehea lâ ma hope o kêia makahiki? Pau ka `ôlelo Hawai`i? `A`ole loa. Inâ `a`ale `oe `ôlelo Hawai`i, pehea `oe `ike `ai i ka nani o nâ mele. Pehea `oe `ike `ai i ka loina o kô mâkou kûpuna. `Eâ, no laila, e hele `oukou `ao mai i ka `ôlelo Hawai`i. If you nevah undahstan', ah shucks!"
Teariki Reichel wrote:"Kia ora tātou! Kua rangona e au: Ko tēnei te tau o te reo Hawaiki. He whakatīmataranga pai tērā, engari, kāore anō kia nui. Ko tēnei te wā mō te reo Hawaiki, e? Nō reira, pēwhea ā muri atu i te tau nei? Kua pau te reo Hawaiki? Kāore kau! Mehemea kāore e taea na e koe te kōrero Hawaiki, ka pēwhea koe e mōhio ai i te reka o ngā waiata? Ka pēwhea koe e mōhio ai i te ahurea o ngō mātou tūpuna? Āe, nō reira, haere koutou ā ako mai i te reo Hawaiki. If you nevah undahstan', ah shucks!"
Keali'i Reichel's comments summarise my feelings on this subject.
http://www.geocities.com/~olelo/o-openkr3.htmlOne week is not enough. One month is not enough. Te Reo Māori is not a one off affair. It is a way of communicating through life. With te reo are the idioms, sayings, beliefs and stories of our ancestors. We often proudly say that we are a multi-lingual nation. There are two official languages - te reo Rotarota (Sign) and te reo Māori. English is also used as the 'de-facto' language.
Te reo Māori is not a language only to be used on the 'marae' for the 'tangi'. It is not a language only for ceremonial occasion. No. It is a language that can be used and is used in every single environment that we find ourselves in.
The ancient name for Antarctica is 'Te Whenua Hukapapa' (The Land of Ice). We have words to describe 'science' pūtaiao, technology 'hangarau' as well as words to describe traditional life - whakapapa 'chronicles, history, genealogy'.
I personally think that it shouldn't all be crammed into one week, and there should be far more advertising etc. about this topic. There is one full page ad in my local newspaper, which gives a very brief history of the Māori language, and also teaches a few phrases, but that's all there is! In bigger papers there might be more, but considering I live in Northland, the region where most of the Māori people live, I'd think there would be more put into this.
Te reo Māori is a taonga from the ancestors. You are right, it shouldn't be crammed in to one week.
There is more that needs to be done.
Bilingualism in Māori and English should be compulsory. Even trilingualism should be compulsory. An appreciation of Māori will lead to an appreciation of the other closely related languages of the Pacific.
Official signs should be bilingual - with the Māori name in the same size font as the English one. Māori is not to be treated like 'Latin' whereby its usage is token.
Kia ora te reo Māori.
Long live te reo Māori.