Our club was lucky to have one of our own members give us some insight into te reo maori, and how, with a little bit of effort and practise, it really isn't that hard to incorporate into our day to day.John Bishop reports.
Brent Gerrard opened his presentation on the importance of te reo and how to pronounce it correctly with a Maori greeting and the comment that few in the room would know what he had
said. In fact, he had said, “welcome to you all who are gathered here. Rise up.” Which is what his father used to say to the Gerrard family most mornings when Brent was a kid. It was one of the few occasions when te reo was used in the house.
said. In fact, he had said, “welcome to you all who are gathered here. Rise up.” Which is what his father used to say to the Gerrard family most mornings when Brent was a kid. It was one of the few occasions when te reo was used in the house.
His father did not speak English until secondary school, but Brent didn’t lean Maori as a child.
Brent descends from the East Cape and Bay of Plenty and he described himself as a “white Maori”, because he grew up knowing little of the language. English and education were seen as the paths to a better future when he was young.
Brent asked rhetorically why Kiwis struggled with the Maori language and then answered his own question by saying that it was because “we don’t use it.” And he then proceeded to demonstrate how simple the language was with pure vowels and consonants, few diphthongs and few, if any, of the other complexities and contradictions that languages like French, German, and Mandarin present.
He took the club through a simple pronunciation guide, noting that “once you start saying it correctly, it’s easy.”
