How to pronounce every Māori word

Kia ora whānau,

During week 2 we started our new hui for whānau wanting to learn Te Reo Māori. If you're keen to get involved, come along at 7:45am on Wednesday every week in Term 4 in Tī Whanake.

Our Week 2 kaupapa explored pronunciation!

Much easier than Te Reo Pākehā (English).

First our vowels: 

A as in up

E as in egg

I as in see

O as in core

U as in loo 

Next our tricky sounds: 

Wh makes the sound in whip or far depending on your iwi

Ng makes a complex sound that is close to nah but put your tongue to the roof of your mouth 

R if you struggle to roll your R's pretend that it is a D sound and say it fast - nobody will notice the difference! 

ĀĒĪŌŪ if letters have a macron (line) over them, they stretches the sound to AA EE II OO UU 

So... When you're around the city and see some Te Reo Māori, plug in these sounds with the usual sound for every other letter and you can figure out how to pronounce some words! 

Try some of these:

Rangiora

Waitaha 

Rāapa 

And always, if you're struggling - use Te Aka to find any Te Reo Māori word (search in English or Māori) and there is a button to press which says the word out loud. How nifty! 

That is all for you, ka kite koutou!