‘Let’s make the Māori language strong'. This is the focus of Māori language week, and Toroa have been looking at how to incorporate kupu into daily lives, one word at a time.

A little bit goes a long way, and just substituting the odd word here can make a subtle difference for te reo māori.

Toroa have been challenged to create an animation and use te reo māori kupu, to label some things in the scene. Like a baby (pēpē) learning to talk (kōrero), or someone learning a second language, nouns are easy to pick up on and fun to learn. See how many you can spot in the animations, and think how many you already knew. 

Take a look around, can you name some things in your whare (home), on your papamahi (desk), in your motukā (car)? 

Take the challenge too, learn a few nouns and say them instead of english. Try using wharepaku for toilet, kia ora and ka kite for hello and goodbye. Take a look at a few of the animations that were finished at the time of this publication. Ask your tamariki (child) to show you their mahi (work).