Image: http://www.pinnacle.org.nzSo you wanted to learn te reo Maori at school but they didn't teach it then or it was considered a 'minority subject'? Maybe you did learn when you were younger but these days lack interaction. Or maybe you've just emigrated from Greenland and dig the haka! The good news is that soon you will be able to turn on Maori Television each night and learn the easy way, at home.
TOKU REO premieres on Maori Television on Tuesday March 31 at 8.00 PM. The series will screen Tuesdays to Saturdays in this regular time slot and is a teaching resource that has already taught te reo Maori to tens of thousands of absolute beginners. “When the opportunity came up to make a show that teaches te reo Maori, it felt like the right time to do something,” says executive producer Quentin Hita, of Kura Productions. “A pre-requisite for me was that the learning be absolutely robust, but to buy in that expertise, or to buy a learning framework was cost-prohibitive. I was literally trying to solve the problem in my office when I turned to a bookshelf, and saw Te Kakano by John Moorfield. I thought, why re-invent the wheel?” Te Kakano is part of a series of books, study guides, tapes and other teaching resources known collectively as Te Whanake, widely used in tertiary institutions around Aotearoa.
The studio-based show uses presenters as teachers, with field footage and graphics to support them. Each episode has been developed and honed by PhD students at AUT. The format used is in three parts – grammar, vocabulary and activities.
Could be a 'must watch' and kia ora to that!
TOKU REO premieres on Maori Television on Tuesday March 31 at 8.00 PM. The series will screen Tuesdays to Saturdays in this regular time slot.
