New Zealand has three official languages according to the NZ Human Rights Commission ... English, Te Reo Maori, and NZ Sign Language. This status means that people have the right to speak any of these three languages in legal proceedings.
Te Reo Maori is the indigenous language of Aotearoa, New Zealand. This week is Maori Language Week - 13-19 September 2021.
I hail from the state of California in the USA where Mexican and Spanish culture is a huge part of modern day California since it was once part of Mexico. Spanish is spoken by many and many of the place names are Spanish. When you live there, the Spanish language becomes part of who you are.
I've always wanted to learn Te Reo Maori since I moved to New Zealand. Earlier this year, my employer amended work email templates that we use in our daily communications to include Te Reo Maori greetings. It has always felt unauthentic, not genuine to me to use the language if I don't even know what I'm actually saying.
So this year, I decided to participate ... albeit, in a small way ... in Maori Language Week by participating in Maori Language Moment 2021. Stay tuned. I'm going to create my Pepeha.
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