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Home / Bay of Plenty Times

The hardest part of learning your native tongue

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
11 Sep, 2018 08:32 PM2 mins to read

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At 68 years old Charlie Tawhiao has been around long enough to experience the resurgence of te reo.

At 68 years old Charlie Tawhiao has been around long enough to experience the resurgence of te reo.

At 68 years old Charlie Tawhiao has been around long enough to experience the resurgence of te reo.

"It was something that was dying out in the 1950s-60s. But now, for many, not having te reo is a real handicap," Tawhiao said.

"People of my generation started learning, but one of the obstacles you have to overcome is the feeling of 'I should know all this, but I don't'."

Read more: Opinion: Te reo Māori is an important language - for Māori and Pākehā
Tommy Wilson: Time to embrace te reo Māori place names

The Ngāi te Rangi chairman said that trying to learn the native language as an adult Māori was particularly difficult - managing the feeling of failure that came when mistakes, which were a natural part of learning, happened.

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Tawhiao is also on the board for Moana Radio which works to revitalise te reo by speaking it on the airwaves. Staff from the radio also attend language classes as part of their professional development.

"When I watch my mokopuna learning to speak te reo, to them it's like learning any other language. Whereas for an adult, you are acutely aware of errors.

"But (for me) I couldn't just sit and wait for reo to come to me. I had to go to it. That was quite uncomfortable and difficult exercise, but I just had to get over myself."

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Tawhiao said learning Māori years ago was "something that was made much more difficult than it should have been".

"I don't get that sense now," he said.

"Young people speak te reo as a natural part of their language whereas I've struggled with it most of my life."

Tawhiao said there was hope among the younger generation who are taking the language on and "will be the ones to pull it forward over the next few years".

Discover more

Going against stats with resurgence in te reo

10 Sep 05:00 PM

Time to embrace te reo Māori place names

11 Sep 04:27 AM

Learning te reo deeper journey than expected

12 Sep 02:00 AM

Te reo Māori important for Māori and Pākehā

11 Sep 06:00 PM
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