Rotorua, New Zealand's first official bilingual city, works hard to incorporate te reo Māori into people's everyday lives.
Much of the city's signage has been updated to reflect its commitment to te reo Māori, adding to the already existing Māori suburb, street and place names.
Butdo visitors and locals pronounce these names correctly?
Waiariki MP Tāmati Coffey said the city's name itself was often mispronounced.
"There are still a lot of people in our community who don't get the name 'Rotorua' right. It does require a little roll of the tongue, it requires the vowel sounds to be said properly.
"If you have mastered that, you should try step out of your zone more and say the full name for Rotorua, which is Te Rotorua Nui a Kahumatamomoe. There's two challenges in that, pronouncing the full name and finding out who Kahumatamomoe was."
He said he would like to see more Pākehā become champions of te reo Māori, like Kiwis Jack Tame and Jennifer Ward-Lealand.
"We see many Māori cross the bridge to learn Pākehā customs and language but rarely do we see Pākehā cross the bridge to immerse themselves in our customs and language. We need more game changers who are willing to pick up that challenge."
Te Taru White. Photo / File
Te Tatau o Te Arawa chairman Te Taru White said he had heard people struggle to roll the Rs in street name Eruera and would often pronounce Haupapa St and Hoe-pepper.
"If we start with the proper pronunciation of our street names, making that the norm, people will get a feel for the language and take the next step to getting used to saying a few common words or phrases.
"I would encourage people to try pronounce the names properly for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori because it really is an experience when you get it right."
Tania Tapsell. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua district councillor Tania Tapsell said many suburb and lake names such as Okere, Okareka and Hamurana were mispronounced but those who made an effort to say the names shouldn't be discouraged from trying.
"A lot of people are making an effort and are open to being corrected. I think that is partially to do with Rotorua being a bilingual city and having the language more widely accepted here.
"Rotorua does well to incorporate te reo Māori into our everyday lives but because of the history and stories behind our place names, it is hard to hear them mispronounced. Those are the names of my ancestors."
Paul Hickey. Photo / File
The Hits Rotorua presenter Paul Hickey, born and bred in Rotorua, said when he was growing up he thought everybody learnt te reo Māori because he was immersed in the language at Lynmore Primary School.
"Unfortunately that wasn't the case and to the majority to New Zealanders, te reo Māori is essentially a foreign language."
He has noticed many people struggle to pronounce Māori place names starting with O, such as Okataina and Ōwhata but the number one place name he heard most commonly mispronounced was Kuirau.
"There will be people who don't have the linguistic ability to pronounce Māori words but there are also people who know they should be doing better and don't try.
"You can only do so much to educate people in the correct pronunciation, then it's up to the individual to embrace the language and respect the Māori culture."
