Make Learning Te Reo Maori Your New Year’s Resolution

PUBLICITY RELEASE

Friday, 16 December 2011

Make Learning Te Reo Maori Your New Year’s Resolution

KORERO MAI – the ground-breaking Maori language teaching programme - starts January 2 on Maori Television, just in time to make learning te reo your News Year’s resolution.

A unique mix of education and entertainment, KORERO MAI teaches Maori in an easy, clear and fun way using drama in the form of a soap opera, as well as a tutorial each week to maximise learning.

Produced by Cinco Cine Film Productions, KORERO MAI will air Monday to Wednesday at 7.00pm (repeated Thursday and Friday at 7.00pm).

The drama – Akina – follows a group of contemporary Maori characters and uses bilingual dialogue in a way that illustrates the use and meaning of the Maori words and phrases.

The amount of Maori used in the stories increases as the series progresses and the competence of viewers increases.

The weekly tutorial, presented by Matai Smith and Gabrielle Paringatai, recaps what happened in the drama and adds the basics such as counting, colours and the days of the week.

Other segments teach waiata (songs), tikanga (customs), kupu hou (new words) and kiwaha (colloquial phrases).

Matai Smith says the series makes a fantastic contribution to the revitalisation and normalisation of te reo Maori in daily life.

“People build a rapport with the characters and they get so hooked into the drama that they don’t realise they are learning,” he says.

“It’s not too daunting or overbearing for people, especially second language learners.”

Maori is one of New Zealand’s three official languages, and now is the time to learn it with KORERO MAI, starting Monday, 2 January at 7.00pm.

ENDS

Learn Te Reo Maori in 2012 with KORERO MAI, screening weekdays at 7.00pm, from Monday, 2 January.

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