Scotty and Stacey Morrison write te reo language book Maori at Home

Making it cool, and easy, to korero Maori is the mission for The Hits radio broadcaster Stacey Morrison and her husband Te Karere presenter Scotty Morrison.

The power couple have just released a book called Maori at Home as a "survival guide" for those wanting to introduce te reo into the household. It covers key topics like mahi-ā-kāinga [chores], hei mua i te kura [before school] and kīwaha [slang].

They were inspired to write the book after encountering adult learners of Maori who had been taught academically and weren't familiar with the informal language needed to run a household.

"Adult learners know some great words like 'horopaki' [context] but they don't know how to say 'flush the toilet'," Stacey elaborated.

"If you haven't learnt your language from a parent or kaumatua a lot of language you learn isn't in the context of the home.

"[The book] is really a survival guide based on what people want and need."

Neither of the pair grew up speaking Maori. Stacey's first language is English, it was only when she became fluent in Japanese after a student exchange to Japan that she considered learning Maori.

Scotty had studied Maori at university. They met when he was relieving one of Stacey's te reo teachers - 11 months later they had their first son Hawaiki who is now 10. Then came Kurawaka, 9, and Maiana, 4.

The Morrisons only speak te reo at home and the kids are in the Maori immersion unit at school. Their English skills come from their wider family and TV - which gives them slightly American accents when they first start speaking English.

Typically kids will pick up te reo first, then start speaking English at 2 or 3, Stacey said.

"They're really intuitive about what language they speak. They'll go from English to Maori knowing who speaks what at the dinner table."

For serious te reo learners Morrison recommends learning the basics as quickly as possible then going straight into full immersion - that's where the magic happens.

"You have to push yourself out of the comfort zone," she said.

"In our world we hear Maori every single day. There's a huge opportunity for people to put their head into the Maori speaking world we live in.

"I promise there's all these gems sitting inside the Maori language waiting for us to unlock."

Scotty has previously written two other language books - Maori Made Easy and The Raupo Phrasebook of Modern Maori. He is already planning another for more advanced speakers.

Maori at Home

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Me oho koe - time to wake up
He pai koe ki te pānui pukapuka, e tama - you're good at reading, my son
He aha te kai o te pō? - what's for dinner?
He wera tēnei rā - it's hot today
Koia kei a koe, kōtiro! - you're awesome my girl!