A Far North iwi-led media organisation has developed a new app to support learners of te reo Māori improve their pronunciation skills.
Te Hiku Media has officially launched its Rongo mobile app, designed to get more people speaking te reo Māori, with correct pronunciation, in the comfort of their own homes.
The app was supported by Te Mātāwai - Māori Language Revitalisation through the Te Reo Tukutuku fund.
In 2019, Te Hiku Media was awarded $13 million by the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment for Papa Reo - a seven-year data science project that aims to build a multilingual language platform developing natural language processing tools starting with te reo Māori.
As well as the pronunciation model for te reo Māori, Te Hiku Media has also developed the first automatic speech recognition model for te reo Māori and a synthesised voice for te reo Māori using cutting-edge technology.
Peter-Lucas Jones, CEO of Te Hiku Media, said for many people, speaking Māori was often the hardest part of learning te reo Māori.
He said Rongo was a tool that helped people to correct pronunciation and encouraged the development of speaker confidence.
"There are many barriers and a big one is the fear of mispronunciation," Jones said.
"It's important to pronounce Māori properly to honour and respect the language and to make oneself understood when speaking.
"Some people feel judged for getting it wrong and for others they just don't want to annoy or offend anybody."
According to Jones, the app uses a machine-learning model to give users feedback on their pronunciation while they work their way through 24 lessons that introduce new sounds and build in complexity.
The app also focuses on listening to the correct pronunciation of phrases and asks
the users to repeat them back while the model listens to them, providing real-time, on-device feedback when they've done well or need to practise a particular word.
"Te Hiku Media is excited about getting this tool into the hands of Māori language learners," Jones said.
"They can tackle pronunciation in the privacy of their own home, in the car or by the beach. Wherever they feel comfortable and safe."
"The app has been a real collaboration between our Māori-language experts, our iwi radio
broadcasting production crew, our data scientists, our talented software developers and
graphic designers. It was all hands on deck."
Te Hiku Media, also known as Te Reo Irirangi o Te Hiku o Te Ika, is an iwi radio, media and technology hub founded in 1991 and based in Kaitāia.
The not-for-profit, charitable organisation is connected to the five iwi of the Far North- Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri, Ngāi Takoto, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kahu.
For information about Rongo and a link to download, go to: https://rongo.app/ or is available for download on the Apple App Store.