Opinion: I will be sad to see Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori end

Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori is every week: Julie Hollis and some of the children at the Old Schoolhouse in Rotorua. Photo / Ben Fraser

I think Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori has been tū meke.

It has been amazing to turn on my television, my radio or flick open a newspaper and see
and hear te reo.

I have particularly loved Dan the weatherman giving it a go, laughing at himself and carrying on when he made a mistake.

At the supermarket, I saw a young child teaching her dad all the Māori words for the vegetables they were buying.

Rīwai - potato, kāroti - carrot, rēhiti - lettuce.

And every day I have tried to use my own new word or phrase.

Today I will be trying to fit in the phrase, tino reka tēnei kai, this food is delicious.

I know my pronunciation won't be perfect and I am also aware the people I am talking to probably won't understand what I'm saying, but this gives them the opportunity to learn with me.

But there is one thing I do not like about Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, and that is how many of us will say haere rā to te reo come Monday morning.

I applaud organisations such as The Ole Schoolhouse and the Rotorua Fire Brigade (see story, p5) who are working to use te reo every week.

It's so fantastic to see a fire truck driving around our streets with "ahi", fire, emblazoned on the front and to see the efforts they are making to ensure tamariki in full immersion schools get their fire safety lessons in te reo.

Across the city, more and more, I am seeing companies embracing Māori culture and embracing Māori language.

Māori culture is the thing that makes Aotearoa special, it sets us apart from all other countries, it makes us different and there is no rule that says we have to stop on Monday morning.

In fact, I would encourage people not to.

It is a beautiful thing seeing te reo being spoken, even when we get it wrong, because just this week I have learnt so much.

Maybe it's time we make every week Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.