'It's part of who we are' – Scotty and Stacey Morrison urge Kiwis to embrace Te Reo Māori

September 9, 2019

The pair spoke on Breakfast today, the first day of Māori Language week 2019.

As Māori language week kicks off, the importance of Te Reo Māori is being reiterated.

Before Pākehā arrived in Aotearoa, Te Reo Māori was the only spoken language here.

Today, about four per cent of us can hold a conversation in the language but despite a recent surge in people learning te reo, it’s still endangered.

Today Te Karere presenter, Scotty Morrison and wife, Stacey Morrison spoke to TVNZ1’s Breakfast about the importance of te reo.

"I think that if people are going to start to learn Te Reo Māori, the ultimate goal for them is to be able to communicate in that language," Scotty says.

"If they can use Te Reo Māori and someone else is understanding what they are saying, to me that's progress and that's the first objective you want to get to," he says.

Stacey urged New Zealanders to get behind keeping te reo alive.

"We are the one country that can ensure the ongoing revitalisation of this language."

"It's us, it's part of who we are," she says.

She says sometimes learning the language as an adult can be hard.

"If we learnt as kids we'd find it a whole lot easier," she says.

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