Kia ora from Timely!
Nau mai haere mai ki a koutou i tēnei wa, ngā mihi ki a koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Welcome and greetings to you all, at this time.
Kia ora!
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) was earlier this month in Aotearoa New Zealand. I put out a wero, or challenge to the Timely team to get them greeting each other only in te reo Māori.
The team not only accepted this challenge, but exceeded all my expectations. Ka mau te wehi!! Awesome!
As a 100% remote team, Timely uses a number of digital tools for communicating and collaborating. The hub of these communications is a very cool platform called Slack. The #watercooler channel on Slack is where everyday chi-chat happens and by mid-week I was pleased to see the #watercooler channel filling up with te reo Maori!
#MaoriLanguageWeek #remote working style on @SlackHQ. Aiming for total immersion by Friday! @timelylife pic.twitter.com/hMoqQhAI2b
— Timely booking app (@Timely) July 6, 2016
Why is this so important to me and to Timely?
Te Reo Māori and various dialects have been spoken by the Indigenous people of Aotearoa, collectively known as Māori, since their arrival to New Zealand. The colonization of NZ in the 1800s and 1900s lead to English becoming the sole, official language of New Zealand and Te Reo being marginalized to only a sub-segment of society.
During the 1970s and 80s the revitalization of the Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of New Zealand, resulted in The Māori Language Act 1987 making Te Reo Māori an official language of New Zealand. Since then we have seen the growth of Māori language preschools, junior schools, high schools and tertiary institutions. The use of Te Reo Māori in every day situations is becoming more common. However, in a business and work setting English still dominates. Therefore, tino harikoa taku ngākau (my heart is very happy) when I see my Timely work colleagues so eager to communicate in te reo Māori.
We did it Mihi @Timely team on greeting each other in te Reo without sneaking in any English today! @timelylife pic.twitter.com/XVwVHT89Dq
— Timely booking app (@Timely) July 8, 2016
Now that the week is over, it doesn’t mean we have to stop! Here’s a review of what we learnt from the videos:
- Kia ora – hello
- Tēnā koe – hello to one person
- Tēnā kōrua – hello to two people
- Tēnā koutou – hello to more than two people
- Mōrena – morning
- Ata mārie – good morning
And of course, how to say goodbye:
- Ka kite anō – see you later
- E noho rā – farewell, stay well
- Haere rā – go well
Watch the video and karawhiua, give it a try!