Staying at home because of COVID-19? Got some spare time on your hands? Then why not learn something new from New Zealand — also known as Aotearoa, the “Land of the Long White Cloud”?
In this video, Dan Te Whenua Walker from Microsoft New Zealand explains how the living language of teo reo Māori is being used every day in our digital world.
Best of all he teaches us some Māori tech words — all from his home in locked down Auckland via Microsoft Teams.
Teo reo Māori is central to the enduring culture of the country’s original people, and is one of its three official languages, the others being English and New Zealand sign language.
Dan learned teo reo Māori as an adult and is now fluent. He is part of a growing and passionate movement dedicated to broadening its use and evolution, so it becomes an integral part of everyday life and learning.
“It’s moving with the times,” he says. “I am really proud that a lot of new terms have been translated and driven across our Kupa Kaupapa (Māori Immersion Schools), and that we are teaching them in our schools.”
As well as his day job as Microsoft New Zealand’s Cloud Infrastructure and Applications Solutions Lead, Dan also conducts cultural and language courses as part of the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
“Over the years, we have been teaching this in New Zealand to our colleagues, and they’ve really embraced it. And I am really proud of them.”
Fun fact: Teo reo Māori is among dozens of languages that can be translated using Microsoft Translator.
