September 23, 2022
App gives right names for Poneke sites
A new app out today will give residents and visitors to Te Whanganui-a-Tara the right words for where they are.
Mahau is designed to help people speak and understand the local dialects of te reo Māori, as well as providing a substantial list of Wellington destinations and place names.
Karepa Wall. Wellington City Council’s tātai heke Māori, says technology partner Kiwa Digital worked with mātanga reo of Taranaki Whanui and Ngāti Toa to the app.
He says it will give people a good start.
“People can’t make night classes all the time or people are too embarrassed to go to a school and learn that kind of thing so here’s a but of a step but also a step into the future because we know most of Maori now in New Zealand are in the younger years so they want to do things a little bit differently,” Mr Wall says.
Mahau can be downloaded from today as part of the capital’s Maori language festival Te Hui Ahurei Reo Māori o Te Whanganui-a-Tara.