12/03/2013 9:22:06 a.m.

kohi wrote:

raangi and pokaikaha. you two are absoloutely right, reading your guys comments made me proud to say YES I AM A MAORI NOT MAARI. i agree with raangi, yes our language runs throguh our blood and vains that is why our language has value. when i seen you on t.v i realised how stupid u we're, if you had a problem with this issue you should've spoke to your board or principal not NATIONAL TELEVISION. your daughter is never gonna get by in this world without people constantly judging her due to your guys poor decision. so what my english grammar sucks, and what? it's not like yous respect our language so why should i respect your language ay boy? pssh, ur a joke our.

ps, thanks for speaking up raangi and pokaikahja thanks to yous im proud to say im A MAORI!

11/03/2013 10:30:31 a.m.

raangi. wrote:

reading these nasty comments actually made me cry, im a maori and im proud, if you have a problem with that then deal with it. te reo maori is a beautiful language if you want to experience how beautiful our language is than go to a maori school and find out, don't automatically assume theres no value in our language because there is, our language is a treasure but how would yous know yous tried to destroy any chance we had of saving our language. but not this time honey, our ancestor run through our blood and vains we will rise above all these nasty comments cause we are better than that. our maori roots make us a proud maori that stand before you today and if you can't see that, than thats your loss not ours.

ps, say MAORI not maari. STUPID!!!!

11/03/2013 10:29:15 a.m.

Pokaikaha wrote:

It's funny because majority of you people who are against Maori and are for English language can barely spell. I'm Maori check my punctuation and grammar I can speak it and type it better than you. Te Reo is New Zealand History. Go learn English in England. Te Reo isn't being forced and it most definitely isn't going to hurt anybody. Maybe if you people got deeper into our culture and learnt more about it than you'd understand Maori isn't as bad as you think. Maori is just another culture with a very spiritual backround. Te Reo Maori is me and I am Te Reo Maori.

11/03/2013 10:07:08 a.m.

Pokaikaha wrote:

To us maori it is a special give to be able to korero te reo. Back then our grandparents or even parents were FORCED to speak english. If they spoke the te reo they were beaten they were violently abused. Our tipuna fought so we could speak our language and it's only fair we repay them by speaking our language with Mana. Te reo maori is a taonga. You who disrespect Te Reo don't belong in OUR country you adults who are against your children growing up learning Te Reo Maori are pathetic.

11/03/2013 9:55:05 a.m.

raangi. wrote:

look i dont care what yous think about maori people but we are who we are and none of yous can change that. for years i've had to put up with white girls giving me nasty looks because i have a bit of maori roots, so what. im currently schooling at a maori school, and you'll never feel the kind of love and whanaungatanga at a pakeha school. you think maori language is pathetic, pffft your pathetic. you have absoloutely no right to say make those kind of accusations.pffft, little boy why dont you grow up!

8/08/2012 10:15:05 p.m.

Deme Scott wrote:

I think Te reo maori is important . Everyone should learn it! :D i wish i learnt it when i was a kid ; Lets keep it alive! we can do it as a country(: I think that there should be school all around New Zealand learning te reo maori! (:

30/07/2012 1:00:21 a.m.

Alan wrote:

TEAHUA, exactly. I've always found the lip service paid to most things Maori quite pathetic to say the least. And yet, we as a Nation seem to never fail to use it to its fullest extent when those marketing dollars show up and we need a point of difference. We're not a preserve of England as some would like, I mean seriously who would want to be anyway, and the call that only the English language will help you get on in the world is rather quite laughable. So you have to learn some Maori and it is hard. Oh diddums. Grow up, honestly.

28/07/2012 9:27:46 p.m.

Julie Reinholz wrote:

It is the language of the country, of course Kids should be offered this beautiful language. I wish I had the chance to learn it. Count yourselves blessed that you are in a beautiful country and embrace the native language where you live.

27/07/2012 9:43:12 a.m.

TeAhua wrote:

I have read some of the comments where people are talking about "personal preference or choice". What "Choice" did my grandmother have when her native language was Maori...and when she was strapped for speaking it at school. What choice did she have when she had to speak ONLY ENGLISH. Seems now the tables are turned people are up in arms over speaking a "little bit of maori". Come on...please!

27/07/2012 2:06:45 a.m.

Lee wrote:

Why are people so outraged by one family's personal preference over what their daughter learns? I don't have a particular desire for my child to learn Hebrew but it doesn't mean I'm anti Semitic. The only Maori I remember from school is counting from 1-4 and it has never hindered my career, personal life, or interactions with people of Maori descent. If parents want their kids to learn Maori, great. If not, that's fine too. It's not like the parents wanted to teach her that Aryans are the superior race.