Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Taranaki Maori language expert calls for more creativity

Updated at 7:50 pm on 15 November 2011

A Te Reo o Taranaki tutor says although the revival of the Maori language has flourished during the past 30 years, the Taranaki dialect in particular is still in a perilous state.

Keri Opai holds a Masters Degree of Matauranga Maori and has been instrumental in designing the Maori language courses at the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki, or WITT.

He acknowledges the efforts made by teachers and students to keep te reo alive, but says the next step is to take it to a creative level - such as new words for modern terms.

The Taranaki reo expert says there still needs to be a lot of work done.

He says in his region there aren't enough native speakers to lead the way with creativeness and innovation.

Keri Opai says some students only learn to a certain level and don't challenge themselves enough to take their knowledge further.

Mr Opai says without any creative strategies the language will stagnate.

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