Hakamana, hakahiapo i te reo taketake o Aotearoa //
Acknowledge, embrace the indigenous language of Aotearoa.
Here at The Poi Room, we are always wanting to progress & evolve. As a Māori-owned & operated business, we have encouraged our staff to embrace & immerse themselves within the indigenous culture of Aotearoa.
We have always tried to incorproate the Māori words and the titles of Taonga (treasures) in our website. So this week we have included in our very own Māori Dictionary on our website. Over time the words in descriptions and titles will link back to the dictionary for ease of reference. Like most things this is a work in progress and we hope it helps you on your Te Reo journey.
The Poi Room - Māori Dictionary.
For The Poi Room team, the principles of Māori Language Week is an element we try to incorporate all year round! This year, we have partnered up with Education Perfect, giving our team full access to the learning of Te Reo Māori. You can check the course out at https://www.learnmaori.com/
With our team at The Poi Room team having differing needs as to approaching Te Reo Māori we needed to find a programme that fitted us all, to be able learn at our own pace and current level of comfort. The course allows us a year to complete but already there are a couple in the team that are trying to better each other.
The programme is so very interactive and allows us all to enjoy the journey of learning Te Reo at our own pace, where and when we have time. It teaches us history, vocabulary and pronunciation....The interactive recording and playback of words against the the correct pronunciation is so wonderful, it empowers us to try and try and try again at our pace and in the comfort of our own whare (or wherever) until we get it right!.
To top off the week these incredible Māori inspired playing cards have just arrived in time for the weekend...
"I can see this weekend may now be full of card games thanks to these beauties.... Melanie-Jane does love a game or two, usually it starts with Gin-rummy followed by 500. It is so hard trying to read MJ's poker face during any game, I am always trying to count the cards to get the win, can we just say most games end in a draw!" - Clayton 
We would like to encourage you all to embrace Te Reo Māori within your everyday! Here at The Poi Room we have filled our galleries with a wide collection of educational books perfect for tamariki (children) all the way to our kaumātua (elderly).