Te Reo

I am learning Te reo. I have been learning now for about 3 weeks, I am learning alone using books and for the vocabulary I use language perfect (online game to learn vocab)
I love learning, and especially I love learning languages. I am very excited about learning Te Reo. Although I only say a few things I have already noticed it has made a huge difference.
with my students- For the first time in a long time, I put myself in the learning seat. As te reo is not linked to any  Indo European language, I can't make links to what I already know. If I were learning Spanish or Italian, I could make links with French or English, but with Te Reo it is impossible so it is quite challenging. However I am still making connections. I make connections with the grammar I already know, and I make connections with words. For example, awhina means helpful. the word reminds me of the word woman, and everybody knows that women are more helpful than men =) This connection works for me and it might only work for me but it is important that I tell my students about it. Thus they will be able to make their own connections with words in French. So learning Te Reo is making me closer to my fellow students  and will help them learning French. Also they can
see that in order for me to speak Te Reo I actually spend time working, and that work is the only key to success.
with Maori students- the Maori students I teach are very excited to come to my class to see/ hear which new words I have learnt. But what is more amazing is students I do not teach come to see me or run towards me in the playground to check my progress. They are smiling and even if they laugh at my pronunciation sometimes, they seem to be quite happy. I think it is because I show respect to their language and per extension to their culture. They know I only learn Te Reo just because ( I do not want to change job, I just want to learn because I want to be able to speak with others).

Voila

Kei te arikoha ahau =)

RELAX !!!

I teach a wonderful Year 12 French and a very nice Year 11 French. I have asked my Year 12 to come during their study class to teach my Year 11 about past tense in French. I had deliberatelly not spoken about past tense with the Year 11, as I had in mind that somebody else was going to do a better job than me.

and they did !!!

It was great to be at the back of the room listening to Year 12 explaining how to create past tense in French. All the students were engaged and asked heaps of questions.

It was a great exercise for both levels as "enseigner c'est apprendre deux fois" (teaching is learning twice). The Year 12 want to teach again as they said it had to become clear in their head before they could teach, and the year 11 said they could relate to the Year 12 much more than tome =)

I cannot wait to have another lesson like this one. I have learned so much as well by looking at my students teaching