Ko taku reo taku ohooho, ko taku reo taku mapihi mauria

My language is my awakening, my language is the window to my soul

Ka tae mai ki nga ra whakamutunga i te mutunga o te Wiki Reo Reo Maori.

I tenei ra, ko te tangata he wahine Maori Turi, e korero ana mo te reo tohu mai i te wawaenga, a, ka ako ia i tetahi akoranga hou mo te Reo Waitohu Whenua. He korero nui ki a NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) na roto i te tohatoha i nga korero me te mohio ki a au i roto i te roopu. He aha taku e tuhituhi nei, a he ahua rereke te reo reo tohu puta noa i te ao, penei ano i te reo korero hei tauira French, Tiamana, Itari ranei.

Ki te korero tetahi ki a ‘Kia ora’ ko ‘Tena koe’ i te reo Maori ki te tangata French i roto i te ‘bonjour’. Ka maatau raatau ki a ratau me te kore e whakamahi i te reo tohu?

English.

Coming to the last few days at the end of the Te Reo Māori Language Week..

Today someone who is a Māori Deaf lady, was talking about sign language from oversea and she learnt a new lesson over International Sign Language. We have a great conversation in NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) by sharing information and my knowledge passed on to them in a group. What I am writing about and it is about different kind of sign language around the world, just like the spoken language for example French, German or Italian.

If someone say ‘Kia ora’ or ‘Tena koe’ in Māori to a French person in ‘bonjour’. Would they understand each other without using the sign language?

I recall visiting many countries over many years and I alway used simple sign language as ‘gestures’ sign like to drink or to point even to describe. Many French or German people replied back in their native language and I learnt from them along with English. We shared conversation through their language, gestures and my English over cup of coffee. The people I met whenever I go and to travel, they were surprise to learnt that I am deaf.

Here are some languages I will put down….

French – sourd as deaf

German – Willkommen in unserem Zuhause as Welcome to our home

Italian – bel tempo as beautiful weather

I missed my travelling days around the world since 2011. My first travel was to Fiji and I took my mother for a holiday treat in return of a way to say thank you mum for supporting me in the family in 1981. My mother is a solo mum with four children and she was a very young mother. I was only six when my father died of cancer. From 1981, I became a traveller and took off when I started planning a new holiday every years. My family always said to me, when will my next trip will be..

I met a lot of Deaf people and catch up my cousins and hearing friends even made new friends over there. The most highlight of my experiences in the other countries are – Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, Germany, England including Wales and Scotland. I visited USA, Canada including Victoria Island, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and many more.