Teach Your Cat Te Reo: Māori Language Week 2023

Māori Language Week, Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, has been celebrated in New Zealand, Aotearoa since 1975. This is a special week in Aotearoa to promote and celebrate te reo Māori as one of the country's official languages, through its incorporation into everyday life.

This year, Te Wiki o te Reo Māori continues the theme of Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori – making the language stronger. This campaign is an essential piece of the puzzle to achieving the goal of one million speakers of te reo Māori by 2040.

Although Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is a great opportunity to incorporate te reo Māori into your everyday conversations not only with your family and friends, or whanau and hoa, the inclusion shouldn’t end there. This is the perfect excuse to implement some new routines and phrases into not only your everyday routine – but also your pets, or mōkai!

This week, try some commands in te reo Māori during your training or bonding moments. We are sure that both you and your cat, or ngeru, will be on track to impress in no time.


Te reo Māori Commands

Hello

Kia Ora

/keeyah or-rah/

Cat

Ngeru

/ngeh-roo/

Come here

Haere Mai

/hi-reh my/

Yes

Ae

/eye/

No

Kāo

/kaow/

Leave it

Waiho

/y-whor/

Get down

E heke

/eh heh-keh/

Dinner time

Wā kai

/wah kuy/

Good boy

Tama pai

/tah-mah pie/

Good girl

Kōtiro pai

/kore-teero pie/

Cuddle

Awhi

/ah-fee/

I love you

Ka nui te aroha

/cah nooey the ah-raw-huh/


Ngeru Training Tips

When it comes to training and playing with your ngeru, focus on positive negative reinforcement for better results. This is important for a lot of ngeru as they are often big opportunists and rely on their environment, or taiao, to provide them with opportunities to engage and play.

So, what better way to get started than with a new experience for both you and your best friend, or hoa pai! Remember to use positive reinforcement, and even supplement your new commands in te reo Māori with incentives like a treat, or maimoatanga, from our supplement range to help your ngeru excel!

You can read more about the benefits of playing with and training your ngeru here.