Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Māori Language week will finish tomorrow.
Leader of Māori services at Waitaki District Libraries, Lisa Potaka Ross said simple games were an effective way to learn the language.
The Oamaru Public Library was celebrating the week, with a programme based on the theme, "Ake ake ake — A Forever Language".
The 2024 theme represented the resilience, adaptability and endurance of te reo Māori, and the commitment to embracing and learning the language into the future.
Ms Potaka Ross, who teaches beginner te reo Māori at the library said that commitment to the language is increasingly evident today.
"It’s a great thing in mainstream media now, we’re hearing phrases, and presenters are using full main sentences in Māori and we’re starting to understand what they mean.
"The more it becomes normalised, the more we have the opportunity to be part of that movement and use it ourselves," she said.
Te Reo Māori games, community waiata, bilingual story time and kapa haka were part of the activities for Māori Language week.
Card games similar to Happy Families and "Whare Whare", a game similar to Housie, using numbers, were included.
Ms Potaka Ross said she wanted to make it easy for people to "take a first step".
"I want to make it really comfortable and accessible for people to feel brave enough to come and do this.
"Sometimes simple games, might be regarded as on a children’s level but they’re a tool to learn basic content and fun."
She said learning the language takes "time and immense commitment" but a good way was to learn some vocabulary first and then "start swapping out words".
