Monday marks the start of Māori Language Week or Te Wiki o te Reo Māori and companies and Kiwis alike are jumping on board.
The week runs from Monday through to Sunday and is about encouraging people to promote the use of the Māori language.
And companies are jumping on board too with Countdown announcing Kiwis are now able to do their shopping in te reo Māori.
In collaboration with the Māori Language Commission [Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori], Countdown's self-service checkouts now have te reo Māori available as a language option.
Countdown's director of corporate affairs, safety and sustainability Kiri Hannifin said it was a fantastic opportunity for the franchise to introduce te reo into everyday conversations and activities.
"Our entire team is incredibly proud that not only can te reo speakers now complete their shopping in their own language but that we can use our scale and reach to help ensure te reo is revitalised and used for generations to come," Hannifin said.
"We have bilingual signage in our stores, te reo greetings in our customer communications and the te reo names on the packaging of all of our fresh fish products.
"We are incredibly grateful to Te Taura Whiri for their support throughout this process to bring this important project to life. A project that wouldn't have been possible without their guidance and ability to connect us to the people that could help us achieve this outcome."
There is also an audio greeting and farewell in te reo with further audio to be added to the system over the coming months.
"While using the Te Reo Māori function is entirely optional, we'd encourage customers in our stores to give it a go when they next complete their shop," Hannifin said.
Meanwhile, the country's forecaster MetService has created a video to help people learn some everyday weather words in te reo Māori.
Some of the words include hot, fine, cold and foggy. Click here to read more.
Social development agency Lifewise NZ is also promoting Te Wiki o te Reo Māori with some basic phrases such as have a great weekend and would you like a coffee?
Another high-profile Māori Language Week campaign includes Whittaker's te reo chocolate package. Last month Whittaker's revealed it would be introducing special edition packaging for one of its most popular chocolates to celebrate Māori language week.
The chocolate that got a rebrand was Miraka Kirīmi (Creamy Milk) - which has had its label translated into te reo for Māori language week since 2020 but was previously only available through special giveaways.
Many other companies and people are also getting behind the week and learning some basic te reo. If you want to test your knowledge try Newshub's Māori language quiz here.
