A bite sized action comedy about two secret agents is hoping to be a catalyst to help learners of te reo Māori overcome the barrier of whakamā.
Anthony Butters creates and stars in the self-funded show Te Tari Tūtai, which is intertwined with his own journey with te reo.
He didn't grow up with te reo and wasn't in a position to study full-time, instead he taught himself through books, podcasts and TV shows.
"I wished there was something that was kind of pure entertainment for entertainment's sake that was in te reo that I could just watch and absorb and consume.
"We have so many amazing resources, but they are either educational or they are very high level. And I just thought, wouldn't it be great if there was something that was entertaining, but it was at a very simple level, but not for kids either, there's resources for children. So there's all these amazing resources, but I felt like there was just a gap for people my age, grown-ups, who can't take a year off to study full-time."
Episode 1 here on Youtube, 2 mins long. Te reo audio but it's got English speech bubbles so you can understand it even if you don't speak te reo.
6 Comments
absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz · 3 pts · 59d
That is awesome. Well done.
Dave@lemmy.nz · 1 pts · 59d
I found it very entertaining, and they are still making more! A new episode just came out yesterday.
absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz · 2 pts · 59d
I watched S1 last night; I'll catch S2 when it is finished.
piwakawakas@lemmy.nz · 3 pts · 59d
Thanks for sharing. This is amazing. Just watched all of the episodes!
Dave@lemmy.nz · 1 pts · 59d
Haha I've watched them all too, including S2 Episode 7 that just came out yesterday: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uw5vsw_IJ0I
I'm going to have to come back as they release more!
A few years back I did a couple of years of te reo and I have to say they have done an amazing job of integrating the early learning into a show that's entertaining to watch. Laugh out loud moments!
My favourite part was probably the reference to the whakataukī "Ahakoa he iti he pounamu", "although it is small it is precious". In the drug trade, the agent said "although it is small, it is drugs" 😆
I do wonder what else I missed from not being familiar with the references.
piwakawakas@lemmy.nz · 2 pts · 59d
Ah, I only understand words here and there so likely a lot went over my head. I'll have to keep an eye on it for more episodes.
I laughed a lot, it's great!