Sunshine beckons teacher

PENNY WARDLE

Anlea Olsen is looking forward to plenty of sunshine hours, after moving from Wellington to Blenheim to teach 36-week Maori language programmes to adult students.

Miss Olsen started her te reo (Maori language) studies as a pre-schooler and completed them with a BA in Maori language from Waikato University.

Since birth, she has been immersed in Maori language and culture, says Miss Olsen whose most recent home was Kokiri marae at Seaview, Wellington.

A big influence in her life was her nan, who established the kohanga reo she attended and later the kura kaupapa maori where her younger siblings went to primary school.

Kapa haka is Miss Olsen's main interest and she will take regular trips back to Wellington for practices with her group, Nga Taonga Mai Tawhiti. "My cousins, my sister ... we all teach te reo. It is what we were born to do."

Miss Olsen is a pouaka (teacher) with Maori university Te Wananga o Aotearoa, leading level two and four language classes at Waikawa and Omaka marae. Previously she was teaching for the wananga in Porirua, Wellington.

The courses she will teach take up one three-hour session a week. That sounds daunting, she admits, but only about an hour of that time would be full-on language teaching.

The rest would be taken up with learning waiata and karakia (songs and prayers), games, relaxation exercises and learning about tikanga (protocol) ahead of a noho marae (sleepover at the marae) at the end of the year.

"It's not like university, sitting and listening and taking notes while the lecturer is talking. It's interactive work and fun with a group."

Miss Olsen reassures anyone nervous about learning a language, that the person sitting next to them will probably feel the same.

By the end of the course many would be jumping up wanting to speak in Maori, she knows from past experience.

She has taught students from their late 20s to retirement age.

Starting in the first week of March, Te Ara Reo Maori level 2 classes will be held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Omaka Marae near Blenheim, covering conversational te reo alongside Maori customs and protocols.

Four Saturday wananga (one-day study sessions) are also included.

Miss Olsen will also teach a level 4 course at Waikawa marae in Picton. Teacher Eleanor Brown, will take her previous wananga class through to level five, at Omaka and Waikawa marae.

To find out about the free Te Ara Reo Maori classes, ring the Omaka marae at 5789256.

- © Fairfax NZ News