Daylight savings: time to spring forward this weekend

Image: Pixabay

Daylight Saving time begins in Aotearoa New Zealand this weekend. So, remember to put all your clocks forward by one hour at 2am Sunday 24 September 2023. Daylight Saving time ends at 3am Sunday 7 April 2024, when clocks will go back by one hour to NZ Standard Time (NZST). This is in keeping with New Zealand legislation – The New Zealand Daylight Time Order 2007.

Department of Internal Affairs share a fun fact that “if you are working when Daylight Saving begins and the clocks go forward, you actually work an hour less, but you are entitled to payment for your normal hours. For example, if you were meant to work from midnight to 8am you will only work 7 hours, but you are entitled to be paid for 8 hours of work.” At least that is one benefit of working the night shift on Sunday morning.

While it will be a bit darker for my morning walk to work for a week or two after we spring forward, I look forward to that extra hour of light after work to fit in a relaxing stroll in the Botanic Gardens or along the beach after tea.

Image : Brighton Beach by Tina

Te wiki o te reo Māori, September 11-18 2023

Ko tōku reo tōku ohooho, ko tōku reo tōku māpihi maurea | My language is my awakening, my language is the window to my soul.

Dr Tīmoti Kāretu.

The above whakataukī appropriately launches Te wiki o te reo Māori or Māori language week this week, being created by Dr Tīmoti Kāretu who was knighted for his services to te reo Māori.

How are you going with your reo Māori journey? Luckily there are plenty of resources to help you along the way in Ara’s Ao Māori Subject Guide. Resources include:

• Simple pepeha templates
• Māori language apps
• A guide to set up access to the Māori keyboard so you can add macrons when typing in reo.

I often find waiata are a great way to build my reo with the music, rhythm and rhyme supporting memorization and of course if you have younger members in your whānau this is a fun activity to do together. Here is a simple waiata to help learn the days of the week in te reo Māori sung to the tune of the Banana Boat (Day O) song by Harry Belafonte for all those oldies out there who might recognise this melody.

If you have aced te waiata mō ngā rā o te wiki you might like to learn the maramataka or months of the year in te reo which Miss Tuwharetoa sings to the tune of another oldie Calendar Girl by Neil Sedaka which you can find on You Tube.

Nō reira, best of luck with your reo Māori journey and remember every little bit counts.

Whāngaia ka tupu, ka puawai
That which is nurtured, blossoms and grows

Whakataukī

Tongan Language Week: 3 – 9 September

Mālō e lelei. Welcome to Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga – Tongan Language Week which we celebrate this year from Sunday 3 September to Saturday 9 September. The theme for this year is ‘E tu’uloa ‘a e Lea faka-Tongá ‘o ka lea’aki ‘i ‘api, siasi (lotu), mo e nofo-‘a-kāingá, which means the Tongan Language will be sustainable if used at home, church and in the wider community. 

You can practise your lea faka-Tonga with some common greetings after watching the following You tube video from Pacific Learners.

How did you go with your greetings? Here is a catchy tune from Pacific Kids Learning, to learn the Tongan alphabet. It includes learning one Tongan word for each letter. Singalong to find out what the words for coconut and banana are. Here’s a hint -the Tongan word for coconut begins with N and the Tongan word for banana begins with S.

You can also download these Tonga Language cards from the Ministry for Pacific Peoples webpage supporting Lea Faka – Tonga.

Thanks to New Zealand author David Riley you can also read some books from Ara Library on Tongan culture and language as below:

• Hina’s blessing – learn about one of the stories of love of the famous couple Hina and Sinilau.
• How Tonga got its name – Maui was clearly very busy throughout the Pacific.
• Tongan heroes – among others learn about such heroes as King George Tupou and our gold medallist Valerie Adams. 

Also look out for a Tongan flower-making activity in the Timaru and Madras Campus Libraries this week and other events advertised in My Ara.