ZM radio announcer Jase Hawkins from the Jase and PJ show is pushing past his comfort zone with a self-issued challenge for Māori Language week.
Originally from Australia, Hawkins has lived in NZ for nearly two years, and today he announced a segment of the afternoon show entirely in Te Reo.
This is the sound of a radio host giving Māori pronunciation a go...
"Nau mai ki te hotaka o Jase me PJ!"
He wanted to walk-the-talk for Māori Language week.
Radio Host Jase Hawkins says “my biggest thing when we launched this was I didn't want people to think I was taking the mickey and I just thought I work in NZ radio and I thought it was Māori Language week so I actually should really give this a go."
Today he was gearing up to present an entire broadcast break at 5pm in the Māori Language
"Tenei (this). Tenei (this).I tell you what mate it's a beautiful language but I'll tell ya it's a lot of work!
"You two will have to learn Australian slang after this!"
He's been practicing for three days, tutored by Flava's Eru P.
"I was really surprised," says Paranihi (Eru P).
"At his dedication and determination to really give it a go and his respect for the language."
His workmates were also on board.
But will this week be the only time we see him pronouncing Te Reo Māori?
"I'm not getting ahead of myself lets see how we go, lets go an hour next year maybe a full show the year after that," Hawkins says.
So did he nail his Māori debut today at 5pm?
"Ko ZM!" (It's ZM)!
Excellent effort!