Why this Māori mum is learning Punjabi and teaching her daughter too

“Kia ora koutou, Sat Sri Akal saraya nu…”

With warm Māori and Punjabi greetings, Krystal, a young Māori mother, begins her Instagram videos, and is winning hearts online as she shares how her daughter’s Punjabi roots are shaping her own cultural journey as well.

Learning te reo Māori and Punjabi alongside her children, Krystal hopes to inspire other multicultural families in New Zealand to embrace both sides of their roots.

“kei te pehea koe”

“Kidaan?”

“Kive aa?”

In one of her videos, she explains how to say “How are you” in Māori and Punjabi.

Krystal began her language journey in June.

A full-time professional who works in real estate, teaches kapa haka and runs a beauty business, she has taken to Instagram to share snippets of her learning, right from everyday sentences and commands to numbers and colours, in English, Māori and Punjabi.

Using homemade charts, colourful cards, Punjabi alphabet charts and books, Krystal has started with the basics of both languages.

“I am Maori, but I am still learning my own language even as an adult,” Krystal told The Indian Weekender. English is her first language.

The idea took shape through interactions with her two-year-old daughter, who shares Punjabi heritage through her father, Krystal’s partner of four years. When he spoke to their daughter in Punjabi, Krystal realised she could not understand their conversations.

“ I took that as a sign - that we are not speaking [in Punjabi] enough”

She realised that teaching her daughter Punjabi would also encourage more interaction in the language at home.

Krystal decided to take on the challenge of teaching her daughter about the cultures that shape their identity, while sharing her journey online to highlight the importance of embracing different cultures through language.

From the beginning, her videos have followed a consistent format, introducing words and phrases in both Māori and Punjabi.

Krystal has also been sharing her daughter’s progress in learning Punjabi.

“Ikk, Do, Tin…”

In one video, her daughter can be heard repeating the numbers in Punjabi.

“Even if I am asking about colors, she [daughter] is responding so much better”

“It has made a difference," Krystal shared.

Another recurring feature in Krystal’s videos is the use of colourful homemade cards to teach colours in both languages.

“Jaa-muh-nee,” “Jamani,” purple in Punjabi.

“Waiporoporo," purple in Māori.

“Lal," red in Punjabi.

“Whero," red in Māori.

Krystal made the cards herself, finding them an easy and accessible way for her daughter to learn. She also uses books from India to support their language-learning journey.

Her reels have received a largely warm and welcoming response, with viewers appreciating her efforts to help her children connect with both sides of their heritage and promote multiculturalism in New Zealand.

“I think my videos have not popped up on the wrong side of social media”

Krystal has, however, addressed comments questioning why she, as a Māori woman, is learning Punjabi and teaching it to her daughter.

“Why not?”

“My daughter is Punjabi, it is her birthright to know her language,” she addressed some of the comments in one of her reels.

For Krystal, the connection between the two cultures is more than language. She sees similarities between Māori and Punjabi cultures, “especially the way we look after our people,” she told The Indian Weekender.

“I remember the first time going to the Gurudwara,” she shared.

She recalled experiencing sewa, the practice of selfless service in Punjabi culture, and finding similarities with the sense of community and collective care she experienced when visiting a Marae.

Along with embracing the culture, Krystal’s own way to improve her Punjabi and Māori has also come with a learning curve.

She recalled when her partner’s Punjabi parents visited New Zealand, while her partner could speak to them in Punjabi, Krystal found it difficult not being able to communicate with them directly.

“It was really hard not being able to speak to them because I really wanted to have conversations with them,” she shared with Weekender.

The experience pushed her to do her part to learn Punjabi rather than relying on her partner or others to translate conversations with his parents.

“I can do the basics now.”

“I only struggle with people talking too fast [in punjabi],” she laughs.

For Krystal, sharing the journey publicly has become about showing how different cultures can be embraced within the same family, under the same roof.

Through her language journey, Krystal said she hopes to promote healthy multiculturalism and ensure her children grow up connected to both their Māori and Punjabi roots.

“I think this has definitely opened peoples’ eyes," she said.