Let us chill out for a while from Immigration matters and see a typical day in New Zealand. When I came in at 2001, it took me six months to have the confidence and courage to speak and converse to a kiwi. I am scared and embarrass that they might not understand me and laugh with my accent. Doing my grocery shopping, I would not dare pay in the Checkout for the operators in their fast charming ways will ask loudly if you have this and that kind of reward cards which I don’t have any idea on what it is. The customers are waiting in queue and poor me getting stares of understanding , oh yes she’s new.
Worst is answering phone calls at my aunt’s home where we live for a while. You will be listening to an unintelligible words on the other line only birds can understand. So I practiced, I started talking to the dogs in the neighbour , yes they are English speaking too. Next is talking to the kids, their corrections do not embarrass me. Pretty soon your ears will get attuned to their talks and through the course of time you will get used to it, often I get remarks that I have an American accent, all Filipinos are.
New Migrants, visitors and tourists find it hard at first to understand and follow a typical kiwi conversation. Reason being is that new Zealanders will use words and expressions that are not considered English. This is the New Zealand idiom – Kiwi slang talk. Some idiom is unique to New Zealand and some has been adopted or modified from terms used in other English speaking countries. The native kiwi have a distinct accent wherein “E” is pronounced as “I” i.e. pen is pin, ten is tin, seven is siven, yes is yis . Going crazy? try talking to a typical kiwi, it will blow your mind.
KIWI SLANG AND IDIOMS
Aussie - Australian
Aotearoa - Land of the long white cloud (Maori name for New Zealand)
Barbie - BBQ
Bach - Small holiday house normally near the water
Bench - Kitchen counter
Biscuit - Cookie
Bonnet - Car engine hood
Boot - Car trunk
Bring a plate - Bring food on a plate or dish to share to others
Cardie - Cardigan
Catch ya - Goodbye, see you later (even if you don’t meet again)
Catch ya later - Goodbye and will see you at a later time
Cheers - Thanks, goodbye, goodluck (cheers mate)
Daylight robbery - Overpriced
Dodgy - Can't be trusted
Flat - Apartment
Hangi - Traditional Maori Earth oven
Hit the sack - Go to bed
Jandals - Thongs, footwear
Jersey - Sweater
Jumper - Sweater
Kia Ora - Maori greeting, hi, hello, thanks
Kiwi - A New Zealander
Kumara - sweet potato
Lift - Elevator
Lolly - Candies
Loo - Toilet
Lounge - Living Room
Mate - Friend or stranger (male))
Morning tea - Short break from mid-morning
Nana - Grandmother
Nick - Steal
No worries - Not a problem, easy
Oi - Call to attention (hoy)
OZ - Australian
Pakeha - Maori terms for person of European descent
Ring - Make a call or telephone
Ripped off - Cheated
Rubbish - Nonsense, trash, or garbage
Sickie - Time off work and apparently sick
Smoko - Short break from work
Stuffed up - Made a mistake
Sunnies - Sunglasses
Sweet as - Excellent, very satisfactory
Ta - Thanks
Togs - Swimsuit
Uni - University
Wicked - Exceptional, excellent
Yack - Conversation between friends and acquaintances
Zed - the letter Z
These are few common ones that when get used to will make life easier to live by. The lovely olds of the migrants who can't speak English, we communicate in sign language. Filipinos, Indian, Fijians, Samoans, Brazilian, Chilean, Russians and others. Welcome to New Zealand!
Have a fantastic and marvelous life!
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