Sitting on the other side of the classroom, mental health worker Niira Te Moana practices his adverbs with small coloured sticks - a common tool used in the learning of the Māori language.
"Kei kōnei te rākau karera, I kōna te rākau karera," he explained correctly to the class. (Here is the light green stick. The light green stick was over there.)
He has wanted to speak his native tongue his whole life, but said he was told as a child that he would have to pick it up on his own.
"My father and my mother were not able to speak Māori because their parents were given the strap for talking Māori at school, so they did not get that.
"I did a lot of kapa haka, as you do growing up, but I was just missing that passion. Being brought up on the marae, I was surrounded by the tikanga side, but not actually encapsulating the reo."
Mr Te Moana said te reo should be compulsory. He wants to see rangatahi flourish in any career by utilising tikanga, te reo and doing what works for Māori.
He has been taking classes now for two years, and said it has been great for his wairua, or soul. His friends and family, and colleagues, are also hearing him use more te reo, and some are keen to learn themselves, he said.
"That pebble, you drop it in the pond and it is rippling out. I feel like I am doing something, not just for myself but it's for the people."
Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland | Auckland | 2010-19 | Story is by tangata whenua
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