Taking part in a Friday te reo session are, from left, Perry Kingi, Reuben Heger, Jamie Penney, Gerry Paul and kaiako (teacher) Sailor Epiha. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Once a week a group of people meet at a Kerikeri cafe for a kawhe (coffee) and a kōrero (chat).
Nothing unusual about that, you might think — except most of them had never met before the get-togethers started.
One other thing sets this group apart.
Anyone is welcome to join, but they have to follow one rule: Kaua e kōrero Pākehā huri noa ki tēnei tēpu (Don't speak English around this table).
Kāeo man Reuben Heger started the initiative three months ago.
He wanted a place anyone, from beginners to fluent speakers, could practice speaking Māori in a relaxed, informal setting.
The group meets at 1pm every Friday at Pipsqueak Cafe, on Cobham Rd opposite the new playground.
"The first time it was just me. At the next one it was me and one other person, but for the last few weeks there's been six to eight of us. I'm just stoked to see people turn up and get a lot out of it," he said.
Heger said the group was open to "absolutely anybody at all".
"You just need to be open-minded. Just rock up."
The only other rule, apart from no English at the table, was: Kaua e whakamā (don't be embarrassed).
"No one's going to call you out for being wrong. It's just about giving it a crack, or even just sitting there, listening to the reo and being around it," Heger said.
"It's not meant to be like a classroom setting, it's meant to be like, 'Hey, let's catch up and have a coffee', and we just happen to be speaking in another language, which is a native tongue of New Zealand. To have more of that would be amazing."
Heger's aim was to attract a wide cross-section of abilities so learners could be immersed in the language.
"I have one or two very good speakers who come along and I have a few who are constantly looking up words on their phones, and that's all right. And some just want to listen and be around the language."
Participants were given a "cheat sheet" with conversation starters and kīwaha (colloquial expressions).
Heger said participants were usually a 50-50 mix of Pākehā keen to learn the language and Māori trying to reclaim their reo.
The cafe owner fully backed the kaupapa (cause), he said.
"She'll stay open beyond her usual closing time if the conversation's still going. She loves seeing half the cafe speaking entirely in te reo, and she loves seeing the reaction of her other patrons to that. For her, it's really special that the language is being normalised."
Heger, an assistant pastor at Kerikeri's Excite Church, is "Pākehā through and through" but his wife is Ngāpuhi and Te Rarawa.
Life-long involvement with the Māori community had fuelled his passion for te ao Māori (the Māori world), he said.
That involvement included touring the country with acclaimed Northland reggae band 1814 as the saxophone player and "token white guy".
His te reo journey started about three years ago with a course at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
He was now using the Te Ataarangi method, which used coloured blocks to help learners become conversational.
"I'm not fluent by any means, I'm on the journey. I can hold a basic conversation now and understand most of what's being said. The more I learn the language the more I learn about the Māori world view and whakaaro (thinking), and that interests me." Heger said he gained a lot from learning te reo.
"It enriches my experience of the Māori world, and helps strengthen my connection with people I know and love who are from that world. It also broadens my mind and breaks down walls of prejudice."
■ The group doesn't have its own Facebook page but Heger posts on the Kerikeri Noticeboard and Northland Grapevine about any changes to the weekly sessions.
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