When Manuel Springford decided to speak te reo Maori on Mondays he did not expect he would end up being praised by MPs and having conversations in Maori with a woman in Picton.
Every Monday the Whangarei man exclusively speaks te reo Maori - no matter where he is. His idea for te reo Maori Mondays came when he found he had nowhere to use the language after his grandfather died.
After sharing his story with the Northern Advocate this month Mr Springford made a Facebook group called Maori Mondays - a place to learn.
"I thought there were so many people interested that it'd be a waste not to do anything about it," he says. "So I started [the group] with the idea that people could just help each other, awhi each other, with any questions."
Mr Springford said after an interview he did with Radio New Zealand he had people email in their numbers wanting to have a korero with him in te reo Maori.