Ōpōtiki couple prove it’s never too late to learn te reo Māori
Husband and wife duo, Piripi and Linda Taiapa are proof that it’s never too late to learn te reo Māori.
68 year old Linda and 70 year old Piripi, began their te reo Māori journey in 2017 with the hope of meeting new people after moving to Ōpōtiki.
“I wanted to get into as many local things as possible so we could meet new people because we had come down from the South Auckland area. We had always talked about learning te reo so I went down to the Wānanga and signed up,” says Linda.
Piripi has links to Ngāti Porou but says he grew up in a Pākehā world and Linda is of Irish and English decent, so learning te reo Māori was something very new to the both of them.
They both admit that learning has been a struggle at times but they were determined to stick at it and have since completed the level one, two, three and four te reo Māori programmes at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa’s (TWoA) Ōpōtiki campus.
“We have never done anything like this in our lives so at times it has been a bit over our heads but we persisted. We still can’t speak te reo the best but we understand a lot more than we first did,” says Linda.
Both Piripi and Linda agree that they still have a long way to go on their learning journey but it’s the little things and the small steps they have made that make them proud.
“It’s going down the road and saying mōrena instead of good morning or gidday and we are always getting more confident,” says Piripi who hopes to one day be able to go into his local shops and korero Māori.
The couple’s grandson has also started learning te reo at high school and they hope to one day be able to kōrero Māori with him as well as their other adult children and grandchildren.
But for now, Piripi and Linda will continue on their learning journey together at TWoA and hope to see others in their community start their own te reo Māori journey as well.
“We have become part of the whānau and that was really important to us. Now we can walk down the street and people will say hello to us. We were looking for a sense of belonging and that’s what we got,” says Linda.
Pūrongo whakahirahira
Featured stories
Finding a deeper sense of self through te ao Māori
Moving to Aotearoa from rural Australia as a teenager, Lily Warring found herself wanting to learn more about the culture and language of the place she now called home.
A journey shaped by whānau and a love of tamariki
Members of Tayla-Marie Takawe’s (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Maniapoto) whānau were among the first tauira to graduate from the Bachelor of Education (Primary Teaching) at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Reconnecting to te ao Māori through raranga
Haylee Roussel (Ngāti Rārua, Rangitāne, Ngāti Maniapoto) was searching for a way to reconnect with te ao Māori when she enrolled in the Certificate in Māori and Indigenous Art, Raranga, at the Waiwhero campus of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Creating the spark for business success
With plenty of experience as an electrician, Josh Verstraten was ready to branch out from employee to business owner, but he knew running a successful business would require a new set of skills.
From financial stress to financial freedom for Auckland whānau
For Augustine Kopa, studying the Certificate in Money Management at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa was about creating a better future for her whānau.
Two generations, one reo Māori journey
When Melody Francis (Ngāti Kahungunu) saw the positive impact that studying te reo Māori had on her mum, she decided to jump on the waka and begin the journey alongside her.
Tikanga study boosts whānau presence on marae
Patrick and Donna Tobin (Ngāti Kahu) are a brother-and-sister duo studying tikanga alongside their wider whānau at Te Paatu Marae in Kaitaia, all working towards the betterment of their whānau, iwi, and marae.
A teacher’s path to understanding tikanga
Originally from South Africa, Franda Zondagh has called Aotearoa home since 2003, but it was through studying He Papa Tikanga with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa that she began to feel a deeper connection to the place she lives and people she serves in her mahi.
Leading by example and learning te reo Māori
Liisa Wharepapa’s (Te Whānau ā Apanui) journey with te reo Māori wasn’t something that happened overnight, it was a goal waiting to be pursued until the moment she felt ready to take that step.
Returning home and reclaiming te reo Māori
After many years away building his professional career, Logan Bertram (Whakatōhea), returned home to Ōpōtiki with a clear goal of reconnecting with his whakapapa and creating a better future for his young whānau.
