Cooking up confidence in te reo Māori

From the classroom to the kitchen, 3 tauira from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa are serving up a fresh take on reo Māori learning with their new web series, Āku Hapa! – now streaming on Māori+.

The show stars friends James Dansey and Eda Tang, who met while studying te reo Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau. Together with director Rob George, also a former tauira, they’ve created a reo-based cooking show stuffed with hearty kōrero about learning, whakamā, and reclamation – all while chopping onions.

The premise is simple: 2 mates make some kai, speak only te reo Māori, and embrace every mistake along the way.

“We want the audience to have a good ol’ giggle and just to feel seen, really.” says Eda.

It’s an honest look at learning te reo that isn’t perfect, but real, and funny!

“It's about not letting hapa stop your kōrero. Fledgling reo can be funny too,” adds James.

The show’s title, Āku Hapa! plays on the double meaning of ‘my dinner’ and ’my mistakes.’ A cheeky nod to the kaupapa of learning through error, and a reflection of the whakataukī that inspired it:

"He reo hapa e taea te whakatika, he reo ngū e kore e taea" – You can correct broken language, but you can’t correct language that isn’t spoken.

For all 3 tauira, the path back to te reo Māori has been a return to themselves, their whakapapa, and their whānau.

As James reconnected with te reo Māori, his whānau began to remember it too.

“Seeing my whānau remember te reo from their childhood is so beautiful. Like, ‘Oh, your gran used to say e pēpi, kapi ō karu to the babies!’ It’s a testament to the power of te reo to connect to things we’d forgotten.”

It’s been a healing experience for Eda as well, one that helped make sense of her own identity.

“Learning te reo Māori has been a medicine for my brain. As I learnt about te ao Māori, my Chineseness felt like it had a place in Aotearoa, and I was starting to understand the harm of assimilation.”

For Rob, going back to the classroom was inspired by fatherhood. With his tamaiti enrolled in a kaupapa Māori kura, Rob wanted to ‘walk the talk.’

“I felt a sense of responsibility to be able to kōrero Māori with my son.”

Balancing mahi, whānau, and study hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been worth it. Their advice for others on the journey?

“Be kind, accepting, and proud of yourself. Take each step as it comes in whatever way works for you!”

“Our kaiako built a warm and supportive environment for us to make mistakes and learn. So our work with Āku Hapa! is guided by those principles.”

Āku Hapa! is comfort kai for anyone who’s ever felt ‘not good enough’ to speak te reo Māori. And like every good recipe, it doesn’t need to be perfect, just made with aroha, and a few hapa sprinkled in.

Nau mai ngā hapa – welcome the mistakes. That’s the secret ingredient.

Check out Āku Hapa! on Māori+, TikTok, and Instagram @aku_hapa and find out more about our te reo Māori (language) programmes.