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Ngāhiwi Apanui, the chief executive of Te Taura Whiri, the Maori language commission, says Māori can be too critical of people who don’t quite get it right.
He feels some fluent speakers don’t want anyone else to be as fluent, but the survival of the language means a lot of people need to use it.
"We have to start being kind to each other because if we don't we are going to make our people feel stink about learning te reo Māori and I don't know how many people I have spoken to have said they stopped learning because they were judged and they were made to feel stink because they made a mistake, but the reality is none of us was born speaking perfect Māori." Mr Apanui says.
He’s impressed by the energy put into Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori by both Māori and Pākeha.
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