Learning a new language can offer insights into another culture but for one Samoan woman it helped her understand her own identity better.
Vanhou Lolesio-Maelia is Samoan but was raised in South Auckland. The Sylvia Park School teacher grew up only speaking Samoan, in fact, she wasn't allowed to speak English in her household until she finished high school. Now she's a reo Māori teacher helping children learn Aotearoa's native tongue.
She has been a teacher for nearly 10 years and has a unique point of view on the two Pacific communities.
"Kia ora ko Vanhou Lolesio- Maelia taku ingoa, Nō Hāmoa ahau. I whānau mai au, i tupu ake hoki ki te tonga o Tāmaki Makaurau. He kaimahi, he kaiako ahau ināianei ki te kura o Sylvia Park," she told Newshub.
"Kia ora, My name is Vanhou Lolesio- Maelia, I'm from Samoa, I was born and raised in South Auckland and I am now a teacher at Sylvia Park school."
Lolesio-Maelia grew up only speaking Gagana (language) Samoa but said learning te reo Māori helped her understand more about her own identity.
"It was Samoan all the way up and then I started learning te reo Māori. It wasn't until I learnt about te reo Māori that I realised our Samoan language is important too," she said.
The proud teacher learned te reo Māori at the University of Auckland where she took a foundation course in the language.
She was one of six Samoans in her class and said she wouldn't have gotten through the course without their support because they could all relate to each other.
There are similarities between the two cultures but Lolesio-Maelia was still challenged by the new language.
"Ko ngā reo i runga o te marae. I te ako matou e pā ana ki ngā whaikōrero ngā karanga ngā mōteatea. I te timatanga i kite au i nga oro puare, a, e āhua rite ana ki te reo Hāmoa."
"The languages spoken on the marae. We were learning about whaikōrero, calling and the ancient songs. At first I heard the vowels and they were very similar to the Samoan language."
Lolesio-Maelia said she became hooked on learning te reo because Māori has similar cultural ancestors such as Tangaroa and Tagaloa who are both Gods of the seas.
For the future, her hope is te reo Māori will become more commonly spoken in Aotearoa.
"It'll be awesome to see everyone speaking te reo Māori naturally in Aotearoa, just go to the corner dairy and ask for something in te reo Māori or have a conversation with the shop owner in te reo Māori that'll be awesome"
"You go to the shop in Samoa and you ask for something in Samoan and they give it to you like that, even if you're an outsider."
Te Wiki O Te Reo Maori (Maori Language Week) runs from September 12 to 19.
I TE REO MĀORI
Ko te ako i tētehi reo kē atu, ko te tuwhera i ngā tatau ki tētehi ahurea anō. Heoi mō tētehi wahine Hāmoa kua tau ia ki tōna ake tuakiri.
Tata ki te tekau tau tēnei wahine e tū ana hei kaiako Māori.
"Kia ora ko Vanhou Lolesio- Maelia taku ingoa, Nō Hāmoa ahau. I whānau mai au, i tupu ake hoki ki te tonga o Tāmaki Makaurau. He kaimahi, he kaiako ahau ināianei ki te kura o Sylvia Park."
I a Lolesio- Maelia e tupu ana, ko te reo kōrero ko te reo Hāmoa, ā, ko tāna, kāore i whakaaetia te reo Pākehā ki tōna whare, tae noa ki te wā i mutu ia i te kura tuarua.
Ahakoa nō Hāmoa te wahine nei, hei tāna, i a ia e ako ana i te reo Māori ka kaha mārama ia ki tōna tuakiri.
Ko tāna ,"I a mātou e ako ana mō te whakaora i te reo, nā tērā ka puta mai te mārama he motuhake hoki tōku reo Hāmoa."
Tīmata ai ngā tā Vanhou ako i te reo nōna i te whare wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau ki te Tohu Tūāpapa Mātauranga Reo Māori.
"Kāore au i paku mōhio ko te reo me ōna tikanga ngā mea ka ako au."
He maha ngā ritenga o ngā ahurea e rua, engari he wero nui ki a ia ki te ako i tētehi reo hou.
"Ko ngā reo i runga o te marae. I te ako mātou e pā ana ki ngā whaikōrero, ngā karanga, ngā mōteatea. I te tīmatanga i kite au i nga oro puare, ā, e āhua rite ana ki te reo Hāmoa."
E tūmanako ana ia ka māori ake te rere o te reo Māori i Aotearoa.
'He mea nui ki te ako i te reo Māori, i te mea e noho ana tātou ki tēnei whenua taketake. Koinei te reo motuhake o te whenua nei. Ahakoa ko wai koe, he mea motuhake tēnei.'
Ko te whakaako i ngā rangatira o āpōpō, kia hono atu rātou ki te whenua me ngā iwi taketake o Aotearoa.
Hei te13th - 19th tū ai Te Wiki o Te Reo Maaori. Tēnā whakanuia!
