A Christchurch eatery's free Te Reo Maori classes have been so in demand - even from people out of town - the owner is considering taking them on the road.
FUSH, the family owned seafood eatery in Wigram has encouraged the use of Te Reo Maori in its premises by offering bilingual English-Maori menus and using te reo phrases with customers.
Last month, owner Anton Matthews took his family's passion for te reo revitalisation a step further by offering free classes to anyone who wanted to learn.
If the first four classes go well then Mr Matthews will continue to offer them, even telling TVNZ1's Te Karere he would consider taking class on the road due to the response he's had from around New Zealand.
After advertising free classes on Facebook, more than 1000 people showed interest in taking part.
"We put a challenge out there and the response shows just how much people are hungry to learn. They want this, they want to learn our language and that's gotta be a good thing for its revitalisation," Mr Matthews told Te Karere.
With so many people keen the Matthews had to move the lessons from their restaurant to Christchurch Boys' High School hall.
They've held three classes so far, one brought in about 600 keen te reo learners.
"Even though they're saying just a few words, they're still speaking the language," said Mr Matthews.
"It doesn't matter if it's only a few words, it's actually that willingness to embrace our language that counts."
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