For many years the Te Rangatahi series (Books 1-3) were the only Māori textbooks available. If you learned Te reo back in the 1970’s at High school and University then this was the pukapuka in use. They were written by the late Hoani Waititi (there is a marae named after him in West Auckland and his grand nephew is a Member of Parliament) who was a Kaiako at Queen Victoria (Kuini Wikitoria) College and Hato Tipene  Tamaki Makaurau, but also held positions at Ardmore Teachers College and the Ministry of Education. 

The title Te Rangatahi comes from the whakatauki- “ka hao te rangatahi.” “The new net goes fishing.” (the old net is cast aside).  

The 3 books (they get progressively more difficult as you progress from books 1 to 3) follow the lives of Hata, Pani, Tamahae and Mere- with their buddies Rewi and Marama in a small rural Tai Rawhiti village (based on Hoani Waititi’s home marae at Cape Runaway (Whangaparaoa) amongst his iwi- Te whānau- a – Apanui) It is a beautiful snapshot of a changing cultural landscape and elicits so much nostalgia for not only te reo learners from back in the day, but anyone remembering the 1960’s and 1970s. You will go with the whanau on several trips and celebrate different occasions- te pikiniki, te kanikani, te whakangau poaka, te rama tuna. There are a host of activities with the addition of new vocabulary and grammar. There are some simple exercises to complete- such as cloze exercises and whakapakehatia and whakamāoritia (translations from Maori to Pakeha and visa versa). However, the greatest joy is learning within the unique context of a small rural Māori community. Maybe I am too nostalgic- but these stories are great fun and there is lots of good learning to be had.

Scour those second hand bookshops and look out on Trademe- these books are gold!