A video of a New Zealand schoolboy giving an inspiring speech about Māori language has been viewed more than 120,000 times online.
Finnian Galbraith recorded his speech, in which he implores fellow Kiwis to pronounce Māori words correctly, and posted it to YouTube this week.
Under the clip he stated that he wrote it for a speech competition because "I see this as a big issue and I believe it is very important that we take action."
Watch the full speech here:
"Don’t you hate it when people pronounce things wrong?" he said.
"Isn’t it just so … annoying? Oh and of course, people pronouncing your own name wrong. Don’t you just hate that?"
The 15-year-old school student from Paraparaumu, in the North Island, said Māori was frequently mispronounced in the media.
"On TV, on the radio – things that people see and hear everyday – so many of us are pronouncing Māori names and words completely wrong," he said.
"Too many of us.
"The Maori language is a huge part of our heritage and is an official language of our country, along with English and sign language. Culture is priceless and is something that should be embraced."
Finnian said it took very little effort to try and pronounce words correctly and he felt at times that people deliberately mispronounced common words.
"Now I’m no expert in this and I don’t claim to be and I know I don’t always get it right, but I give it a go and I’m willing to learn and that is what counts,” he said.
The video, called "The importance of correctly pronouncing Māori words," has been viewed more than 120,000 online and generated hundreds of comments.
Many of the commenters congratulated Finnian on taking a stand.
"Kia Ora Finnian you absolutely rock!!," one read.
"Your speech is fantastic and so true, I am Kai Tahu descendant and pride myself on this. I don't speak fluent Maori but pronounce Maori correctly and can have a slight conversation in Maori and I learn to pronounce a Maori word if I don't know."
"Well done on getting people talking about an issue that is so important to all New Zealanders. It is great to see young people talking about things that many of us adults struggle to accept or understand," wrote another.
