Fairfax asked speakers of nine of New Zealand's most popular languages to introduce themselves.

A ratepayer-funded agency wants all Aucklanders to speak both English and Maori, plus one other language.

This is the ambitious aim of education think-tank COMET, as it launches the Auckland Languages Strategy.

One in two children starting school in Auckland now comes from a background where the first language is not English, and COMET says its strategy is in response to the lack of a national languages plan.

Fairfax Media COMET chief executive Susan Warren says Kiwis would understand themselves better if they spoke Maori.

Auckland was home to 200 different ethnicities and 160 languages, and the aim was to harness this linguistic richness, COMET chief executive Susan Warren said.

Often children started school bilingual but left monolingual, she said.

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COMET gets two-thirds of its funding from Auckland Council – around $580,000 a year – and has been instrumental in developing the strategy, which is being presented at a languages conference in Auckland on Friday.

COMET's position was that all Kiwis should speak the two national languages, English and Te Reo Maori, Warren said.

On top of this, people's first languages should be nurtured, and the learning of foreign languages generally should be encouraged.

"The world is changing and you can't get away with just English any more," she said.

"There are so many concepts that aren't quite translatable."

Speaking Te Reo would give New Zealanders a better picture of the relationship between Maori and non-Maori under the Treaty, Warren said.

"Te Reo is actually our language and our heritage, and we can't truly know ourselves as Kiwis until we know the language."

Around 25 groups had been involved in developing the strategy, and it would help co-ordinate the efforts of many passionate people, she said.

It would also be a tool to advocate for a national languages policy, she said.

Shirley Maihi is the principal of Finlayson Park School in Manurewa which runs three bilingual units – in Te Reo Maori, Samoan and Tongan.

Cutting off children's first language was a no-no, Maihi said.

"There are common underlying proficiencies which apply to all languages.

"That's the language they should continue to learn in until they are quite strong in reading and writing, then transfer to English."

The philosophy of bilingual education had been proven to work. However, the school received no additional funding for its immersion classes, paying for it out of its operational budget and other grants, Maihi said.

Orakei Local Board member and mayoral candidate Mark Thomas questioned whether it was Auckland Council's role to be funding COMET, including the language strategy.

Formerly the City of Manukau Education Trust, COMET was a "legacy" council-controlled organisation, and it was a red flag that most of its funding still came from ratepayers, Thomas said.

"My issue is, what's the problem that we're trying to solve here," he said.

"We know we've got an issue with youth unemployment. But when I look at COMET's annual report I'm struggling to see what the hard measures are."

If the agency was trying to fill the gap between the education sector and the employment market why wasn't private enterprise contributing, Thomas asked.



By the numbers:

• 162 New Zealand schools now have no European Kiwi students

• One in two children starting school in Auckland do not have English as a first language

• By 2030 this figure will be two out of three children in New Zealand

• The second most widely spoken language in New Zealand is Te Reo Maori, followed by Samoan and Hindi.