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Thread ID: 125858 2012-07-24 00:38:00 Maori language week lakewoodlady (103) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1290422 2012-07-26 00:05:00 If you're a NZ citizen then its part of the history of your country. Splitting hairs does not change this fact.

Methinks you assume too much :(
Zippity (58)
1290423 2012-07-26 00:10:00 opps, double post globe (11482)
1290424 2012-07-26 00:12:00 Lets have a week to say "hey we speak english"

However English is not a minority language that is likely to go out of use if a focus is not put on it .

But hey go for it, ask them to present the weather (including the town names) in English every night for a week, oh hang on a minute . . . .
globe (11482)
1290425 2012-07-26 01:42:00 But hey go for it, ask them to present the weather (including the town names) in English every night for a week, oh hang on a minute....

They don't pronounce them in English at the best of times :( :(
Zippity (58)
1290426 2012-07-26 01:43:00 Yes Maori should be proud of their historic language, however it used to be forbidden for Maori to speak their language at schools and in public in general, therefore several generations of Maori never got to learn it or hand it down to the next generation. So in some cases, its not the Maoris fault but Europeans that the large majority dont know how to speak it.

You are correct. It was forbidden to speak maori in school (from the 1880s). Many people quote that fact but few seem to know the reason.

It was the maori elders (not the Europeans) that forbade their children from speaking maori at school as the elders realised that NZ was an English speaking country and if you wanted to get ahead you needed to be able to speak English so they wanted to make certain that their children could speak the language of commerce that would help them secure their place in the world. Anyone who could not speak English was at a distinct disadvantage.
Roscoe (6288)
1290427 2012-07-26 04:36:00 If you're a NZ citizen then its part of the history of your country. Splitting hairs does not change this fact.One little thing you are overlooking, its called Colonisation. Maori are part of New Zealands history and thats exactly it - history. Respect the past, remember the past but dont try and live in the past. Maori can learn Maori as part of their culture if they so wish, so can anyone else for whatever reason, but you cant impose Maori on those who see there is no future in learning it (and against our Human Rights to try and enforce it). Iantech (16386)
1290428 2012-07-26 05:24:00 I don't mind the Maori language week, I don't speak the language and I am not interested in learning it but I don't mind the media pretending to care.
Would be nice to see an English week too, a week where media and all of us would pronounce the word Women properly, or when we all could learn the proper use of the apostrophe or the 'their, there, they're' thingy you know...
Like someone else previously stated here, I too massacrate three or four languages already and I think that is enough for my little brain. What I find fascinating is the Maori getting offended when their language is mis-pronounced, yet my native italian language is often maimed and I find it quite funny actually. You know: spag bol, pesta, bolonaise, chabta (ciabatta), cappachino and so on. I actually quite like those words and often use them among my friends for fun - why get offended?
I guess someone wants to get offended no matter what because doing so it reinforces their agenda and pushes the guilt trip New Zealand has been spoon fed in the last 50 years.

My 2c :(
Sanco (683)
1290429 2012-07-26 05:32:00 A learn to speak English week would be great for TV presenters . The Police show presenters make me cringe with they mention the word "Constable"!! Iantech (16386)
1290430 2012-07-26 09:41:00 Hey. How about a Latin language week?? paulw (1826)
1290431 2012-07-27 05:58:00 He he he. ChazTheGeek (16619)
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