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| Thread ID: 112044 | 2010-08-21 10:18:00 | Te Reo story confusion | Snorkbox (15764) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1130323 | 2010-08-22 23:53:00 | I have no objection to Maori language being taught wherever. But then should all those that live in the USA be taught American Red Indian and if so which tribe should it be? Or all Canadians should learn French maybe? The purpose of language is surely to communicate. Well is it not a form of identity as well? For African tribes or Hindu/Punjab/etc? USA Government use tribal names on their army helicopters, maybe as a token gesture, but I think they have the bureau of Indian affairs - but probably stops short of promoting native languages. Though I think small scale languages/culture is preserved, one involving the actor Robert Redford in Canada. Probably through his sundance film festival. Maybe the USA Government should run a public poll about native language schemes. |
kahawai chaser (3545) | ||
| 1130324 | 2010-08-22 23:55:00 | The British did the same thing in Ireland, Wales, and NZ regarding suppressing indigenous languages. I suppose they did it in Scotland as well. In Wales they used 'the Welsh Not' - "The Welsh Not or Welsh Note was a piece of wood, inscribed with the letters "WN", that was hung round the necks of children who spoke Welsh in some schools in the 19th century. The "not" was given to any child overheard speaking Welsh, who would pass it to a different child if overheard speaking Welsh. By the end of the day, the wearer of the "not" would be given a lashing. The idea of the "not" was to discourage pupils from speaking Welsh, at a time when English was considered by some to be the only suitable medium of instruction." - Wikipedia. Māori was suppressed here as well - you can look at the Waitangi Tribunal Report on Te Reo Māori to see how it was done here. Basically kids were bashed for speaking Māori, and schools had to use English as the primary method of instruction or they were not funded by government. As you say in your post, there are other reasons for speaking a language than commerce. The point of the report though (the report quoted in the first post of this thread) was that there has been a gradual change in the percentage of people, particularly amongst the young, who approve of the teaching of te reo Māori in schools, and the trend suggests that this will continue to increase until debates like this one will diminish/cease as us old farts die off. Some people need to get out more. |
John H (8) | ||
| 1130325 | 2010-08-23 00:01:00 | Well is it not a form of identity as well? For African tribes or Hindu/Punjab/etc? USA Government use tribal names on their army helicopters, maybe as a token gesture, but I think they have the bureau of Indian affairs - but probably stops short of promoting native languages. Though I think small scale languages/culture is preserved, one involving the actor Robert Redford in Canada. Probably through his sundance film festival. Maybe the USA Government should run a public poll about native language schemes. We are fortunate here in that whilst there are different iwi dialects, all Māori speakers understand a broadly similar language. A deeper sense of iwi identity etc can be taken care of by learning your own dialect. Arguments raised by people like Snorkbox about what should happen in America (or Australia - similar situation to America - or even Papua New Guinea), are irrelevant here because there is basically one Māori language. |
John H (8) | ||
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