Compulsory Maori for teachers

[Banditbandit]

Too meke! Speaking da english is all choice as bro! Speaking the te reo lingo is all part of being a treacher at skool dese days bay!

Otherwise you gets all whakama about it! But, I reckons that nuffink a good feeds and a hui can't solve! Chur chur! Ke kite ano!

How to be illiterate in two languages ...

[Blackshear]

It's cool to Kōrero!

I personally don't like the compulsory part, we're far more likely to end up speaking Chinese anyway.
I can count to 100 in Maori, know half of the colour song and that's it. Never had to use Maori in my life, aside from district names.

[Katman]

How is your first (and only?) language Maori speaker going to get on in Remuera?

Stealthily.









(Said in jest Banditbandit).

[matdaymon]

As a compulsory part of learning to teach I'd say they have been doing a shithouse job for YEARS. Otherwise I would have actually cared when it was forced on me in primary and intermediate (managed to skip it in high school for getting into an extension class which clashed with my forms moari lessons) as the teachers would have known WTF they were doing and would have been able to pass on some enthusiasm for the subject. All I remember of it is singing songs that I didnt know the meaning too and they couldnt teach me the meaning to to save themselves...

These days I think it would be cool to learn it just so I could nail my pronunciation of places around the country.
Learning Mandarin or Sign would be hella more useful though

[HenryDorsetCase]

There are some places in this country where people who speak only English are at a disadvantage, and that will grow as the Māori population increases and the European-descent population decreases ...

How are some of you who are European-descent going to cope in 40 years time when you are in the minority in this country and only speak one of it's everyday languages?

(Those of you who will be dead don't need to point that out)

So the master plan is "out-breed whitey"? Awesome. Who will pay the benefits then?

and in 40 years, I'll be sitting on my porch, holding my shotgun, sipping from my jug, and waiting.

[Morcs]

If it wasnt for a conscious effort to use the maori language, it would all but completely die out - as naturally it doesnt really have a place or use. This is just another ploy along those lines.

Its the same with deliberate moves to change place names and all that crap too - the only way to try and keep crap alive that shouldve been left behind from mainstream society long ago.

[oneofsix]

I'm sorry but Te Reo Māori is used every day in this country. I'm certainly surrounded by people who use it from preference as it is their first language ... you can hear it used on the street and shops of Whakatane every day ...

There are some places in this country where people who speak only English are at a disadvantage, and that will grow as the Māori population increases and the European-descent population decreases ...

How are some of you who are European-descent going to cope in 40 years time when you are in the minority in this country and only speak one of it's everyday languages?

(Those of you who will be dead don't need to point that out)

At least it will be the language that the rest of the world has an interest in. English, the language of technology and commerce

[Woodman]

Compulsory? No, but I have heard that once you pick up a second language e.g. Maori then it is a lot easier to pick up a third and so on. We already know how to pronounce maori words through place names etc and with words like mana, kai and whanau becoming more mainstream we are some way there already.
I actually think that there is a hybrid New Zealand /Aotearoa language developing that encompasses Maori and English and thats a good thing.
We can thank the All Blacks for getting that ball rolling with the national anthem.

[matdaymon]

Lets also not forget the small minority who believe us whitey's shouldnt be allowed to speak Te Reo at all too. My (adopted) sister's first husband's family rejected her and drover her out of the family after she went out and did a degree in Te Reo to try and get closer to them... bit backwards that lot but they do exist out there.

Pretty much an argument you can't win. You either half ass learning it to attempt to please one group, but then forget it all to not be murdered by another

[Banditbandit]

So the master plan is "out-breed whitey"? Awesome. Who will pay the benefits then?

and in 40 years, I'll be sitting on my porch, holding my shotgun, sipping from my jug, and waiting.

No, it's not a plan .. it's just happening .. current European-descent birth rates are lower than those required to sustain a population at its present level (around 2.3 births per 2 people) current Polynesian birth rates (Māori and Pasifika) are much higher than required to sustain a population - so the European-descent population is shrinking and aging .. adn the Polynesian population is growing ...

As well, the Polynesian population is much younger - while the European-descent population is aging ...

So when you are sitting on your porch with a shotgun and sipping your jug it will be the Polynesian workers (Māori and Pasifika) who will be paying taxes so you can get a pension and pay for your jug ... I hope they are in jobs earning enough money to support whitey in his old age ...

[oneofsix]

Compulsory? No, but I have heard that once you pick up a second language e.g. Maori then it is a lot easier to pick up a third and so on. We already know how to pronounce maori words through place names etc and with words like mana, kai and whanau becoming more mainstream we are some way there already.
I actually think that there is a hybrid New Zealand /Aotearoa language developing that encompasses Maori and English and thats a good thing.
We can thank the All Blacks for getting that ball rolling with the national anthem.

the word mana is used in lots of languages.
It wasn't the All Blacks that started the ball rolling, one of their intro singers that got lambasted for it originally, I thought. But it is the international sporting arena that keeps it going.
I was forced to learn French on the same basis, didn't work and just turned me against it.
Lead don't force and then you will find willing people like yourself who will learn it.

[matdaymon]

Just read the article. Another one of Dr Sharples ideas. Dude's heart is in the right place. Just needs a bit more thinking through to actually make implementable.

And as above. If something is forced on you, you immediately resent it and don't really put the needed effort in to learn.

[XxKiTtiExX]

Too meke! Speaking da english is all choice as bro! Speaking the te reo lingo is all part of being a treacher at skool dese days bay!

Otherwise you gets all whakama about it! But, I reckons that nuffink a good feeds and a hui can't solve! Chur chur! Ke kite ano!

Huhuhuhuhuhuhu!!!

[Toaster]

What a wasste of money. What use is that going to be? Much better to make Mandarin a compulsory cause for students. Thats a language that will actually be of use in their future. Wish I could have learned it at school.

But compulsory maori? About as useful as learning Egyptian hieroglyphics.

I couldn't agree more. Languages more widely spoken will serve many well in the multinational careers many have.

Where I work we need almost every kind of interpreter to deal with the non-english speaking people we deal with (some of which have lived in NZ as residents and citizens for over 10 years and speak not a word of our english language).

I too wish we had language options at school. It was rugby or nothing in my day and typing was for girls, computers for nerds.

[MSTRS:Me]

In other news, Shrek the sheep died last week. His Hangi will be held tomorrow.