Thread: Language in New Zealand

Originally Posted by White Guardian

Why we all need to learn Mandarin
Bernard Hickey: Why we all need to learn Mandarin - Business - NZ Herald News

Mandarin is already our third most spoken language after English and Maori, with the latest estimates of the number of Maori speakers at around 157.000.

It would mean Chinese language television, correspondents based in China, mass Chinese language learning and a much deeper understanding of how China works. It would require New Zealanders broadly, including pakeha, Maori and Pacific Island New Zealanders, to really welcome home the 400,000 or so Chinese New Zealanders who will live here by 2026.


Funding boost to help Kiwi kids learn Mandarin

Major funding boost to help Kiwi kids learn Mandarin | NATIONAL News

The Chinese government is stepping up its push to make Mandarin a second language in some of New Zealand's schools.
It is putting up $250,000 towards tuition so Kiwi children can learn the language.

Maylene Lai from the Chinese Language Foundation said getting New Zealand children to learn Mandarin is a "no-brainer".

Prime Minister John Key has said he believes Mandarin will one day push aside traditional European choices as a second language.
"In modern day New Zealand economy, our interaction with the Chinese economy is going to be much more important than having a great understanding of Latin or French," Key said
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Make the Maori language compulsory, and the sooner the better. If we don’t take urgent action the language is in danger of dying.
Maori should be compulsory - opinion - auckland | Stuff.co.nz

The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey (1999) lists the following as the top languages by population

1 Chinese
2 Spanish
3 English
4 Bengali
5 Hindi/Urdu
6 Arabic
7 Portuguese
8 Russian
9 Japanese
10 German
11 French

Of the eleven languages listed above six are White and five are European. If anything the New Zealand government should be encouraging its students to learn European languages.
Also Mr. Key does not take into account the strong focus placed upon learning European languages in East Asia, and the Indian sub continent especially English.

As the New Zealand government has indicated the importance of building trading and political relationships with Central and South America as indicated in its 2000 Latin American Strategy. Surly there would be an imperative to teach Portuguese and Spanish to New Zealand children. These are both of course European languages.

As the pitiful example of Maori language promotion has shown, that despite $220 million a year being spent on the language it is in critical decline.
Also of the people who have received language instruction in Te reo most are by no means fluent.


Te reo going the way of the moa


This suggests that the outcomes expected by the Key government with respect language promotion are more likely based on appeasement and appearances rather than fluency and cultural understanding.

Moreover Keys comments indicate a disregard for the historical and cultural value of European languages to European New Zealanders. These are the very people who make of the bulk of the country’s population.

It’s understandable although somewhat sad that cultural promotion goes hand in hand with Key’s desire to suck up to the new super power in the pacific.
But do most Kiwis want to speak a language that sounds like a grand father clock falling down a staircase?

Hans Günther wrote (post#2):


This suggests that the outcomes expected by the Key government with respect language promotion are more likely based on appeasement and appearances rather than fluency and cultural understanding.

Moreover Keys comments indicate a disregard for the historical and cultural value of European languages to European New Zealanders. These are the very people who make of the bulk of the country’s population.

It’s understandable although somewhat sad that cultural promotion goes hand in hand with Key’s desire to suck up to the new super power in the pacific.

"Appeasement and appearances" is a very apt phrase, Hans Günther. The teaching of foreign languages has always been something of a sham in New Zealand. Up until the 1960s traditional English grammar was taught in high schools so that students could gain a formal analytic understanding of some aspects of language at least. This was reinforced with elementary instruction in Latin and French grammar. Very few students every really became proficient in the literature of those two languages. Following the introduction of the "audio-lingual" method of instruction for French from around the early 1970s, fifth year high school students could typically neither speak nor understand French to any reasonable degree, and more importantly, no longer had the grammatical knowledge and general written translation ability which they used to acquire under the former traditional approach to teaching. Maori and Japanese were taught to a low standard in the 1970s, and I am confident that things will be no better now. It would be little exaggeration to say that for the vast majority of students in New Zealand schools the methods of foreign language instruction employed have been a complete failure for many decades.

The government has ignored Pacific languages in New Zealand by placing value only on English literacy, says a Pasifika Member of Parliament.
Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni said the government had failed to recognise the evidence supporting Pacific children having a solid grounding in their own heritage.
“They have subsequently devalued our Pacific languages,” said Sepuloni.
Sepuloni said celebration of Samoan Language Week – which began on Samoa’s Independence Day on June 1 and ends next Tuesday – was an opportunity for children to build confidence in speaking their own language.
The theme for this year is Samoa Ola or Samoa Active and focuses on language, sport and healthy living and links to the visit of Samoa team for the Rugby World Cup.
Sepuloni said language was easily lost between generations and should not be allowed to slip away.
“Not being able to speak your mother tongue language does not make you less of a Pacific person,” she said.
But she said it was hard when a person was not a competent speaker of his or her own Pacific language and could not communicate to others in their Pacific community.
‘Absolute privilege’
“Knowing the language is an absolute privilege for those that have.”
Human Rights Commission communication advisor Kat Ryan said the event built bridges between cultures and ensured that the language continued to be used widely in New Zealand.
Ryan said the Samoan Language Week had been very successful when measured by the wide range of activities across the country and the week was being recognised in Australia and the United States.
A Samoan studies specialist from Victoria University, Galumalemana Alfred Hunkin, said promoting the language in New Zealand was a reflection of the country’s support and values the Pacific Islands.
Galumalemana said linguistic ability in the Samoan language would give young Samoans a vital tool to communicate with their elders and understand their culture.
He said Samoan people were the ones to advocate the language and needed to keep it and use it. But the government also needed to have policies to sustain and make it possible.
MP Sepuloni said Labour had always supported Pacific people and languages.
“It was under the Labour that the Pacific Radio Network was started and funded and we will continue to support the Pacific community,” she said.
The Samoan language is the third most commonly spoken language in New Zealand after English and Māori.
There are more than 130,000 Samoan New Zealanders. The Samoan community is the fourth largest ethnic community in New Zealand.

Pacific.scoop.co.nz Pacific languages literacy ‘ignored’ in NZ, says Labour MP


Sign Language is the Third most important language in NZ but ofcourse It isn't spoken.
New Zealand Sign Language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Chinese also want their language to be important in NZ.
http://www.whitenewsnow.com/new-zeal...w-zealand.html

I hear Samoan spoken if not every day then certainly every week. Other than on scripted television I seldom hear Maori. In fact, I've only heard Maori spoken a couple of times in my life - once in Murapara and the other time in Ruatahuna. My guess is that Samoan is the second most commonly spoken language. I doubt however that it will retain that position for long given Chinese migration patterns and the fact that second-generation Samoans don't speak Samoan.

Teachers will be required to learn the Maori language and culture under new rules to be introduced next month, but the Secondary Principals' Association says making it compulsory will cause resentment.
Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples said the Cultural Competency programme would begin to be introduced later this year and would be in every school by the end of 2012.
It requires teachers to study tikanga Maori and te reo during their university studies, training courses and at school.
Dr Sharples said it would also show teachers how to interact with their communities, particularly local iwi and other Maori organisations. He had told Education Minister Anne Tolley about the programme and said she was happy about it. "It's a way of training teachers and involving them in the community and the Maori concept of teaching and learning."
Once implemented, the programme would become part of everyday life in every school, he said. "I went to one school where they asked me in for advice ... I said, `Well, who's the local iwi here?' ... They didn't even know."
Secondary Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh said he supported the concept behind the programme but did not believe it should be compulsory.
"When you make those sort of things mandatory it raises people's hackles and it's far better to persuade them that it's a good idea and to fund it, but to make it compulsory you will end up getting people there who resent being there because they're made to do it."
There was no silver bullet for improving Maori student achievement. It should not be left solely to schools but should be a community and multi-agency approach, he said.
The Cultural Competency programme was similar to recommendations made by the Maori Youth Council, which reported back to Parliament yesterday.
It suggested all future secondary school teachers be required to complete level one courses in te reo and Maori culture while at university, that there be better relationships between schools and communities, and that greater resources be available to current teachers.
Council member Kahurangi Maxwell, 23, from Rotorua, said te reo was a vehicle to understanding culture but was not enough on its own.
"It's too often that Maori students are not really understood. Maori have to fit into a certain box, rather than the box fitting Maori."
The group also recommended mentors be assigned to those attending restorative justice family group conferences, a national youth Maori radio station be created and that there be regular youth representation in Parliament.
Dr Sharples said he would hand the report on to other ministers and Maori MPs and was confident much of it could be implemented.
"Well, I am Government and I'll certainly implement as many of those things myself as I can and it's up to the ministers themselves if they see something worthwhile in there that's worth following, but they should at least read the report."

Te reo compulsory for teachers | Stuff.co.nz

Language ruckus at Maccas

A McDonald's manager who suggested an unhappy customer should learn to speak Chinese has been criticised by her superiors.
Nicola Ireland and her boyfriend Michael Schuster went to McDonald's in Panmure last Sunday and ordered a mochaccino.
"I couldn't understand what the Asian attendant was saying," says Ireland, "and she got annoyed and said 'I already told you'."
Ireland complained to the shift manager and Schuster said the attendant needed to learn English.
Ireland alleges they were told: "It's not our problem you can't speak Chinese."
"I was bewildered, it made me feel like I don't belong here."
Shift manager Shan Shan told the Herald on Sunday she recalled saying, "If one day you could speak Chinese properly that would be good".

"People are trying hard to speak English. I know it's not appropriate to speak to customers like that, but they were so rude to us."


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10734601

We are seeing more and more of this aggressive colonization from Chinese invaders. It has gotten to the point where some stores have signs only in Chinese.

"This is MY land. You don't tell ME what to speak!" I would hope they would have said that.

Originally Posted by Sigrid

"This is MY land. You don't tell ME what to speak!" I would hope they would have said that.

I will be telling them that in future. All across the countries we have them taking over these sorts of franchises. In a place called Palmerston North there is a mainland Chinese run Burger King. They staff it almost entirely with Chinese staff who can barely speak English. They do have a token White employee. He is the one that gets to do all the mopping up and cleaning

Ireland alleges they were told: "It's not our problem you can't speak Chinese."
"I was bewildered, it made me feel like I don't belong here."
Shift manager Shan Shan told the Herald on Sunday she recalled saying, "If one day you could speak Chinese properly that would be good".

Yet another reason for not going to McDonald's. That being said, Panmure is one melanin-rich cesspool. It's the sort of cesspool even pretend slutwalkers wouldn't grace with their presence. It's dangerous even during the day!

When Non-Whites discrimate against Whites, have you noticed the word used by the Press is they "alleged" this or that. When a Non-White makes a complaint about a White the word used by the Press is "IS". There is always a written certainty about a Non-White's allegation and a definate scrutiny directed at any White's allegation.

The aggression of the non-assimulated Muslim and Chinese is astounding in our own Countries. Blessings to all our NZ Brothers and Sisters and keep up the good work. All White Brothers and Sisters need hold their Posts in their own country because our strength gives prosperity and stability to the World.

Originally Posted by Sigrid

"This is MY land. You don't tell ME what to speak!" I would hope they would have said that.

I would not have gone that far. Ask them to leave or give them some fries..or is that flies LOL This situation happens a lot.We need to stand up and say it's English or get out.