NZ's official languages: What you need to know

What, then, would the proposal change?

“Nothing,” says Andrew Geddis, a professor of law at the University of Otago.

Legislation is intended to solve problems, he says. “What is the social problem here that requires a solution? English is already an official language. It can be used in all public settings.”

Geddis refers to the policy as “virtue signalling”: “There seem to be some people out there who fear English is under threat and is somehow going to be overtaken in New Zealand. This [policy] seems to be a way to try to respond to that fear.”

Rangelus,

100% virtue signaling. English is the Lingua franca, so it’s not going anywhere. It isn’t going to be replaced with Te Reo, Chinese, Dutch, Klingon or anything else. People who oppose the more prominent use of another of Aotearoa’s official languages are fucking sad.

deadbeef79000,

They’re just fucking racist.

Ilovethebomb,

The fact that 95% of NZ reads and speaks English is, unfortunately, something people need to be reminded of. Far too many people and organisations seem to assume their clients are semi fluent in Te Reo, and there is no need to clarify what they just said.

Dave,
@Dave@lemmy.nz avatar

I think that misses the point. We are trying to build te reo as a normal part of NZ English. English has tens of thousands of words and few if any people know them all. What do you do when you come across an English word you don’t know?

Ilovethebomb,

If I find a word, I look it up. If there’s more than a handful, I very quickly lose interest in what they have to say.

Dave,
@Dave@lemmy.nz avatar

I can’t say I have ever seen more than one te reo word used in a sentence where the sentence was important. If there is a sentence in Māori in an otherwise English text, it’s almost certainly not crucial that you understand it and is more than likely a proverb or other reference that adds flair but not information.

Is there an example you can point to? I feel like I probably understand more than the average person so may not notice when someone goes a bit too heavy on the te reo.

Ilovethebomb,

My favourite was when they announced Tamaki Makarau was going into lockdown, and just assumed we all knew where that was, among other Covid related announcements.

Quite important information, about a place that is very rarely referred to by it’s Te Reo name, and no effort made to clarify where they were talking about.

Of course, r/newzealand flipped their lid if you pointed any of this out.

Dave,
@Dave@lemmy.nz avatar

Yeah that’s a good example. I know what they meant so wouldn’t have noticed it, but for important information like that they should have been clear and used the common name.

Xcf456,

This is completely false

Ilovethebomb,

How so?

Xcf456,

Which organisations “assume their clients are fluent in Te Reo”? That is nonsense

Ilovethebomb,

Most of our news organisations for a start, they love dropping in a handful of Te Reo and making no effort to clarify what they meant.

Xcf456,

They do some greetings in Te Reo and some place names when doing the weather. That is not “semi fluent” levels, and the rest is entirely in English.

Ilovethebomb,

They also use Te Reo place names when telling you what part of the country is getting locked down due to Covid.

Rangelus,

I don’t remember any time they used ONLY the original name for lockdowns. Even if they did, every news agency had “Auckland” in big block letters as article titles. Even if they didn’t, I learned where Tāmaki Makaurau was the very first time it was used, by doing the same thing I’d do if they used an unfamiliar English word - looking it up.

You are either lying, didn’t watch or read any other news or are incredibly lazy if you want to complain about this trivial matter.

Ilovethebomb,

I don’t remember

Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen

You are either lying

Well fuck you too then.

Rangelus,

No, it doesn’t. But neither does your claim. Do you have an article that uses only the Te Reo name? I watched every press conference during the lockdowns, and I didn’t hear them only using the Te Reo name. Can you give a source for when this happened?

Rangelus,

What an incredibly dumb take.

Ilovethebomb,

Do you really think the token amount of Te Reo used by government departments does anything useful? If I wanted to learn the language, I would.

Rangelus,

Yes, I absolutely do. You clearly don’t understand what it is like to have a language suppressed.

Using it in official settings, even if a “token amount” normalizes it and integrates the use of Te Reo into everyday society, something which should have already happened. Remember, we all only speak English because of oppression and suppression of Maori culture and language historically. The fact that we are starting to treat it equally to English is a good thing, shows respect and understanding and an attempt to course correct the historical trend, and bring the language back to where it should be.

You do understand that New Zealand is considered one of the best for integrating indigenous culture into mainstream society around the world, right? This is a good thing.

absGeekNZ,
@absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz avatar

This is just a waste of time. English isn’t going anywhere.

luthis,

And money. Don’t forget the wasted money.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • politics@lemmy.nz
  • DreamBathrooms
  • mdbf
  • ethstaker
  • magazineikmin
  • GTA5RPClips
  • rosin
  • thenastyranch
  • Youngstown
  • InstantRegret
  • slotface
  • osvaldo12
  • kavyap
  • khanakhh
  • Durango
  • megavids
  • everett
  • cisconetworking
  • normalnudes
  • tester
  • ngwrru68w68
  • cubers
  • modclub
  • tacticalgear
  • provamag3
  • Leos
  • anitta
  • JUstTest
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •