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A Maori translator says making software available in Te Reo is one way of making the language normal for everyday use.
Ian Cormack has just completed work on a Maori language skin for Facebook.
He says the application used to allow users of the Google Chrome browers to see to popular social media site in Maori was originally developed by Neskie Manuel of Secwepemc First Nation in British Columbia, and it’s been picked up by indigenous language advocates around the world.
“People are converting it and using Facebook in their own language. It’s also good that when the instructions appear on the screen or when you open a menu that those things are there in your own language. It helps to make the language normal in these situations,” he says.
Mr Cormack has also been working on a Maori version of the open source web development tool SilverStripe and on Microsoft Windows 8 and Office.
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