May 30, 2016
Planning puts whanau on reo path
One of the people behind a new approach to language planning says it will allow whanau and communities to set goals and access resources to learn te reo Maori.
Last week's Budget included an allocation of $12 million over four years for Maori language whanau and community planning.
Scotty Morrison, who has run some of the two-day Kura Whakarauora workshops along with other language experts like Ruakere Hond and Charisma Rangipunga, says people need a map before they start their te reo Maori journey but it needs to be flexible enough to cope with any changes in their whanau circumstances.
He says the key to increasing the number of Maori language speakers is inter-generational transmission.
"That's where language revitalisation occurs and we need to focus on growing our families so they are using inter-generational language transmission, speaking Maori between the elders in the family and the young people, and hopefully that will create a critical mass," Dr Morrison says.
Only 2 percent of Maori families now speak te reo Maori to their children and other whanau need to be shown how they can start doing it.
FULL INTERVIEW: SCOTTY MORRISON
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