Māori Language Week 2008 makes a mark

29 July 2008

Media Release

Māori Language Week 2008 makes a mark

It was hard to miss that last week was Māori Language Week. Māori Language Week was celebrated at an unprecedented level this year. “Māori Language Week was on all television channels, radio stations and print media throughout the country. More than 430 hits have been recorded on Māori language media coverage this month”, says Huhana Rokx, Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission).

“Our office has been overwhelmed with positive and encouraging feedback about the coverage of Māori Language Week this year, with many saying it would be great to have this every week of the year. That is our next challenge to have this level of Māori language broadcasting as the norm for Aotearoa,” says Huhana. Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori are offering a prize for completing the Māori Language Week 2008 survey online at www.koreromaori.co.nz.

Māori Language Week 2008 heralded the launch of two digital resources for te reo Māori speakers – the Ī-papakupu and Google Māori. The Ī-papakupu, the largest online monolingual dictionary launched by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori has exceeded expectations with the number of searches in the first 24 hours of launching.

Google Māori, the Māori interface of Google was released by Potaua and Nikolasa Biasiny-Tule of TangataWhenua.com and the many translators who worked on the project over the years. “I acknowledge all whānau, communities and organisations that joined in this year to honour and celebrate our indigenous language. It is through our collective efforts that the presence and status of te reo Māori reached new heights this year,” says Huhana.

ENDS

www.koreromaori.co.nz

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