Kia ora SpongeBob
Posted 27 July 2009 // Basil Keane
SpongeBob Tarau Porowhā – SpongeBob Square Pants
What do SpongeBob Square Pants, Trade Me and Tamati Coffey, winner of ‘Dancing with the stars’, all have in common? They’re all supporting Māori language week. SpongeBob cartoons in Māori will be showing on Nickelodeon all week. Trade Me has changed ‘Where Kiwis Buy and Sell’ under Kevin the Kiwi into the Māori phrase ‘Te Papa Hokohoko ā ngā Kiwi’. And on Breakfast this morning, I noticed that Tamati Coffey, winner of ‘Dancing with the stars’, had the days of the week and place names of New Zealand translated into Māori for the weather.
Tamati Coffey (photo courtesy of the Māori Language Commission)
These are all signs that Māori language week has entered into aspects of our popular culture. This is timely as the theme of Māori language week this year is Te reo i te hapori, Māori language in the community.
At the Ministry for Culture and Heritage we’ve been doing our bit for Māori language. Te Ara has translated Māori focused content into te reo. On NZHistory.net you can see features on Māori language week, 100 Maori words every New Zealander should know and history of the Māori language. The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography has translated into Māori all biographies of Māori personalities. For what to do during Māori language week check out NZLive.com.
This blog post is also available in Māori (Kei roto hoki i te reo Māori te Rātaki nei)
I noticed this morning that Air NZ’s grab a seat website has the travel destinations in Maori. I bet this will slow down the rate at which these tickets are snapped up as people try and work out where they are!
Yeah I think it kicks off in Māori and then changes back to usual after a while.