New Zealand

 Video of New Zealand 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8nrhEPuXtc

 

Geographical Situation 

New Zealand is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses – that of the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu – and numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres  east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres  south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.

 

 

How did English become an official language ?

               Between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that were to become New Zealand, and developed a distinctive Māori culture. They lived in tribal groups, gardening, catching birds and fish, and making tools, weapons and ornaments.

               The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to discover New Zealand, in 1642. The English navigator James Cook mapped the country in 1769–70. After this, sealers, whalers and traders arrived. Beginning in 1814, missionaries tried to convert Māori to Christianity, and taught them farming skills, reading and writing. They made a British colony. 

               As more settlers arrived, the British government decided to take control of New Zealand. Māori were pressured to sell their land for settlements. In the 1860s, war broke out, and land was confiscated or bought. New Zealand made money selling its wool and gold overseas. In the 1870s, the government helped thousands of British people start a new life in New Zealand.

                New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language.

Shield of New Zealand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La1fvmS1PNs

Cultural approach

English is the predominant language in New Zealand, spoken by 98 percent of the population. New Zealand English is similar to Australian English and many speakers from the Northern Hemisphere are unable to tell the accents apart. The most prominent differences between the New Zealand English dialect and other English dialects are the shifts in the short front vowels: the short-"i" sound (as in "kit") has centralised towards the schwa sound (the "a" in "comma" and "about"); the short-"e" sound (as in "dress") has moved towards the short-"i" sound; and the short-"a" sound (as in "trap") has moved to the short-"e" sound.Hence, the New Zealand pronunciation of words such as "bad", "dead", "fish" and "chips" sound like "bed", "did", "fush" and "chups" to non-New Zealanders.

Typical words :

Barbie-> Barbecue

Cheers ->Thank you

Cheerio-> Goodbye

Banger-> Sausage

Good on ya, mate ! -> Congratulations !

Kiwi-> Person from New Zealand

Up the duff-> Pregnant

Sunnies-> Glasses

Tea-> Dinner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns-ZmTqCb3c

While English is the predominant language spoken in New Zealand, there are two actual official languages in New Zealand. Maori became an official language in 1987 while in April 2006, New Zealand became the first country to declare sign language as an official language, alongside Maori.

The Maori language has a logical structure, with very consistent rules of pronunciation. It consists of five vowel sounds: a e i o u. There are eight consonants in Maori similar to those in English - 'h', 'k', 'm', 'n', 'p', 'r', 't', and 'w'. There are also two different consonants - 'wh' and 'ng'. Many Maori pronounce the 'wh' sound similar to our 'f'. The 'ng' is similar to our own 'ng' sound in a word like 'sing', except that in Maori, words can start with 'ng'.

There are others  languages : Samoano (85.428 speakers) French (53.757 speakers) Hindi (44.589 speakers) canton (44.154 speakers).