31: Pop culture in Cook Islands Māori - Interview with Ake Nicholas (Patreon)

When a language is shifting from being spoken by a whole community to  being spoken only by older people, it’s crucial to get the kids engaged  with the language again. But kids don’t always appreciate the interests  of their elders, especially when global popular culture seems more  immediately exciting. One idea? Make stories from pop culture, featuring  characters like Dumbledore and Batman, but in the local language.  

In  this episode, your host Gretchen McCulloch interviews Dr Ake Nicholas, a  linguist and native speaker of Cook Islands Māori, the lesser known  relative of New Zealand Māori. Ake combines her her work as a Lecturer  at Massey University, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, University of New  Zealand, with having her students create resources for young Cook  Islands Maori learners, especially video stories from pop culture. We  also talk about Kōhanga Reo, or language nests, a method for language  revitalization that was first developed for New Zealand Māori and has  spread around the world, and the social situations around Cook Islands  Māori and New Zealand Māori. 

For links to things mentioned in this episode, check out the shownotes page.