854

 I managed to survive my second 31st of the month (when no Gold-listing is scheduled). What I did to keep busy was to sentence-mine from the first Harry Potter book translated into the Māori language.

853 Te Māori hou

 The word 'māori' crops up regularly in Hare Pota me te Whatu Manapou (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone). From the first sentence, in fact:

. . . ki te kī he tino māori noa iho nei rāua . . .

and then:

Heoi anō, e māori noa iho ana te ata-ruru-kore ki a Mita tūhiri.

He whanonga māori rānei tēnei nō te ngeru, te taute a Mita Tūhiri. 

Pai ana, māori ana te rā ki a Miha Tūhiri. 

The word 'māori' means normal. Originally, there was no need for Māori to describe themselves as such until the visibly 'abnormal' Europeans arrived in New Zealand.

Maybe the definition of the term 'māori' needs to be expanded to become more inclusive?

852

I found an interesting email in my inbox. It contained a message from Stephen Town, the Chief Executive. What was interesting about it for me was that it consisted of a parallel text: in English and Māori. That's exactly the type of resource that I find useful for my te reo work.

Kia ora koutou Last week marked the start of our engagement with you, with learners and employers, and with iwi, hapū and Māori, on our proposed Operating Model. This engagement has been a long time in the making, and it will be a key part of informing the services and functions we need, how we connect and work together, mahi tahi, for our learners and employers. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to start with this video, which gives you an overview of what we are doing and why we need your input. I see quite a few of you have already had a look – it’s great to see so many of you engaging with what’s been developed. I’ve been keeping in touch with your Chief Executives and leadership teams about the initial reactions to this mahi and welcome you all to share your thoughts with us too. It sounds like there’s lots of kōrero happening and I encourage you to capture that and share it with us. You can do that at yourvoice.tepukenga.ac.nz. Some of our Te Pūkenga leadership team are presenting to network staff as well, so please feel free to join in their sessions. There is more information on how you can register below. Sometimes it’s useful to kōrero as a team, and then capture what was said and share it. It can help to bounce ideas around, break things down or play out ‘what would happen if’ with colleagues. We’ve created some questions that could get these conversations started, but you’re welcome to share other thoughts with us too. We want to hear it all, from all of you. Ngā mihi Stephen Town Chief Executive Kia ora koutou Nō tērā wiki i tīmata ai te whakaanga ki tō mātou Tauira Whakahaere me koutou, ngā ākonga, ngā kaitukumahi, me ngā iwi, ngā hapū me ngāi Māori whānui. He roa te wā e whanake ana tēnei kaupapa i a mātou, ā, he wāhi nui tōna kia whaiwhakaaro ai tātaou ki ngā ratonga me ngā mahi e hiahiatia ana, e pēhea tātou e tūhonohono ai, mahitahi ai hoki mō ā tātou ākonga, kaitukumahi hoki. Ina kāore anō koe kia mātaki i tēnei ataata, kia kaha, me whai wā māu ki te mātakitaki, arā, kia kite i te tirohanga whānui ki tā mātou mahi, ki te take e tuku mai ō koutou whakaaro. Kua kite au he maha tonu ngā tāngata kua mātaki atu – he rawe te kite te tokomaha o koutou e aro mai ana. Rite tonu taku kōrero me ō koutou Kaiwhakahaere Matua me ngā tīma kaiārahi mō ngā whakaaro tuatahi kua puta mai mō tēnei mahi, ā, me taku kī ake, nau mai hoki ōu whakaaro. Te āhua nei he nui ngā kōrero e puta ake ana, ā, kia kaha koutou te hopu me te tuari mai ki a mātou. Ka taea ō whakaaro te tuku ki yourvoice.tepukenga.ac.nz. Tērā hoki ētahi o te tīma kaiārahi o Te Pūkenga e kōrero ana ki ngā kaimahi kōtuinga, ā, kei te wātea ēnei kōrero ki a koutou. Kei raro nei ngā kōrero mō tukanga rēhita mō aua whakaaturanga. I ētahi wā, he mea whaihua te kōrero tahi hei tīma, ā, ka hopukina ngā kōrero, kātahi ka tuari ai. He mea pai hoki te whakawhiti whakaaro me ō hoa, te wetewete i tētahi kaupapa, te whaiwhakaaro hoki ki ngā mea tērā ka puta mai. Kua hanga pātai mātou hei tīmata i ā koutou nā whakawhiti kōrero, heoi, me tuari mai ō whakaaro ki a mātou hoki. Kei te hiahia mātou kia rongo i ngā kōrero katoa, mai i a koutou katoa. Ngā mihi Stephen Town Kaiwhakahaere Mātāmua

851

 A guy whose methodology I admire is Heinrich Schliemann. He lived a hundred and fifty or a couple of hundred years ago. The man learned about 14 languages in his lifetime, using basically one technique.

He'd have two books side by side. It was the same book but in different languages, one of which he knew, and the other which he wanted to learn. He'd go through, word for word, sentence by sentence. By the time he got to the end of the book, he would mostly know the vocabulary and structure of the second language.

I'm doing that with a difference. I don't do every sentence. I just do the sentences that I can manage quickly and skip the rest. I believe that this will give quicker results.

The book that I am using for Māori is Hare Pota me te Whatu Manapou. You can probably guess its title in English. Anyway, it is not an easy book. But I am ready to tackle it a la Schliemann!

850: In defense of phrasebooks!

 Given that I use a variety of sources to mine for sentences and phrases, and that I am continually randomizing their order and substituting new ones for old, the mixture of text snippets that I swim in resembles nothing so much as an old-fashioned phrasebook.

And what's wrong with that?

Actually, it adds to the interest.

The vocabulary and the grammar remain the same. The same stuff is covered. And it keeps me alert and awake!

849

The tendency, when you come across a phrase or sentence that you recognize well, is to try and force it into your active vocabulary. However, my method relies on dropping such texts; they are already in your long-term memory. You need to make space for new expressions, not fixate on being able to recall phrases in order to speak them forth and impress.

848

Last night, I copied down all 40 sentences of the book Tuna Rāoua Ko Hiriwa. For fun, I graded my understanding of each one out of five. No sentences scored 1; I understood at least a little of everyone. Nine sentences scored 2, fifteen scored 3, eleven sentences scored 11, and I understood practically all of the remaining five sentences.

The average score is thus 3.3

Coincidentally, that is almost exactly my score (3.38) of the Te Kete Kupu set. That makes me tend to think that my assessment system is valid.

847

 My wife went to the library and came home with 8 books in Māori for me. The easiest for me, and the one I'll work from first, is Tuna Rāua Ko Hiriwa. I don't have an English version to help me, but I believe that I'll understand half of the meaning at least.

846

 In search of a good narrative, I mean to return to resources I've already looked at since I really only skimmed them.

Sir Apirana Ngata's Maori Grammar & Conversation (with vocabulary) will be the first. Of especial interest are the first three sections of part four: One New Zealand, Changes and Progress in New Zealand, and On the mythology and traditions of the Maori (sic).

845

 I find myself craving Māori narrative. I want to read stories. I'm growing tired of trawling dictionaries for example sentences. I need to get a hold of books pitched at an intermediate level - bilingual so that I can quickly match up the two languages.

I believe that following one's cravings is the right approach with respect to language learning. What you feel like doing, you are more likely to continue doing.

844

 I could perhaps be one day late, but that's because I have my monthly report to post on Tūhono. Four months more-or-less have passed since I embarked on this journey. I find myself wondering about the next level - about how far to take it. But for the next two months, I'll stick to my plan of spending just an hour per day. I'd like to establish a realistic benchmark.

843

 I find that my Māori ability varies from day to day, and I cannot tell why. Perhaps it's my energy level, or how much sleep I've had. But in any case, the type of activity I'm doing does not require any real effort. It is interesting enough (for me) to keep me occupied. I wonder, though, whether it wouls suit other people?

842

 A couple of colleagues have been using Duolingo to learn a language. Both German, as it happens. (Not their nationality, but the target.) It appears to be addictive for them, as both boast of holding a multi-day streak. 

I quite like the concept, and it would be good to design something along those lines for Māori. I would mix it up a little more and not stick to themes. I'd also get the practitioner to move up from single words as soon as possible.

841

 I won't say which observation led to my conclusion, but I realized recently that most people are timid as hell about learning another language. Not only that, but they seem to have no idea how to go about it; they have it ass-backward and imagine that by carefully drilling and enunciating a few phrases of greeting and self-introduction, the full know-how will somehow magically appear. Abso-bloody-lutely amazing!

840

 I sorted out my Kindle yesterday. On it, I have over 150 books stored. Some I deleted, but others will remain on it long-term, the reason being that I am using my Kindle as a language-learning device.

I like to get a book in both English and in a foreign language. Then, I can compare them. I pick up words, phrases, and easy sentences. 

It's best if the format of the book works well on a Kindle. PDF documents don't; they load, but they do not enlarge well.

The two books that I have in Maori: Harry Potter and Diary of a Wimpy Kid are PDF, unfortunately. Many of the other 29 languages I've looked at yield better resources online.

839

 I did the equivalent of getting dressed in the dark this morning. I headed out the door at about 6:30 with my day's sheet . . . that turned out not to be today's sheet (17th September to be updated after one month). But I used the time profitably, nevertheless (which I'll report on tomorrow).

838

 I happened to look at Te Rangatahi (Book 1) today. I was happily surprised to see that I understood everything in the first chapter. I looked at the final few pages too, and ascertained that I knew most of that content too.

So my method works at least as well as a textbook!

But oh, how tedious and boring that first chapter is, jam-packed as it is with pronouns and family relationships! Its guiding principle must be that it is necessary to drill grammar points in force so they stick. That is certainly not necessary.

Still, I'll skim through the book just to see where my gaps are. 

837

 With some regularity now, I find myself constructing sentences in Māori in my sleep. This is an interesting phenomenon, to say the least!

836

 A month ago, I tweaked my Māori practice (and it didn't hurt a bit!). I started to randomize my English and Māori versions of each Gold List sentence so that it wasn't on the same line (on the other side of the sheet).

Today, therefore, I needed to spend some extra time searching for the corresponding lines. With my sheet of 38 lines, that upped the time it took to the full hour. 

I like it. It works well. It's fun to do.

835

 Interesting thought: that Māori is the term we use locally for indigenous-linked human culture. In that sense, there would therefore exist a global form of 'Māori' culture, as there are likely commonalities across all indigenous groups. And, in an even broader context, all humans should be included. Our lifestyle may or may not reflect it, but all of us are indigenous to the planet!

Such a worldview could have very significant implications.

834

 What about output? How will the input I'm doing lead to output? I must confess that I haven't given that question much thought.

I do believe that output lies further on the progression along which I'm progressing. And I also believe that input is the prerequisite of output. Nevertheless, I'm not all that clear in my mind how the former leads to the latter. 

Learn the language first - that makes sense. I need to understand it before being able to use it. I'll be able to read it more and more easily. My reaction time will decrease. 

Then, I'll segue into listening, and again my reaction time will decrease; I'll comprehend connected sentences only after I comprehend stand-alone sentences.

Finally, I'll be able to produce sentences in response as the fraction of my attention I need to devote to understanding decreases, and my familiarity with the common words and structures increases. I won't be obliged to think through my responses. It'll be like handling a motor vehicle without paying attention to individual controls.

833

 Why would I (or any other New Zealander not obviously of non-Māori descent) wish to learn te reo Māori? I think that's an important question.

Ideally, one would want to be internally motivated. The exercise should have inherent importance. It ought to be perceived as worthwhile on its own merits.

For me, learning Māori is important in the following ways:

• As an intellectual exercise as to how best to learn a new language (that could then be applied to any language)
• As a door-opening exercise into Māori culture
• As a communication-increasing exercise
• As a way of promoting those principles that might substitute for or complement the principles upon which mainstream western culture is built

832

 Having reached the end of my main resource, Making Māori Sentences by Lyndsay Head, I think about what it will mean to go through the resources I've already looked at. 

Obviously, it will lead to revision. I will be able to 'mine' sentences that were at too high a level the first time. My familiarity with the grammar and the vocabulary will increase. And if I also blend in some listening (as I planned to do this month) then that should lead to further improvement.

831

I'm trying out Sketch Engine. They offer a 30-day free trial. The service is a concordancer. At least one Māori corpus is included. 

(A previous concordancer that I've looked at.)

830

 One thing I've discovered is that other people aren't as quick on the uptake as me. Therefore, I cannot reasonably expect them to instantly grasp the principles around what I'm doing, not to apply them themselves. Consequently, there needs to be a 'spoonfed' version. I'm going to have to make it easy for other people to try.

I may need to design an app. Put Sketch Engine to work. Maybe contact David. 

829

I wonder about the future of te reo Māori. Reading this article, I get the strong sense that the efforts currently being made are largely misdirected. I feel that they rest on assumptions that aren't necessarily true.  

828

 I feel moderately happy with my presentation yesterday. I may use a PowerPoint next time to help streamline my talk a little better next time. Also, I need to differentiate the two types of sentences I used. There could have been some confusion re the Te Kete Kupu sentences that did not have an English equivalent (that I used to assess how much I have progressed). 

I realized too how much of a leap of faith it requires for people to consider something totally new. I could see some people struggling to do that. For me, it is easy to act on conclusions that I reach as the result of my own research, but that isn't the case for everyone.

827

 Here are the notes to the presentation I plan to give today:

Zero to 100

How much receptive knowledge of Māori can one learn in one hour per day over 6 months?

Intro

Why I started - initially as part of the GDTE (Undertake a work-based project. Advance knowledge, skills, and assessment practice. Investigate and respond to an authentic and complex question. Providing evidence of critical thinking. Identify, plan, act, examine, and share.)

1) Develop a learning activity

2) Assess how well it went

My out-of-the-box didn’t fit into their boxes

They didn’t rate it highly (25%), but I did, so I continued with it.

Why Māori?

Learn from the start (which in ELC we don’t do)

New for me, a challenge to overcome resistance, relevant in NZ, offer sorely-needed assistance

Edu bit limitation gave me the shudders

Numbers of words, greetings, self-introduction, songs, pronunciation

Led nowhere that I could see. Dead end in terms of language learning.

So, maximize my own learning, which might be useful for others

 

The idea:

Develop a methodology or praxis based on my favorite researcher’s 5 to 7 hypotheses!

§  Acquisition hypothesis

§  Input hypothesis

§  Natural order hypothesis

§  Affective filter hypothesis

§  Monitor hypothesis

§  Reading hypothesis

§  Conduit hypothesis

In common, these involve a right-brain-thinking shift (show my list)

We need to use both modes, not predominantly one.

 

What I do:

My modified version of the Gold List method

            A form of SRS (spaced repetition system)

            Utilizes long-term over short-term memory

            Employs pattern recognition

            Increases familiarity with the language by bombarding the brain

How familiar are you, on a scale of 1-5, with haere mai, kia ora, tangata whenua? (Handout)

Cross out those with a 5 or 1 & 2. Ideally, work with phrases/sentences rated 3 & 4 (so we are working at 6/10 level)

                        These are Goldilocks, sticky, juicy, i-plus-1

One sheet of target level phrases in Māori and in English per day (show my sheets)

A month later, I recopy, leaving off that 20% that is in long-term memory/have become familiar - or proved too ambitious - and fill up the gaps with new phrases

List of my resources (dictionary and grammar!)

I see it as my job to put in the time; it’s my brain’s job to absorb the language. Therefore, NO STUDY! Just soothing light exposure.

 

Does it work?

(This would have been the next module of my GDTE – sigh)

Assessment of:

1)Enjoyment/motivation/engagement/addictiveness

2)Increased familiarity

I used the 600-odd Te Kete Kupu sentences (with no English translation)

From a familiarity of 1 (maybe 1.5) to 3.38

Show my Excel

I will repeat that in 3 months without learning toward the test

            (Handout)

 

826

 With the second listening to the first episode of Te Kākano, I definitely picked up a lot more of the dialogue. Not only that, but I could understand all 12 questions quite easily.

I treat the answers as extra information that I use to lever more of the meaning out of the skits, as I don't think it is practical to type in answers. (Language is not Maths, so there are multiple ways of expressing the same information with different words and sentence construction.)

I must say that I agree wholehearted with the advice:

There are benefits to be gained by being exposed to language you do not fully comprehend. Later, when you encounter explanations of vocabulary, grammar and idioms in the textbook, having already met them in context earlier will often help you understand and learn them.

825

 An hour or so's worth of searching for free online Māori listening yielded little. However, Te Whanake TV does include a short drama serial that provides as near-to-natural conversation that I could find. 

As an aside, sooo much listening consists solely of songs. Auē! 

Less and More

 Less left brain; more right brain

1. Less grammar, more pattern recognition

2. Less explanation, more getting used to

3. Less use of dictionaries, more guessing from context

4. Less memorization, more exposure

5. Less study, more ‘surfing’

6. Less homework, more entertainment

7. Less schooling, more real-life application

8. Less effort, more efficiency/effectiveness

9. Less stress, more fun

10. Less of doing exercises, more noodling

11. Less intensity/seriousness, more hobbyist

12. Less drill, more natural repetition 

13. Less pressure to perform, more patience

14. Less testing, more self-assessment

15. Less penalizing, more risk-taking

16. Less self-consciousness, more flow

17. Less translation, more immersion

18. Less artificiality, more authenticity

19. Less grading, more gradual improvement

20. Less analysis, more text-ure

21. Less ideology, more exploration

22. Less correction. more growth/evolution

23. Less output, more input

24. Less focus on form, more focus on meaning

25. Less perfection, more improvement

26. Less administration, more self-direction

27. Less curriculum, more spontaneity

28. Less structure, more variety

29. Less engagement with tasks, more engaging with narratives

30. Less separation, more integration

31. Less certainty, more ambiguity

32. Less teaching, more discovery

33. Less prescription, more freedom

34. Less reduction, more whole language

35. Less direction, more self-reliance

36. Less focus on vocabulary, more focus on meaning

37. Less work, more play

38. Less step-by stepping, more leaps of excitement

39. Less classroom, more universe

824

Should I construct a PowerPoint for my upcoming presentation? Nah, I'll just do a word document with external links.