BlueShift: NZ tends to be a very monocultural society. Even though we have 3 official languages... (edit)...
Having lived in other (foreign language) cultures I'm convinced one of the good things we should do in the education system is introduce Maori language learning in schools because it will ultimately help us on the international stage.
Having learn't French & Japanese for 4 school years I simply lost any skill I had because neither of these were available to me on a daily basis once I joined the work force. It's widely acknowledged that if you're bi-lingual you'll better pick up other languages, so why don't we learn Te-Reo.... as it's one language we can all hear and access on a daily basis. It'll keep our minds sharper and we'd pick up other languages easier when we travel (which Kiwis do rather a lot).
If you go and sit in a Mall, or shopping centre, in most any part of the country you'll hear a number of non english languages. We're accepting of it, it's part of who we think we are... when was the last time you heard Te-Reo Maori in a public place?????
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