Kohanga reo

In New Zealand, the Language Nests (kohanga reo in Maori) provide a Maori-speaking environment for children (aged zero to four), according to the belief that children will acquire - and thus preserve - the Maori language if surrounded with an environment where the language flows naturally in the context of familiar and nurturing relationships. The Language Nests have proved to be a powerful instrument for language revitalization, and are now common all over the country, and also spreading in other parts of the world. The key to the success of the movement has been the involvement of the families. In the Language Nests, the role of grandparents as teachers is essential. The Language Nest is nothing like a kindergarten: it resembles the ancient Maori structure of a marae, a gathering place where children are raised and taken care for by the elders. Many parents have lost the Maori language and culture, while the elders represent a source of language and cultural knowledge. The marae provides the original house of learning of the Maori people, and here is where the language is transmitted together with the culture. It is not separated by the culture. It is not like teaching the language as a second language learning fashion, not is it like teaching foreign subjects using the Maori language. It embodies a deep interrelationship of culture and language. The Language Nests practice has helped to build a strong and self-confident population of Maori speakers.

At school level, parents can choose to send their children either to an English-medium school or to a Maori bilingual/immersion program. Such programmes may exist as a separate stream in a school, or in separate schools which teach mainly through the medium of Maori and adhere to Maori values and protocols (these schools are term kura kaupapa Maori). This Al Jazeera show illustrates this particular model of language revitalization. For more information about the Maori language and educational programmes, go here.