Grab One te reo Māori offer 'shoddy and insulting'

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

Here are some useful te reo Māori words to use during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A discount deal offering online te reo Māori lessons from an English company is 'insulting and shoddy,' a leading language advocate says.

Grab One is selling $30 lessons from London-based E-Careers. More than 300 people have already signed up to the deal.

But a link to further details on the course is littered with errors. It does not include macrons, and claims '900,000 people worldwide' speak the language.

The company's website also says: 'Since the Maori-language renaissance in the 1980s, Maori has seen its popularity rise, especially in popular culture which has recently seen the 2016 release of the hit Disney movie Moana.'

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The 2016 blockbuster, starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, is set on the fictional Polynesian island of Motunui, widely understood to be inspired by Samoa.

Paraone Gloyne, from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, said the offer was 'insulting to me as a Māori and to our culture.'

'It looks shoddy to me. It is offensive. Especially if you click on and see the advertising.'

A cartoon heading the webpage shows three bare-chested warriors. 'That picture is atrocious, disgusting. They should pull it.'

Paraone Gloyne is a te reo Māori advisor and ambassador at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

There are no references to who teaches the course, or if it is affiliated with any iwi, te kura Māori or wānanga. Gloyne said there was no 'quality assurance.'

'It bothers me is that they are not actually in Aotearoa. I haven't got anything against people teaching te reo because in order for it to survive and be alive, the more people speak and share it, the better.

'But when it is coming from a source that is not even in Aotearoa, there is no way to moderate or monitor what they are doing. And that upsets me.'

Gloyne pioneered the Mahuru Māori movement in 2014 to promote the speaking of te reo Māori in daily life.

He said it 'would be great' if the company's claims about the number of speakers was correct.

'There have been a lot of positive things happening with the rāhui and isolation, lots of initiatives for people to learn at home. So to see something like this, it's really disheartening for me.'

Gloyne said people don't need to pay for digital learning. But they should check it is from a reputable te kura Māori or one of the three wānanga tertiary institutions: Wānanga o Aotearoa, Te Wānanga o Raukawa and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

'They've made a quick buck on this, but I wouldn't pay for it,' Gloyne said. 'It's overpriced and there is no expert attached to it.'

Screen shot from Grabone website advertising te reo lessons from an overseas company.

Stuff has approached E-Careers for comment.

On Wednesday afternoon, NZME-owned Grab One responded to questions by saying it had pulled the offer.

'We are working with the supplier to ensure the service offered is provided by an appropriately accredited te reo speaker (or speakers) and that the material supplied to support the offer is accurate,' a spokesman said.

According to the E-Careers website, the full course normally costs $279.