![]() ![]() Second, a large number of non-Maori individuals in New Zealand have begun learning the language-New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has even stated that her daughter will be raised as a bilingual speaker of English and Maori. First, the increased attention to the Maori language brought from this novel concept has attracted Google to launch a Maori version of its website and Disney to begin translating its films into the language. The success of Te Kohanga Reo has deeply impacted New Zealand and other communities working on endangered language revitalization efforts. ![]() Overall, the program has increased the number of Maori speakers to a critical point considered to be successful in terms of language revitalization. This initiative allowed for Maori children to enter a total immersion Maori language program from early childhood that would allow the next Maori generation to gain fluency. In the mid-twentieth century, Maori communities concerned about the rapid decline of their language developed a new initiative known as Te Kohanga Reo. Both formal pressure in schools and informal pressure from a rapidly modernizing country led to Maori quickly fading into an endangered language with less than 100,000 fluent speakers. The Maori language, once the lingua franca of New Zealand even for decades after European settlers arrived, began to decline once European settlers formed the majority of the country’s population. Both revitalization efforts have made major strides overall, however they have encountered various hurdles of note including a lack of available resources to support language learning. In addition, I will introduce recommendations for how policy makers can replicate their success while avoiding potential pitfalls that may appear. The second is the development of online courses for various endangered languages on the popular language-learning app, Duolingo. The first is the development of early childhood immersion programs known as “language nests” for the Maori language in New Zealand, whose success has spurred the development of similar programs. This article discusses two successful bottom-up, grassroots revitalization efforts that have demonstrated success in increasing the number of speakers of their respective languages. So what can policy makers in international affairs do to revitalize these endangered languages? Nearly all of the work on endangered language revitalization currently occurs at the grassroots level however, it can greatly benefit from assistance by policy makers such as government officials. Despite these consequences, policy makers in international affairs pay little attention to the topic of endangered languages. These consequences can massively impact international politics, economics, and law at an unprecedented rate. The international affairs community should be concerned about this issue because this loss uproots cultures and communities while further marginalizing minority populations. A recent global history consisting of colonialism, nationalism, and genocide has effectively wiped a great number of languages off the face of the Earth, while leaving thousands endangered and rapidly dying. However, even more languages are becoming endangered involuntarily. ![]() Additionally, in countries with linguistic diversity such as Indonesia that have made efforts to unify the country around a sole lingua franca, many individuals choose to adopt this lingua franca while forgoing their native language. In countries with regular immigration like the United States, many first-wave immigrants forgo passing on their native language to their children to more easily assimilate into the new culture. There are many cases where individuals make this choice voluntarily, albeit with forceful societal influence. The modern era of globalization has threatened the existence of thousands of languages, largely due to pressure to speak the language of more powerful groups. ![]()
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