Te Reo Goes Google

Google Aotearoa has been launched to coincide with July’s Maori Language Week (Te Wiki O Te Reo Maori 2008), with more than 8750 words translated. Potaua Biasiny-Tule, 32, and his Puerto Rican wife Nikolasa, 35, of Rotorua have been directing volunteers from throughout New Zealand translating search pages. A spokeswoman from the Maori Language Commission said 29 people had been part of the team working on the project during the last year, including three key translators. “It is a huge resource for Maori living overseas who are raising bi-lingual children or who are developing their own proficiency,” she said. The next step would be to allow search results to be translated directly in Maori, although this was not expected to occur for some time. To use the new interface, visit google.co.nz and click on the link to search in Maori.