If someone thinks Rotorua will become a bilingual city by simply making the street signs bilingual, they are dreaming.
When I go into town, I only hear English and a few foreign languages, but seldom te reo Maori.
Because I wanted to know the meaning of many Maori names, I
went to Maori classes for a year. If Maori want to preserve their language, and why not, they should put the time in
and learn to speak it.
By making the street signs bilingual and spending a million dollars on the job, they are fooling themselves and everybody else by claiming Rotorua is bilingual. It is not that simple!
DOUWE VISSER
Rotorua
