Their Languages

New Zealand’s official languages are English and Maori. Although English and Maori are the well-known languages of New Zealand, Maori did not become an official language of the country until 1987. English is spoken by 98% of the population and Maori by 4.1%. Samoan is the most widely spoken non-official language 2.3%, followed by French, Hindi, Yue and Northern Chinese. New Zealand became the very first country in 2006 of April to pronounce sign language as an official language, together with English and Maori. New Zealand Sign Language is the prime language of the hearing impaired residents in New Zealand. The Maori language falls under to the language family called Austronesian which is the family of languages used in Australia, Formosa, Polynesia, and Malaysia. It is only in New Zealand that the Maori language is used and is found no where else on the globe. In the past, Queen Victoria promised in the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840 that the Maori language would be preserved. It was only recently that the language of the Maori has gain popular support. Today, the Maori language is used in schools and in the media.