Facebook in te reo Maori

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It is with great pleasure that we announce an exciting new addition to the online world: Facebook can now be viewed and translated into te reo Maori.

This from the website:

Translate Facebook into Maori

This is a Greasemonkey script that translates the Facebook interface into Maori.

It’s not a full translation of the site, but aims to deal with the most common things you see on screen when using Facebook.  You must have your Facebook language set to “English (US)” under Account Settings for the script to work properly.

Please note that some games may require you to turn this script off.

• https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cgopigcnpdephndgbdkbiapnepgdbjfd

You can also read about Facebook in Maori here and download the kupu please visit

• http://www.taiuru.maori.nz/facebook-in-the-maori-language/

We would like to send our own special thanks to Maori IT leaders Teanau Tuiono and Karaitiana Taiuru, and also to te reo Maori advocate Ian Cormack.

As Facebook no longer recognises minority languages to localise the official platform, the Maori Facebook translation of FaceBook is available to install via a script which will work for users of Google Chrome. The script is simply installed via the Google Chrome Store athttps://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cgopigcnpdephndgbdkbiapnepgdbjfd

Facebook closed down localisation support for minority languages, despite the fact that almost 40 minority languages including Maori have opted for the un-official translation system created by Neskie Manuel of Secwepemc First Nation in British Columbia and maintained and promoted by Professor Kevin Scannell of St. Louis University in the USA.

As Maori is a prominent enough language, it is believed that Facebook may eventually be willing to offer an “official” localisation said Professor Scannell.

The translation team comprised of Ian Cormack a recognised Maori Language expert who completed the translation and editing work that was begun by Teanau Tuiono and was coordinated by Karaitiana Taiuru. As with any new technology terms, Maori terminology was created to accurately reflect the true meaning of the English word.

• The full list of words used are available from http://www.taiuru.maori.nz/publicationslib/facebook-maori-language-terms.pdf

The ability to switch between English and Maori involves a few mouse clicks and does not require any specialist knowledge to install.

About Professor Kevin Scannell

A professor of Computer Science at St. Louis University in the USA. His work is primarily on technology for the Irish language, but he also helps many other language groups develop basic resources like spell checkers (including Maori) and software translations. He founded the Indigenous Tweets project in March 2011 to promote the use of indigenous languages in social media, especially on Twitter.

About Ian Cormack

A second-language learner of Maori who learnt to speak Maori while teaching in the Bay of Islands in the 1970s. Since then he has been involved in the promotion of the Maori language as a teacher, adviser, lecturer, inspector and education review officer. He has had 15 Maori language textbooks and resources published, which are used in schools and by adults learning the language. In the last ten years he has turned his hand to Maori language translation, and he and his wife are joint directors of Taumatua Maori Language Services Limited. Currently much of his work is related to Maori language software localization.

3 Comments

1. 

   Aroha Welsh

   September 15, 2012 at 1:12 pm

   Im interested in this application or having fb in te reo Maori, macronised kupu Maori too. Please advise how we can activate this.

   Reply
   • 

     Pikia

     September 15, 2012 at 5:10 pm

     for word, and for your computer, create keyboard shortcuts…

     INsert, symbol, choose latin from menu, find the a with the macron, select, create shortcut, an easy one is alt+a

     Reply
2. 

   Joanne Treacher

   September 15, 2012 at 7:03 am

   Tino pai rawa. Kai kaha tonu i to koutou mahi.

   Reply