At TimeZoneOne, we love ‘entercation’. A slick combination of entertainment and education (see also Edutainment). So here’s a little New Zealand related entercation…

This week is New Zealand Sign Language Week. It’s a celebration of our 3rd official language… New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL. NZSL is the natural language of the Deaf community in New Zealand. It was developed right here in New Zealand. As a result it contains ideas, sayings, words that are not found In other sign languages. In particular it has signs for Māori words and ideas which can not be found anywhere else. There are also regional variations, just as there are with the spoken NZ dialect. People in Christchurch, for instance, may sign something slightly differently to those in Wellington.

NZSL became the third official language of New Zealand when it was passed into law on 6 April 2006.

It is the 13th most frequently used language out of 190 languages spoken in this country. So why aren’t other languages “recognised” in the same way. Other languages - Samoan, Tongan, Mandarin, Cantonese etc - have recognition in their country of origin. Like Māori, NZSL is strictly home-grown.

Here are some choice phrases.

Davo substituting for Blogonista - Liz

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