Sharon Harvey on TVNZ's Breakfast show
Associate Professor Sharon Harvey, head of the School of Language and Culture, appeared on TVNZ’s Breakfast show recently to talk about the importance of learning languages.
Asst Prof Harvey told interviewer Jack Tame that while New Zealand is around 80 per cent monolingual, the 2013 Census showed there were over 160 languages spoken here. She said that if New Zealand is serious about language learning more needs to be done and she would like to see a move towards three languages being compulsory in schools, two being English and Maori. The third language, she suggested, could be determined once schools had conversations about their communities.
Asst Prof Harvey also expanded on this theme when interviewed by Radio Live’s Wendyl Nissen on The Long Lunch.