New Zealand Listener

Welcome to Aotearoa New Zealand’s Worst Place Names Awards. The envelope, please. In fifth place: Cape Maria van Diemen. C’mon. It’s one thing to name a New Zealand city after a middling English politician, but naming the westernmost point of the North Island after the wife of the Dutch guy who financed your trip, that’s low. Cape Maria van Diemen: a place fair begging for a new and better name. Fourth place: Ninety Mile Beach. Yes, it’s a beautiful strand of sand stretching from Ahipara to Scott Point. Yes, it’s an abundant source of pipi and other delicious kai moana. But it ain’t 90 miles long. It’s only 55 (88km). Its original name was Te-Oneroa-a-Tōhē, which means “the long beach of Tōhē”. Third place: Lower Hutt. Who was Lower Hutt…

Welcome to Aotearoa New Zealand’s Worst Place Names Awards. The envelope, please. In fifth place: Cape Maria van Diemen. C’mon. It’s one thing to name a New Zealand city after a middling English politician, but naming the westernmost point of the North Island after the wife of the Dutch guy who financed your trip, that’s low. Cape Maria van Diemen: a place fair begging for a new and better name. Fourth place: Ninety Mile Beach. Yes, it’s a beautiful strand of sand stretching from Ahipara to Scott Point. Yes, it’s an abundant source of pipi and other delicious kai moana. But it ain’t 90 miles long. It’s only 55 (88km). Its original name was Te-Oneroa-a-Tōhē, which means “the long beach of Tōhē”. Third place: Lower Hutt. Who was Lower Hutt named after? No…

A study of secondary English teachers I undertook in 1999 found the number of new teachers with an MA following the introduction of student fees was half the pre-fee number. In simple terms, the body of critical, disciplinary knowledge developed via a master’s degree became 50% scarcer in our schools. While agreeing with most of the hand-wringing in “Arts & minds” (June 3), I would add a few points in support of a general view that our university system has been a shambles for some time. The funding formula based on EFTs (equivalent full-time students) has had a devastating effect on universities’ ability to engage in forward-looking programme planning. They have become marketised; that is, their futures depend on their ability to market courses to students. Important courses that may…

A study of secondary English teachers I undertook in 1999 found the number of new teachers with an MA following the introduction of student fees was half the pre-fee number. In simple terms, the body of critical, disciplinary knowledge developed via a master’s degree became 50% scarcer in our schools. While agreeing with most of the hand-wringing in “Arts & minds” (June 3), I would add a few points in support of a general view that our university system has been a shambles for some time. The funding formula based on EFTs (equivalent full-time students) has had a devastating effect on universities’ ability to engage in forward-looking programme planning. They have become marketised; that is, their futures depend on their ability to market courses to students. Important courses that may be slow…

“Even Christopher Luxon, when he was the CEO of Air New Zealand, liked te reo. He liked it so much he tried to blimmin’ trademark the phrase, ‘kia ora’.”–Labour minister Kiri Allan on National’s stance on bilingual road signs “This is what I want in heaven … words to become notes and conversations to be symphonies.”– Tina Turner “If the language is lost, in a very short time the culture will also be lost and then there will be no more understanding.”– Tonga’s Princess Mele Siu‘ilikutapu who died on May 28 “It’s easier to put on slippers than to carpet the whole world.”– Al Franken “I tend to get bored quickly, which means I must be boring.”– Anthony Hopkins “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you…

“Even Christopher Luxon, when he was the CEO of Air New Zealand, liked te reo. He liked it so much he tried to blimmin’ trademark the phrase, ‘kia ora’.”–Labour minister Kiri Allan on National’s stance on bilingual road signs“This is what I want in heaven … words to become notes and conversations to be symphonies.”– Tina Turner“If the language is lost, in a very short time the culture will also be lost and then there will be no more understanding.”– Tonga’s Princess Mele Siu‘ilikutapu who died on May 28“It’s easier to put on slippers than to carpet the whole world.”– Al Franken“I tend to get bored quickly, which means I must be boring.”– Anthony Hopkins“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”–…