during their play. As a result of such efforts it was possible to introduce Romantsch in some primary schools in districts where Romantsch was disappearing among the younger generation.

Two Cultures or None? To the Maori reader, one main question must however present itself. How do the Romantsch children get on when they leave their secluded valleys, as many have to do, and go to the towns to earn their living? The town language is German, Romantsch is not known there. How does the education system prepare children for such an eventuality? On this subject, the Education Department is not so very enthusiastic. It is worth while to quote exactly what they think about the Romantsch people's ability to help themselves in German: “The Romantsch people are generally bilingual. They speak both German and Romantsch. It is often difficult to say which language is better mastered. As the Romantsch population becomes more scattered, the feeling of identity with Romantsch decreases. Bilingualism has advantages and disadvantages. In its favour are, in childhood, the rapid mastery of language, and in old age, access to the cultural life of two peoples. As against this there are, in every age, drawbacks, such as lack of confidence and ability in self-expression, and the use of mixed idioms. Bilingualism, with its advantages and drawbacks, s a fact that must be accepted, and is politically recognised. (Since 1938, Romantsch is an official language.) The schools must take account of this situation, reflect things as they are, and seek ways of accomplishing its mandate on the foundation of bilingualism. The problems of method of teaching two languages in the schools are as yet unsolved.” This is a very helpful quotation. First, we see that the Swiss are not claiming that the products of these Romantsch schools are absolutely flawless in their German. It is freely admitted they are not. Because the point seemed particularly important, Te Ao Hou wrote a letter to the Grisons education authorities to have this clarified and their answer was: ‘Our pupils have to learn German as a foreign language and the standard corresponds to this fact.’ We must therefore recognise that in the Grisons example the encouragement of Romantsch did not make people speak better German or Italian Its educational value lay in a different direction altogether. It lay in the conviction that everyone should feel he belongs to some definite culture If Romantsch was repressed for the sake of improving people's ability in German, the result would be, as the Grisons authorities describe it. ‘that the people will for several generations belong neither to the one culture nor the other. This will lead to a flattening out and impoverishment of the country.’ As the most fundamental purpose Map of the Grisons canton of Switzerland, showing the languages spoken. White areas: Romantsch. Lined areas: Italian. Dotted areas: German. Naturally, this gives only a rough picture of the situation as there are many areas where more than one language is spoken and the map only indicates which language predominates. (K. J. Hesz del) of education lies in the development of people so that they can lead fruitful and satisfying lives, it was preferred to maintain Romantsch. One problem of Romantsch which will be familiar to Maori readers is that of dialect. There are five Romantsch dialects, all rather different from one another. Unlike in Maori, people speaking one dialect find it difficult to understand the others. Attempts in the nineteenth century to create an artificial standard Romantsch failed and even the fusing of two closely related dialects was not successful. The people all held to their own traditional speech for, as our authorities point out: if people must be asked to learn an artificial standard Romantsch, they may as well learn a major language like Italian or German which is of far greater practical value. How can we apply the Swiss experience to New Zealand? This depends entirely on the feeling in the Maori world itself. The survival of Romantsch was brought about through a large-scale popular movement and the schools never did more than support this movement. The next ten years will be crucial for the future of Maori. New Zealand schools are now willing to help the language to survive. But the real decision about the future of the language lies with the Maori people.