Te Papa logo

Museum of New Zealand

Te Papa Tongarewa

Watch: Hakka, with interpreter Henry Liu

Henry Liu is an interpreter and the first and only New Zealander to have held office as President of the FIT (International Federation of Translators). Here, he speaks about language interpretation, the struggles of minority languages, and the difficulties of not being about to communicate.

Subtitles in English, Hakka, and Traditional and Simplified Chinese (Mandarin) are available for this video. Turn them on in the settings area (the cog icon) after pressing play.

You might also like

Watch: Cantonese, with publisher and typeface designer Jack Yan

Jack Yan was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Wellington. Here he discusses how he has remained connected to his mother tongue, Cantonese.

Watch: Penang Hokkien, with restaurateur Tee Phee

Tee Phee, owner of Wellington’s Little Penang restaurants, is a fluent speaker of Penang Hokkien and was always determined to ensure that her local-born children grew up speaking the language. Here she discusses her relationship with the language.

Watch: Mandarin, with poet Ya-Wen Ho

Ya-Wen Ho is a 1.5 generation Taiwanese Hakka New Zealander, a poet, and type researcher at Wai-te-ata Press in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Here she discusses her complicated relationship with Mandarin and how it became her ‘mother tongue’.