User:Neil Copeland

Tēnā koutou katoa.

I grew up in Waitara, Taranaki, in the North Island, New Zealand, but I have lived most of my adult life in Dunedin, in the South Island (Te Wai Pounamu).

My university qualifications are all from the University of Otago. These are:

• Bachelor of Arts (BA), majoring in Greek.
• Bachelor of Divinity (BD), majoring in New Testament.
• Two Postgraduate Diplomas (PGDipArts), in Greek and Hebrew.

This is a 4th-year qualification, between a Bachelor's and a Master's degree.

• Two Diplomas for Graduates (DipGrad), with papers in Russian, Latin, Old English and Icelandic.

This is a qualification for graduates that covers papers at undergraduate and (optionally) postgraduate level. At least three of the six or more papers required for the diploma must be at 3rd- or 4th-year level. I have done Russian and Latin to 3rd-year university level, two papers in Old English at 3rd- and 4th-year level (the course begins as a 2nd-year paper), and a paper in Icelandic, which is offered at 4th year only. I have another 4th-year paper in Old Church Slavonic incorporated into my BD.

• Certificates of Proficiency (COP) in Māori language and Culture

A COP is awarded for a single paper which is not incorporated into a degree or diploma. I have done 4 years in Māori language (8 papers) and a number of papers on Māori culture at 1st and 2nd year level.

Māori language

An Eastern Polynesian language of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand (Aotearoa). Its closest relative is Cook Island Māori, which has particular affinities to the New Zealand Māori dialects of Northland and Taranaki, and the k-dialect of much of the South Island. It is part of the Tahitic subgroup of Eastern Polynesian. The Moriori language of the Chatham Islands, east of mainland New Zealand, is a widely divergent dialect of Māori.