If you want to learn te reo or Maori, there are plenty of ways to do it. But did you know you can actually learn a good amount of Maori from the comfort of your own home?
In this article, we're going to look at all the different approaches you can use to start learning Maori at home.
Maori Cultural Immersion
Cultural immersion isn't impossible from your home, but it is a little trickier to get right. Generally, cultural immersion is when you live every aspect of your life in your target language so that you end up learning the language without actually dedicating any time to studying it (though we recommend that you do both).
Try to make it so that everything you do at home is in Maori. If you can, change the languages on your devices to Maori. There are options on some smartphones and computers to put everything in Maori and while this might be quite complicated at first as you get used to it, if you regularly use your devices, you should be able to still use them comfortably even if they're in another language.
To further immerse yourself in Maori, it's worthwhile changing your browsing habits to only use Maori sites, read the news in Maori, watch Maori-language TV and cinema, and read Maori books.
With media, you can always watch Maori shows with subtitles in English, switching to Maori subtitles when you reach a certain level, and finally removing them if you can and want to work on your listening skills.
Maori Language Learning Apps
There are also plenty of language-learning apps out there that you can use to study Maori at home. If you always have your smartphone or tablet on you at all times, spend less time scrolling social media and more time studying Maori.
While we're still all waiting for Maori on Duolingo, other apps like Drops and Memrise can be used to study and practise Maori.
Drops
Drops is a great option for anyone who's a visual learner because it teaches through pictures and videos. There are options for plenty of popular European languages like French, Spanish, and German, but the reason we're recommending it here is because it actually has Maori as one of the language options.
Memrise
Memrise is an app that focuses on memorising words (hence the name) and is good if you want to bolster your Maori vocabulary.
The Memrise app is available on both Google Play and the App Store.
Clozemaster
Another app of note is Clozemaster, which uses gap-fill exercises to gamify language learning and can be used for Maori as well as many other languages.
Clozemaster is also available on Google Play and the App Store.
Maori Language Learning Websites
While everything seems to need an app these days, you can also visit plenty of good old websites to study Maori.
In most cases, these websites are best experienced from a computer, laptop, or tablet, but some can be browsed on mobile if you prefer.
MaoriLanguage.net
This website is a great resource for anyone learning the Maori language. There are sections covering Maori basics, words and phrases, songs, and Maori lessons for beginners.
This is an excellent site for anyone looking to start learning Maori at home.
Reo Ora
Reo Ora is a website that offers online 12-week Maori language courses. There are 4 different distinct levels that focus on using the most commonly used vocabulary and structures to help students learn te reo Maori.
Te Whanake
Te Whanke is a website for learning Maori that features plenty of useful free Maori resources and resources to buy including textbooks, study guides, teachers' manuals, a podcast, videos, a dictionary app, and a Maori dictionary.
You should make sure that you add this website to your bookmarks and refer to it regularly while studying Maori.
Maori Resources
In addition to digital resources like apps and websites, don't forget that there are plenty of Maori resources you can use without a computer or smartphone.
Books are still an excellent way to learn and study any language including Maori. Here are a few recommendations for books worth checking out if you want to learn and study Maori at home:
- A Māori Phrase a Day - Hemi Kelly
- A Māori Reference Grammar – Ray Harlow
- A Māori Word a Day – Hemi Kelly
- Beginner's Maori – K. T. Harawira
- He Iti Te Kupu: Māori Metaphors and Similes – Hona Black
- Let's Learn Maori – Bruce Biggs
- Maori at Home – Scotty Morrison
- Maori Made Easy: For Everyday Learners of the Maori Language – Scotty Morrison
These aren't the only Maori books out there, but they are a good place to start. You don't need to go out and buy them all, but these, plus a dictionary could also be worthwhile having in your home if you're serious about learning Maori.
Online Language Communities
Thanks to the internet, you can meet and interact with native speakers of your target language or other people learning the same language.
To find online language communities, you usually just have to head to your social media of choice and search for the language.
If you're struggling to find communities for Maori, it might help to find general language learning communities and ask around if any of the members know of Maori language communities, too.
Online language communities aren't just useful for finding people to practise with, they're great for getting feedback, asking questions about the language you're learning, getting recommendations for resources, and finding other people who share your passion for learning languages like Maori.
Online Language Courses
To be clear, online language courses come in all shapes and sizes and while some of the websites and apps also offer “courses”, here we're referring to actual classes taught by Maori teachers or tutors that happen to be offered online via Zoom, Skype, etc.
Colleges and universities also offer distance learning options for students interested in studying Maori and there are often both group classes and private tutoring available online.
If you want to learn from home but prefer the structure and guidance offered by a teacher, online language courses are probably your best option. That doesn't mean you should ignore the other resources we've mentioned so far, though!
You'll likely be expected to practise and study between each class, too.
Online Language Exchanges
You can learn Maori from home through language exchanges. A language exchange is when a speaker of one language practises speaking with a speaker of their target language and vice versa.
In practice, this would be a Maori speaker wanting to practise their English while you (a presumed English speaker) would practise speaking Maori with them.
Rather than you speak in Maori and your partner speaking in English, which can be both weird and unhelpful and put too much focus on translating, it's common for half of each session to be dedicated to each language.
Through online language communities, you can find language exchange partners. There are also lots of websites that look to help language learners find one another.
Online Tutorials and Videos
If you want to learn Maori at home, you can always watch plenty of online tutorials and videos. Thanks to sites like YouTube, there are millions of hours of videos teaching you any skill you can imagine, including Maori.
You can find everything from explanations of grammar to structured video lessons that you can follow from home.
The great thing about YouTube is that whatever you want to learn, you can search for it and find lots of videos on that exact topic. If there's some tricky Maori grammar or vocabulary, just search for it on YouTube and you'll likely find something.
Again, for recommendations on Maori content, tutorials, and videos, we suggest that you ask around in Maori language learning communities.
Self-Study
Last but not least, if you want to learn Maori at home, you have to study. No matter how you choose to study, you need to remain disciplined and study regularly because the brain works like a muscle and effectively learning any language takes a lot of time and regular practice.
You know yourself better than anyone, but if you're struggling to maintain a regular schedule, it might be worth looking to a private tutor as there are lots of benefits to working with private Maori tutors.
Private tutors can travel to your home and teach you Maori. They can also help you to put together a manageable study plan and point you in the right direction of the best resources for learning Maori.
There are Maori tutors all over the country and also available online so you're bound to find one that's right for you and your budget.
On the Superprof site, for example, you just need to search Maori and where you are and you can start browsing the profiles of potential tutors. Make sure you know the factors that affect the price of Maori tutoring before you start comparing tutors so that you know what you'll be paying for.
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