NCEA level 1 is a very important stage in our education in New Zealand. At that point, students start specialising in a particular area in their schools depending on their interests and future career plans.
One particular area that has been attracting a lot of interest from students in New Zealand lately is Maori. You may ask why anyone would learn a new language that is not spoken by that many people around the world? There are a few reasons for that.
First of all, Maori is an official language in New Zealand and so should be considered an important part of anyone's education. Thanks to Maori lessons in schools, students can the history and traditions of New Zealand more deeply.
Second, Maori is a useful medium of communication that starts being used in daily and professional contexts. If you reach a good level of skills in te reo, it will certainly be appreciated by potential employers all across New Zealand.
Finally, Maori can be helpful to NCEA level 1 students because it allows them to earn the necessary Literacy credits, which are compulsory for moving on to the next year.
Learn how to pass NCEA level 1 Maori in our article.
A student can boost their level of Maori at NCEA level 1 and complete all the standards at excellence at that and the following levels.
If you are still not sure whether you should choose Maori among all the subjects in year 11, let's have a look at the NCEA level 1 Maori curriculum. That will help you understand what learning te reo is about in more detail and get a better idea of the abilities you can acquire thanks to that high school course.
So let's try to demystify a little bit the NCEA level 1 Maori curriculum and have a look at the common topics students are likely to deal with in the subject.
Getting a good language education in schools
Nowadays, English is the main international language that is used in a great variety of areas, from trade to science. However, English is just one among many languages, each having its own vocabulary, grammar and way of thinking.
Learning a second language during your education at school can be very beneficial for your mental skills. It will improve your memory, openness to new ideas and ability to adapt to a different medium of communication quickly.
Learn why NCEA level 1 Maori is important in more detail in our article.
The NCEA Level 1 Maori course in particular is an important stage in learning the language because it is when students start to use it as a real medium of communication and discuss different topics related to the world around them in te reo.
To be more precise, NCEA level 1 Maori corresponds to levels 5-6 of Maori skills established by the Ministry of Education. At that point, students in schools should be able to work with written resources, have everyday conversations and understand spoken Maori in many contexts.
The objective of the school course will be to develop those skills even more and prepare students to use te reo in an even bigger number of situations. Here are some examples of topics that may be included by schools in their NCEA level 1 Maori courses and assessment standards:
- Speaking about myself, including my past experiences;
- House and food;
- Recipes and cooking;
- Sports or hobbies;
- Famous people.
As you can see, the course mainly covers conversation themes that are part of high school students' immediate world and discussions that can be interesting and inspiring for them.
They should advance in their education smoothly and have fun reading Maori texts and talking about them with other students.
What are NCEA Maori standards about?
Learning Maori can broaden our education and provide us with a new medium of communication. Still, it shouldn't be forgotten that Maori is also an NCEA subject and students will need to complete various standards in that subject to get their NCEA.
Our level in te reo can be basically broken down into four main skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Their development is the main objective of the NCEA level 1 curriculum and the NCEA standards aim to evaluate them.
As you probably know, all NCEA standards can be divided into two groups: internal and external ones. The first are normally marked by teachers directly in schools whereas the second are graded by NZQA.
You can read more about using NCEA Maori past papers in our article.
As a result, internal standards can involve a great variety of activities in different subjects than external subjects. For instance, Maori school teachers can conduct speaking tests in which students will express their thoughts on proposed topics as well as listening exams to assess their understanding.
External standards, on the other hand, are usually taken in written form and come down to working with texts.
During the school year, the student should pay attention to the four main skills in te reo to be equally good at all of them.
So what activities can help you improve your level of Maori on a daily basis?
Tips for NCEA level 1 students learning Maori
Maori is probably one of the most inspiring NCEA subjects because of the cultural insights it can bring us. That basically means that your Maori revision can be fun given you use the right learning resources in the process.
For a lot of students, the most difficult skill to pick up when learning Maori is listening. As te reo has different sounds and intonations, our ear needs time to get used to them and distinguish the words without an effort.
A great medium to get that kind of training is the radio. Students can listen to programmes or podcasts when walking, doing sports or tidying up in their rooms. Even if they don't understand everything, in the beginning, that is not a reason to give up.
Little by little, you will become able to grasp more words and makes sense of entire sentences. After such practice, your NCEA level 1 listening test will seem like a walk in the park to you.
If you are looking for more resources to boost your level of Maori, past assessment papers can be a great option. You can get familiar with the tasks that are usually assigned to students and exercise your skills for that particular goal.
Boost your knowledge of the school curriculum with a private tutor
One of the reasons why many students struggle with Maori is that they don't get enough practice in their schools. If a student is shy or studies in a big class, they may dare to speak very rarely and so their fluency will never improve.
A great solution for high school students is to take Maori lessons with a private tutor. They will have their tutor's attention during the entire lesson and can boost their speaking and listening abilities thanks to active participation.
There is more information on NCEA Maori standards in our article.
If a student struggle with a particular part of their course or needs to prepare for a particular NCEA standard, they can tell their tutor about that and focus their efforts on that topic. The tutor will select the best learning resources for that objective to make their classes effective and fun.
Private tutors offer Maori lessons for all levels of students all across New Zealand. They will evaluate your skills in your first lesson and will suggest a learning plan to achieve the NCEA result you've set for yourself.
An especially good option to learn Maori in New Zealand at your own pace is to take Maori lessons online. Online tutoring is very effective because you will not be limited to any particular place. You will have a great choice of tutors and schedule your lessons at convenient times.
You can use a webcam to talk with your tutor in real time, so your lessons will be as efficient as if you were in the same room. The tutor can supplement them by using different digital resources and sending you recordings or texts to work on in your free time.
Find the perfect Maori tutor on Superprof
A good tutor can be very helpful to NCEA students but how to find such a tutor for you? Let us suggest a very effective tool that is Superprof.
Superprof has a great community of Maori tutors from all around New Zealand who can offer you NCEA support lessons in your town or online.
On our platform, you can get information about tutors' locations, prices, teaching experiences and the levels of students they teach. Thanks to all that data, you can pick the professional whose services suit you best and organise your first lesson directly with them.
Most Superprof tutors offer their first class with students for free, so you will have an opportunity to get to know them better and make your final decision only when you are sure that you are in front of the right person.
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