Find a private tutor for Te Reo lessons

Māori Language History

The history of the Maori language- or te reo Maori- is intrinsically related to the history of New Zealand, being part of all the processes of becoming a multilingual and pluricultural nation. Even though Māori lessons are not mandatory for students in schools and kindergartens, te reo Māori has been an official language in New Zealand since 1987, after 200 years of ups and downs of the language in the country.

The te reo Māori language evolved over hundreds of years in Aotearoa, the name that Māori people gave to New Zealand. The studies of the origin of the language say that there were many variants of it in different regions, as the populations were quite isolated, and these spread over the country due to the need for the exchange of goods. The variants of these dialects had their origins in the fact that the first people who inhabited New Zealand came from different islands in eastern Polynesia, bringing their own variety of languages to the country. At the very beginning, te reo Māori did not have a written language as we know it today but it had a big variety of symbols that Māori people widely understood, these were represented in carvings, knots, and weavings.

Benefits of Private Maori Lessons

Learning a new language always has many benefits. Besides being able to communicate with different people and broaden your cultural capital, you also enrich your brain and your ability to learn, not only in other languages but also in general. It is proven that being able to communicate in different languages helps your brain to think in different ways and find new solutions to problems. However, there is something more important about learning Maori in New Zealand: you get to know a big part of the culture of the country, and you help to keep it alive.

According to the official Social Report in New Zealand of 2016, the number of people who are able to speak Maori has been decreasing consistently within the Maori people. In 2001, 25.2% of Maori people declared that they could hold a daily life conversation in te reo Māori, this percentage went down to 23.7% in 2006 and 21.3% in the census of 2013. In this census, a total of 148.400 people declared they can hold at least a basic conversation in Maori, which is 3.7% of the total population of New Zealand. A significant fact to point out is that from this total of te reo Māori speakers, 84.5% declared that they identified themselves as Māori. This means that not only the number of people who speak Maori is decreasing, but also that the interest continues to be mainly inside the Maori population and not growing into the rest of the Kiwis.

Learn Maori with Superprof

One of the best ways to learn a language is with a private tutor who dedicates their time completely to your learning process. Having a Maori tutor to give you private lessons will help you to learn much faster than you ever imagined and in Superprof you can find the perfect fit to start or continue learning Maori.

As a student, you can go to the Superprof website and write "Maori lessons in New Zealand" or any city that you want, and you will find tutors ready to start. Within the Maori tutors in Superprof, you will find professionals of education in Maori immersion and native people who dedicate some of their free time to spread their knowledge and culture.

On Superprof, you can read the verified profiles of all available Maori tutors in New Zealand, so you can find your best match as a student. The most convenient part is that with Superprof you can choose between having in-person classes at your house, or any place of your choice-or learning online, only with your computer and a webcam. Superprof won't charge you any extra commission for their services, and prices per Maori lesson start from only $20.

A big plus is that most tutors available on Superprof are offering their first class for free, so you can try first and then decide. There is no problem in switching tutors in Superprof, as a student, you can always keep looking for your best tutor of Maori in New Zealand.