Te Reo Māori Language Resources

As part of learning Te Reo Māori, I find it useful to create my own learning tools and content. I figured they may also be useful to others.

Vocabulary lists and practice

A set of lists on a variety of topics to help build your vocabulary. Each list can be viewed, practised using flash-cards, or played as a card matching game.

For the matching game, when an English word or a picture is show, say the Māori kupu to yourself, and when a Māori kupu is shown, just say it in Māori. This will help train your brain to be thinking in Māori, rather than constantly translating.

Useful resources

Some sites and a book that I think are helpful.

Māori dictionary

Te Aka Māori Dictionary is quite comprehensive for both Māori to English and vice-versa. Most words have audio, so you can hear the pronunciation from a native speaker. I find searching an English word doesn't always give clear results. Often the most common word is not the first entry, which can be confusing.

Paekupu

Paekupu is an alternative to Te Aka. I've just started using it, so it's hard to compare the two.

Word of the day, and some grammar

https://kupu.maori.nz/ has a featured word of the day (emailed to you), lists of words, and grammar. I like the "kupu o te rā" (word of the day) which includes simple example phrases, and notes about the grammar and usage. There's lots of good content around basic sentence structure as well.

Video and podcasts

Tōku Reo, http://www.tokureo.maori.nz, has lots of video content. It's good, but I find the pace a bit slow and repetitive. Luckily, I can skip ahead when I feel like it.

Māori Television

Lots of content on Māori+.

For language learning in particular, check out Ako.

Raupō Phrasebook Of Modern Māori

I looked at a lot of different books, but found the Raupō Phrasebook Of Modern Māori to be the most useful. It's not just a phrasebook. It provides a lot of insight into the language, the grammar, sentence structure. I highly recommend it (at least at this point in my learning).