Good to start with the simple things

Learning te reo Maori can be a hard thing at the start but as long as you keep trying, saying simple things like kia ora or morena can get you used to speaking the language.

There are many different ways to learn te reo.

You could spend your lunch hour dipping into a te reo Maori book for beginners such as “Maori at Home” and “A Maori Phrase a Day”. For intermediate and higher levels, there is Mai i te Kakano, Te Rito and He Iti Kahurangi. Other useful books are the Maori Made Easy series by broadcaster Scotty Morrison.

You can print off signs and put them around your home, workplace or school. Make labels and put them on everyday items.

If you want to learn about the thinking behind the Maori Language Act 2016, listen to Victoria University of Wellington Professor Rawinia Higgins at .

For rangatahi or Marvel lovers, there are Maori Legend comics in te reo or English on .

Other ways to learn could include enrolling in an educational institute — Te Wananga o Aotearoa or EIT Tairawhiti both run te reo courses for beginners right through to advanced.

Practise your pronunciation by learning the Maori alphabet at

Another useful resource is the Facebook group “A Maori Phrase a Day” by Hemi Kelly.

In the longer term, commit yourself to learning a new kupu (word) a day for a year by using this .

The main aspect of learning te reo Maori is to start simple and continue to speak it whenever and wherever you can.

Kia kaha te reo Maori!