The Best Way to Learn Māori in 2026

The best way to learn Māori is to spend most of your week reading and hearing te reo Māori you can follow, and to learn the long vowels from the start. For what to read and hear at each stage, see Māori comprehensible input.

Bubblegum covers the reading and listening. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for your level and plays it aloud, so you read and listen together. For talking, bring in a tutor, a course in Aotearoa, or a friend who speaks te reo.

A 2016 analysis of 49 studies (Jeon and Day) found that reading a lot of easy text improved reading in English as a second or foreign language. It looked at English, and we know of no matching study for Māori. Most of your week goes to Māori you can read and hear.

• 💬Talk With Family or FriendsAsk a relative to say the phrases you will use, like Kei te pēhea koe? (how are you?), and record them. Play each one until you can say it back. That phrase is only for one person, so ask which one to use for two people or more.
• 🏡Live or Work in AotearoaToro Mai, a free Massey University course of about 10 hours, covers meeting people, home and work. If you live in New Zealand, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa's Papa Reo Level 1 has no fees and takes about 12 hours a week.
• 🌱Learn Your MihiReo Māori, the Māori Language Commission's site, has a guide called Ākona tō mihi (learn your mihi). Start there when you want to introduce yourself in te reo.
• 📰Follow the NewsWaatea News publishes news stories in te reo Māori, with audio. Read a headline and the first two lines of a story you already know from English.
• 📚Read With ChildrenHuia Publishers has children's board books in te reo Māori, such as He Aha Tāku e Rongo Nei? Read one aloud together, and point to each word as you go.
• 🎓Take a Formal CourseA class gives you a teacher and a deadline. Use the course directory on the Reo Māori site to find one near you, and read lessons at your level in between classes.

To see how many hours a course takes, read the fastest-way page.

When short stories feel comfortable, move up to the news on Waatea and to programmes on MĀORI+, where some content may not play outside Aotearoa.

• ➖Dropping the MacronsA macron marks a long vowel, and it can change the word: keke is cake and kēkē is armpit, and wahine is woman while wāhine is women. Copy the macron every time you save a word.
• 🔤Reading Ng and Wh With English SoundsNg and wh are letter pairs that each stand for one sound, and people say them differently from region to region. Listen to the lesson audio and copy what you hear.
• 🗂️Starting With a Word ListLearn each word inside a sentence you read and hear, and save the whole sentence.