The Fastest Way to Learn Māori in 2026

The fastest way to learn Māori is to spend most of your study time on te reo Māori you can mostly understand. That kind of Māori is called comprehensible input.

What to Do at Each Level

Find the level that sounds like you. Its bar shows how to spend an hour of study.

Level 1
I'm just starting out or know only a few words.
- Read and listen 35 min
- Review 15 min
- Speak 10 min
Choose one of two ways to start. The easiest way is Bubblegum, where Poppy, your AI tutor, writes short Māori lessons at your level about your interests and goals and explains the grammar as you go. The other way is a textbook. Get Te Kākano, the beginner book of the Te Whanake series, and work through one chapter at a time. Each chapter has dialogues and grammar explanations, and you play the free Te Whanake podcasts for its listening and speaking exercises. The Te Whanake shop listed Te Kākano as out of stock on 5 November 2026, and Aotearoa Books listed it in stock. Plan on a few weeks of hard study to learn the basic grammar before you start using apps.
- Textbook: Te Kākano (Te Whanake 1)
- Free Te Whanake podcasts
Level 2
I can read simple sentences.
- Read and listen 40 min
- Review 10 min
- Speak 10 min
If you use Bubblegum, read its Level 2 lessons with the translation hidden, and look up only the words that stop you. If you use the textbook, try Te Pihinga, the second book in the series, and play its podcasts as you read. Try the free Kōrerorero app, which has eight lessons on everyday activities, and read a children's board book in te reo from Huia Publishers aloud.
Level 3
I can read short stories and messages.
- Read and listen 40 min
- Review 5 min
- Speak 15 min
You need more words at this level, so read and listen a lot. Bubblegum reuses the words you saved in new Level 3 lessons. Watch Kiri and Lou in te reo on MĀORI+, and write a short message to a language partner on HelloTalk, reading the reply one phrase at a time. Spend 15 minutes saying aloud what you read.
- MĀORI+
- HelloTalk's language partners
Level 4
I can read longer texts about everyday life.
- Read and watch 45 min
- Review 5 min
- Speak 10 min
Read Bubblegum lessons at Level 4 to learn more words. Then read a headline and the first lines of a story on Waatea News when you already know the news from English, and read a Māori Wikipedia article on a topic you like. Look up only the words that stop you in the Te Aka Māori Dictionary.
- Waatea News
- Māori Wikipedia
Level 5
I can follow complex topics, but miss some details.
- Read and watch 50 min
- Speak 10 min
Read Bubblegum lessons at Level 5, and read whole stories on Waatea News and watch programmes on MĀORI+. Talk about what you read with a tutor or a learning community.
- Waatea News
- Reo Māori learning communities
Level 6
I can read almost anything.
- Read and watch 50 min
- Speak 10 min
Read Bubblegum lessons at Level 6, which Poppy writes about anything you're into. Read non-fiction in te reo from Huia Publishers and full stories on Waatea News, and talk about what you read.
- Huia Publishers
- Waatea News

Move up a level when your lessons start to feel easy, and move back down if you can't tell what's happening by the third line.

How Long Does It Take to Learn Māori?

We found no published estimate of the hours it takes English speakers to reach fluency in Māori, so this page uses a real first-year course instead. Te Wānanga o Aotearoa's Papa Reo Level 1 is worth 60 credits and runs 52 weeks at about 12 hours a week, which is about 620 hours. It is free for people who live in New Zealand and meet the entry rules. Massey University's free Toro Mai course takes about 10 hours and is much shorter. Here is how long those take at different amounts of study a week:

Study per week	Toro Mai (10 hours)	Papa Reo Level 1 (about 620 hours)
3½ hours	About 3 weeks	About 3½ years
7 hours	About 1½ weeks	About 1¾ years
14 hours	About 5 days	About 10 months
28 hours	About 2½ days	About 5 months

These are course hours, so treat them as a rough guide. Time you spend reading and hearing te reo on your own counts too.

What Slows Learners Down

Dropping the MacronsA macron marks a long vowel, and it can change the word: is woman and wāhine is women. Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori has advised macrons for all words since 1987.
Translating Word by WordMany Māori phrases begin with a small opening word, like Kei hea taku pōtae? (where is my hat?). Read each phrase from its first word, and say it aloud.
Skipping the Sound of the VowelsShort and long vowels are different sounds, so hear each word in the lesson audio before you save it.

Learn Māori Easily With Bubblegum

Bubblegum

For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Māori. You learn from Māori you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.

Poppy, your AI tutor, writes the lessons.

Get Bubblegum ↓

Poppy writes each lesson around your level and the topics you choose.
Lessons play AI audio while you read.
Tap a word to see what it means, or ask Poppy to explain a whole line.
Grammar topics explain how Māori works, such as why a macron changes a word.
Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, and you can export them to Anki as flashcards.
Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.

Lessons use modern standard spelling, with macrons over the long vowels. Some iwi write long vowels as double letters, so a book from there can look different.
You can't turn your own Māori books into lessons. However, you can paste a page in the chat, and Poppy will explain it.
Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.

Regenerative Review™

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which Māori app should a beginner choose?

If you are serious about learning Māori, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Our Māori app comparison covers courses and tools too.

Can I learn Māori in three months?

Three months is about 13 weeks, so at 3 to 5 hours a week you study for about 39 to 65 hours. That is a small part of the 620 hours in a first-year course, and much more than the 10 hours of Toro Mai. Pick a goal you can check, such as greeting a relative and asking how they are, and following the Level 1 podcasts for the first textbook chapter.

How much should I study Māori each week?

Aim for three to five hours a week of Māori you understand, in sessions of at least 15 to 30 minutes. A longer session lets you follow a whole story. Our post on longer study sessions explains why.

Is Māori hard for English speakers?

The alphabet is short. Most of your effort goes to long vowels and to sentence patterns that differ from English, like phrases that begin with a small opening word, as in Kei hea taku pōtae? (where is my hat?). You pick these up fastest from Māori you understand.

Is Bubblegum free?

Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.