Māori · Te Reo Māori
Directory 13 resource listings · Pacific. A short orientation and a solid starting list.
Honest start for Māori: pick one beginner course or community program from the list, add 10–15 minutes of listening most days, and bookmark one reference. Ignore the rest of the directory until those three habits are alive. Last reviewed 2026-08-01
About Māori
- Language family
-
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Eastern Polynesian Source: Glottolog
- Where it's spoken
- Aotearoa New Zealand
- Speakers
-
tens of thousands of fluent speakers; wider community learners Estimate source: Ethnologue (SIL International)
- Vitality
- Vulnerable / regenerating — Te Taura Whiri and immersion pathways lead.
- Writing
- Latin
Te reo Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language and an official language of New Zealand. Revitalization work has produced strong free courses, dictionaries, and Māori-language media. Start with pronunciation and high-frequency phrases, then move into Te Whanake and Te Ao Māori News.
Speaker counts are approximate orders of magnitude for learners, not census figures. Family labels follow Glottolog-style classification; vitality notes (when shown) follow UNESCO WAL / Ethnologue-style framing and should be re-checked for program planning.
How to start
- Start with an official community or tribal program from the list below before commercial apps.
- Treat the community as the authority on how the language is taught and shared — support their materials first.
- Add 10–15 minutes of listening most days — prefer community media when available.
Practice on this site
Deep links into trainers and drills that already cover Māori.
Community-governed language
Official tribal or community programs are listed first. Commercial tools appear only when they genuinely offer Māori. See our disclosure and contribute corrections via Contribute.
About the word-roots method here
These languages are not well served by Indo-European cognate bridging. Prioritize community programs, script/syllabary literacy, and immersion materials from the list below.
Some outbound links may earn us a commission. Commission never affects inclusion or ranking. Full disclosure.
| Resource | Type | Levels | Cost | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kupu | reference | A1-C2 | free | — |
| Māori Dictionary | reference | A1-C2 | free | — |
| Omniglot Māori | reference | A1-A2 | free | — |
|
Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori
Māori Language Commission.
|
reference | A1-C2 | free | — |
|
About Māori (English Wikipedia)
English-language overview of Māori. Not reading practice in the language itself.
|
reference | A2-C2 | free | — |
Know a better classroom-friendly resource for Māori? Suggest it with attribution.