Māori

Resources for learners of te reo Māori

Courses, dictionaries and resources for people learning te reo Māori.

Mihimihi and pepeha

People who need to do a mihi or pepeha may need to include Māori versions of place names in New Zealand. The following resources and tips may help:

South Island place names

The March 1998 special edition of Te Karaka: Crown Settlement Offer pg. 36, has a map with 88 South Island place names in Māori and English. Includes the names of hills, islands, and rivers.

Quail Island — a link with the past has origins of Māori place names of Lyttelton Harbour (Whakaraupo) accompanied by labelled panoramic photographs showing the locations of these places.

Know your South Island places: guide to place names and history has similar information for the South Island only.

General place name searching

Place names of New Zealand by A. W. Reed (available in a number of editions) includes Māori place names for many entries. These maps include many geographic and Māori place names.

If these more general works do not give you the information you are looking for, consider doing a subject search for Names Geographical New Zealand and then the area or region that you are looking for: e.g. Names Geographical New Zealand Nelson.

coverIn our collections

Te Ata Hapara
A book and tape set specifically designed as a starter course for teachers, levels 1-3.
Cultureflow
A multimedia set that includes workbook, CD, and CD-ROM, levels 1 and 2.
Q’s course in Māori
Written by Quinton Hita for beginners, has pronunciation practice and works up to basic sentences.
Pronounce Māori with confidence
For beginners who need pronunciation practice, comes with a CD.
Reo Māori o Nāianei
Beginner’s course with workbook and CD, featuring songs and exercises, volumes 1 and 2.
Te Whanake
Levels 1-4, with workbook, tape, or video components. Also available in an online version. See online courses.

Dictionaries

A dictionary of the Māori language/ Herbert W. Williams
Māori-English dictionary.
Te kete kupu: 300 essential words in Māori
Alphabetical list of Māori words, with each word used in a sentence, completely in Māori.
Te Matatiki: contemporary Māori terms
Māori dictionary covering modern and technical words.
A modern Māori picture dictionary
Groups words into themes and includes English translation.
The Reed dictionary of modern Māori/ P. M. Ryan
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Māori-English, English-Māori.
Tirohia kimihia: a Māori learner dictionary
Monolingual Māori dictionary with entries and definitions entirely in te reo.
English-Māori Dictionary Hōri Mahue Ngata
English/Māori and Māori/English dictionary. Good for students — there are full and pocket versions of this dictionary available. See also the Ngata Online Dictionary.
Te Aka John C. Moorfield
English/Māori and Māori/English. Does not use examples, but includes new words.
The Raupo dictionary of modern Māori Peter M. Ryan
English/Māori and Māori/English.
Collins Māori phrasebook and dictionary Patricia Tauroa
Sayings, organised by subject. Very easily read.
A dictionary of Māori words in New Zealand English edited by John Macalister, Oxford
Demonstrates how many Māori words English speakers already know and use sometimes without knowing it!
The complete English-Māori dictionary Bruce Biggs
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English to Māori only.
He Pataka kupu te kai a te rangatira Raupo
This beautiful and comprehensive dictionary is published entirely in Te Reo Māori. For serious second language learners students to fluent speakers. Includes Atua categories.

Proverbs and phrases

Collins Māori phrasebook and dictionary
Set phrases used in oratory, conversational phrases, and dictionary.
He kohinga kīwaha
Sentence structures and phrases entirely in te reo, for more advanced learners.
PepehaNgā Pēpeha a ngā tīpuna = The sayings of the ancestors
Traditional Māori proverbs.
The Reed book of Māori proverbs
Traditional Māori proverbs and translations grouped by subject with index.
Say it in Māori: Māori phrase book
Conversational phrases and Māori-English, English-Māori vocabulary list.

Online resources

Our online resources

Community courses from CINCH, our community directory.

Online courses

Māorilanguage.net
Study the basics of the Māori Language, through online video movie lessons.
Te hunga akoako — For learners
Learning resources including interactive conversations from Kōrero Māori.
Te Whanake language course
Workbooks and audiovisual material are also available from the library.
Generation Reo
has excellent material for parents wanting to raise bilingual children, and answers many common questions about issues that parents may face. There’s help for those starting out, tips and hints for along the way, as well as links and downloads for learning resources.

Dictionaries and translators

Te Aka online dictionary
Designed to complement Te Whanake language course.
Online Ngata dictionary
English-Māori, Māori-English.

Television programmes

Whanau
TV One short episode family drama that uses te reo Māori phrases and vocabulary to encourage learning. Online study guide to accompany the series is in development.
Māori Television
Tōku Reo is a stylish Māori language learning course for absolute beginners. Designed by Professor John Moorfield, Tōku Reo works with an interactive website to reinforce and encourage further learning.