Welcome to the first lesson from Learn.Maori!
We are going to create 365 lessons, each with an accompanying video, flash cards, sample sentences and vocabulary list. If you do a lesson a day, you will complete the whole thing in a year!
We will cover every aspect of Māori grammar.
Different people have different ways to learn a language. Some people are visual and need to see things written down and need pictures and disagrams. Other people learn by listening and speaking. Some people learn by rote and endless repition. There is no right or wrong way to learn - its whatever way nbest suits the individual. Many of people learn Māori by learning songs and karakia.
This set of lessons is for people, like myself, who want to know the rules of the language. I am interested in grammar and how language works. Miost people are put off by such things and even find the word "grammar" frightning! But others find discovering the patterns and rules of language fun and exciting. These lessons are for people like that.
Let's begin by saying hello - but almost certainly you already know how to do this:
Kia ora!
Hello
The word kia is called a "mild imperative" and is an encouragement to do or be something. It's not really a command but means: "Be...!" or "may you be..."
The word ora means healthy or well, So kia ora means "may you be healthy and well!" and in normal conversation, it is used to say "hello".
The word kia is used in another common expression:
Kia kaha!
Be strong!
Again, this is a gentle encouragement to be strong - not a command: "be strong or else!"