Introduction

Kia ora, koutou! It's a shame that they require a subscription on Quizlet for things apart from flashcards. Guess we're gonna have to do with flashcards, then.

Hello everyone! My name is Kata. I'm an IB student in Finland and I write this blog for my CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) program. Although I mainly do this for the CAS hours, I have a great inner passion for learning the beautiful language of Aotearoa. 

I am deeply concerned for the well-being of small languages, and surprisingly, the Māori language is only 100 times smaller in speaker count than my own native language is (according to Wikipedia, 50 000 for Māori and around 5 000 000 for Finnish). I find the ever-growing influence of big, worldwide languages a threat to the existence of minority languages (and other globally insignificant tongues). But I believe that everyone can make a difference.

Honestly, don't let people get under your skin. If you want to learn a language (Māori, Finnish, English or whatever on earth makes you tick) go for it – karawhiua! You don't need to become fluent. Every new word you learn will broaden your worldview. No matter what you do, somebody will still label you as "weird". Anyway, that's it for the pep talk. 

This blog will focus on documenting my progress and experience, so it's not intended as an educational resource. However, I hope that it will inspire you, my fellow learner, in your te reo Māori learning journey and give you new ideas to spice up your studies.