John Foster is the author of eight books which are aimed at teaching the Māori language. All of his texts provide clear explanations around sentence construction from the very basic sentence patterns to the more advanced.
John has taught Māori language classes at school cert level to high school students and evening classes to maturre students at a nationally recognised level. He credits his former teacher the very reverend John Laughton, missionary to the Tuhoe people, for the passion he has of the Māori language.
Below are just a few texts that will help you to learn the Māori language which are held in the Māori collection on the 2nd floor.
He whakamarama is a full self-help course in everyday Māori language which is aimed at students of all ages. It contains clear explanations and revision exercises to reinforce understanding.
Call no. 499.442z FOS
This short accelerated course consists of six CDs that contain all that is necessary to gain an understanding of the whole range of Māori sentence construction. The material set out in the lessons is in the form of explanation with grammar terms and flashcards that are specific to Māori.
This is a book for those who have started to learn Māori but have found some aspects confusing. The examples provided are designed to give a model for each sentence construction and once an accurate sentence has been learned, it will only require substitution of other words to form other sentences.
Call no. 499.442z FOS
This booklet focuses attention on nine critical elements of Māori sentence construction. The author takes the Verb, I and Ki, Names and Pronouns, Description, Complex Prepositions, Possession, Ko, Transitive and Intransitive schemes to show how parts of Māori sentences are formed and to provide a clearer understanding of their essential points.
Call no. 499.442z FOS
With thanks to Amanda Hemara for this blog.
