3 Jul 2013

Te reo one of the easiest languages to learn - researcher

6:58 pm on 3 July 2013

A psychology and linguistics researcher says te reo Maori is one of the easiest languages to learn.

Chris Krageloh, from the Auckland University of Technology, has studied the orthography or sounds of European languages, and Maori.

He says the sounds in te reo Maori generally stay the same no matter how you group the letters.

Whereas, he says, English is very difficult to spell because its sounds change in different groupings, such as dough and tough.

Dr Krageloh says the Maori language is on par with Finnish as one of the simplest languages to read and write in.

And he says learning te reo Maori at a young age will make it easier for the child to eventually learn English, because the child will be more aware of languages.