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I've become more efficient with my Gold List sentence collection activity. I find that now it only takes me between 30 and 40 minutes. Since this half-year project involves seeing how far I can get doing an hour per day of right-brain play, I'll start supplementing what I do.

Imagine a wing (of a bird or a plane). When air rushes across it, that produces lift. That's my analogy for language acquisition. You expose yourself to a stream of language that you have a means of understanding, and then acquisition will automatically occur.

In that vein (vane? vain?) I spent 20 minutes this morning reading the third chapter of He Whiriwhiringa: selected readings in Maori. I could complete six pages rapidly and enjoyably. I notice that there are at least three copies of this book in the Bill Robertson Library.

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 Today I complete my first month of collecting te reo snippets. From tomorrow, I’ll do this differently (details soon).

In the meantime, I'll peruse a Maori legend. It's a story about Maui. I have to admit that I find Maori myths quite spooky. And there’s a reason for that.

From the age of 8 through to 12, I brushed up my English after 18 months abroad. For that, I read widely from my favorite shelf at the Children’s library on Upper Stuart Street. (Does anyone else recall it?) It was labeled ‘Myths and Legends from Many Lands’. Those short stories were exactly what I needed.

There were books from many lands and cultures. I became familiar with Andersen and the Grimm brothers. But I found it eerie to delve into Maori tales about the underworld and the separation of the sky and the earth. So science-fiction was what I moved onto next.

 

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 I was able to borrow books from the city library today, despite having left my card at Mosgiel the last time I was there. I took out 4 books from the Maori shelf in the children's section. 

Already I reach for books beyond beginner. Bilingual is best, but not necessary. As long as the sentence structure is simple, and the vocabulary is limited, I can proceed. What I need is the Maori version of Globish (Reobish?).

In fact, after four weeks I can visualize a 'route' for myself. I could design my own syllabus. One with lots of extra-curricular activities!