Maia

Learn Yoruba.

Yorb

Learn Yoruba with a course designed for its three tones, rich proverb tradition, and the cultural context that makes the language come alive.

Start your Yoruba course

Why Yoruba

Yoruba is spoken by over 45 million people, primarily in southwestern Nigeria and Benin. It's one of Africa's most widely spoken languages and a major heritage language for the African diaspora in the Americas.

Yoruba culture -- its music, its Orisha religious traditions, its storytelling -- has influenced cultures worldwide. Learning Yoruba connects you to this living tradition, whether you're reconnecting with heritage or exploring West African culture.

What makes Yoruba challenging — and how Maia helps

Three tones

Yoruba has three lexical tones (high, mid, low) marked by diacritics. The same syllables with different tones form different words. Maia builds tone perception through systematic drills from the first lesson.

Tonal grammar

Beyond vocabulary, Yoruba uses tone to mark grammatical relationships -- tense, negation, and questions can all be signaled by tone change. Maia teaches these patterns explicitly and drills them in context.

Proverb-rich communication

Yoruba conversation is dense with proverbs (owe). An adult who doesn't use proverbs is considered immature. Maia introduces common proverbs in context and explains their cultural significance.

What your course includes

  • •Conversational lessons with tone training built in
  • •AI podcast episodes mixing Yoruba and English
  • •Tone drills, vocabulary, and grammar exercises
  • •Spaced repetition for vocabulary and tonal patterns
  • •Curriculum adapting to your level and interests

Sample lesson topics

  1. 1.Yoruba tones and the alphabet: reading with diacritics
  2. 2.Greetings and respect: how Yoruba encodes social relationships
  3. 3.Basic sentences: subject-verb-object and personal pronouns
  4. 4.Numbers, time, and everyday vocabulary
  5. 5.Verbs and tense: how tone marks past, present, and future
  6. 6.Your first proverbs: owe in everyday conversation
Start learning Yoruba

Free to start. No credit card required.