Common approaches to language teaching in many New Zealand schools typically show a lack of attention to students' own language-learning strategies. This article argues that the success or otherwise of language immersion programmes, in particular within Maori-medium educational settings, depend as much on the skills and strategies of the student as on those of the teacher. Raising the language-learning skills of the students in non-immersion Maori language programmes would likewise be beneficial. A strategy, called the deliberate acts of language learning (DALLs), is presented as a solution.