Sound like a Native Hawaiian speakers

Aloha,

One of the 4 pillars of learning Hawaiian is speaking - and your goal should be to sound like a native speaker.

I learned how to speak Hawaiian from a few native speakers from Niihau - one place that never stopped speaking the language. I also spent countless hours listening to recording of native speakers from every island. In doing so, I learned what Hawaiian really sounds like. Did you know most of the Hawaiian you hear today is spoken with an English accent? (Which is not really what we want.)

If you’re still working on becoming conversational then listen to recordings of native speakers - you may not even realize how influential that will be on how you sound when you speak Hawaiian. If you’re already conversational, then you can now focus on sound.

I have two of my favorite recordings for you to listen to. Men and woman speakers have differences that youʻll want to listen for. Here are recordings I suggest.

Ka Leo Hawaii

Kawika Kaalakea

Charlotte Inaina

No matter where you are on your journey to learn Hawaiian - keep the sound of Hawaiian in your mind. Once you become conversational, focus on your speech and sound. 

Naʻu iho no,

Malu