Watch our for these kine guys on social media…

Aloha, 

Does your neighbor’s cousin’s uncle speak Hawaiian? Right on. But how do you know if he’s a good source to learn from?

One of the obstacles of learning Hawaiian is knowing what sources are to be trusted.  

Be very wary of people on social media who “teach” Hawaiian. They’re a dime a dozen and I’ve seen so many of them share information that is just plain wrong. More than that, it is detrimental to revitalizing the language itself.

Watch out for…

How does this person sound when they speak? Does it resemble a Native speaker?.

Transliteration for words like, berry (peli). We already have a word for berries, hua. Made up etymologies for words like aloha, mahalo, etc.

What is your goal for learning?

If you want to speak average Hawaiian, you can learn from just about anyone, it just may not be very good Hawaiian. 

If you want to be fluent and know everyday Hawaiian, you’ll want to learn from a (surprise!) Native speakers. 

If you want more of a grammatical, formal approach to the language, your go-to will be Hawaiian language professors who have at least decades of experience in their field. 

I am someone who wanted to master the language, which requires both informal and formal competency in the language. You may want the same thing?

If you want a good command of the language (casual or formal) you’ll need legitimate sources.

Do your due diligence to perpetuate the language in a way that is true to our heritage and will be beneficial to future generations and not leave them confused or with more work to do to correct misinformation. 

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." -Maya Angelou. 

Owau no,

Malu

Ka-alala.mykajabi.com