WHY are you learning Hawaiian?

Aloha no kakou,

No matter what we’ve committed to do, we all need ways to stay motivated. We all run into struggles and it can be easy to want to stop… and learning Hawaiian is no exception. Having compelling reasons to continue with the language will be a big part of your success.

The other day, my wife and I were sitting with our daughter while the boys were sleeping. I wanted to know what she thought of the language and I asked her, “He aha kau olelo e malama ai ke loaa kau poe keiki?” (What language will you use when you have kids?) She responded that she would use Hawaiian because that’s what we (her parents) have raised her with. Her response was simple, yet profound. 

On a surface level, we were happy to hear her answer, but it meant much more to us. Now that our kids are getting older, we can have these deeper conversations. It’s moments like these that remind us why we started this journey in the first place. Some of them have changed and some of them have evolved.

Here are some of our reasons…

• To connect to our culture
• To reclaim what was lost
• To establish our family culture and values 
• To gift our children priceless knowledge
• To help other learn and perpetuate Hawaiian  

I encourage you to make note of your reasons WHY you are learning Hawaiian. This can help you to keep going with the language when you get in a rut or when you get discouraged. 

We will talk more about WHY we’re learning Hawaiian this month, so you can get some extra motivation along the way.

Aloha no kakou,

Malu 

ka-alala.mykajabi.com