This summer I enrolled in Elementary Hawai'i Language I & II (HAW 101 and 102), two 6-week intensive online Hawaiian language courses. It was fantastic! After the first week I was able to read a sign while walking across campus, and I was so thrilled. This is one of the benefits of living in a place where the language is spoken and used.
I have talked to language teachers who are absolutely against teaching a language online for a lot of different reasons. Being a strong distance education advocate, I've always believed that you can teach almost anything online if you are creative enough, and research shows that well-designed online courses are equivalent to face-to-face classes in terms of student learning outcomes. This is my first time with firsthand experience of an online language course, and now I can say definitively that it works!
I had heard many good things about Hawai'i Community College's online Hawaiian language course, so I decided to take it this summer rather than wait to take it face-to-face in the fall. That way I would be able to move right on to the second level, HAW102, and complete two courses over the summer break if I felt I could handle it.
At this point, in the interest of transparency, I need to let you know that I am a serious language learner. I mean I love learning languages, and learning Hawaiian has been on my life list since I heard a Hawaiian prayer at a wedding 30 years ago. It was so very beautiful, and it was the first time I had heard Hawaiian language spoken in such length. It was a paradigm shift in my thinking of Hawaiian as a modern, spoken language.
I came to this task with the motivation to learn, a positive attitude, and some past skills with both language learning and distance education. Fitting a 15-week course into six weeks is challenging, but it was doable, even while working full-time. The organization of the course is logical; it's broken up into modules containing the video lessons, homework, discussions, and vocabulary lists. There is a textbook, which you could get through the class without, but I wouldn't. It added greatly to my learning experience.
One of the concerns instructors have with online language courses is assessment. How does one adequately measure a student's learning for the oral - speaking and listening - aspects of a language? Another concern is interactivity. One way is to break out of the concept of online education as only online. Another is to be open to the many tools available that allow students to interact.
In HAW 101, we had a requirement to read aloud 10 children's books to the (awesome) peer tutors or to our Kumu. We could do this face-to-face in the I Ola Haloa Hawai'i Lifestyles Office, over the phone, or via SKYPE. The final project was to write, design, and read aloud a children's book. I taped myself using my phone.
In HAW 102, we had more message board discussions, and again, we were encouraged to interact with our peer mentors. By this time, my vocabulary had grown so much that I was able to pick words and phrases out of songs, read more signs, and even unintentionally eavesdrop on conversations, recognizing greetings and replies.
There were many supports in place, adequate for me to feel that I could handle it while working full time. The hardest part for me was the sheer number of vocabulary words, which I am still working on. Try taking Hawaiian language online. You won't regret it!
PS - For all who have asked, Akea Kiyuna was my kumu. Mahalo e Kumu Akea!
I have talked to language teachers who are absolutely against teaching a language online for a lot of different reasons. Being a strong distance education advocate, I've always believed that you can teach almost anything online if you are creative enough, and research shows that well-designed online courses are equivalent to face-to-face classes in terms of student learning outcomes. This is my first time with firsthand experience of an online language course, and now I can say definitively that it works!
I had heard many good things about Hawai'i Community College's online Hawaiian language course, so I decided to take it this summer rather than wait to take it face-to-face in the fall. That way I would be able to move right on to the second level, HAW102, and complete two courses over the summer break if I felt I could handle it.
At this point, in the interest of transparency, I need to let you know that I am a serious language learner. I mean I love learning languages, and learning Hawaiian has been on my life list since I heard a Hawaiian prayer at a wedding 30 years ago. It was so very beautiful, and it was the first time I had heard Hawaiian language spoken in such length. It was a paradigm shift in my thinking of Hawaiian as a modern, spoken language.
I came to this task with the motivation to learn, a positive attitude, and some past skills with both language learning and distance education. Fitting a 15-week course into six weeks is challenging, but it was doable, even while working full-time. The organization of the course is logical; it's broken up into modules containing the video lessons, homework, discussions, and vocabulary lists. There is a textbook, which you could get through the class without, but I wouldn't. It added greatly to my learning experience.
One of the concerns instructors have with online language courses is assessment. How does one adequately measure a student's learning for the oral - speaking and listening - aspects of a language? Another concern is interactivity. One way is to break out of the concept of online education as only online. Another is to be open to the many tools available that allow students to interact.
In HAW 101, we had a requirement to read aloud 10 children's books to the (awesome) peer tutors or to our Kumu. We could do this face-to-face in the I Ola Haloa Hawai'i Lifestyles Office, over the phone, or via SKYPE. The final project was to write, design, and read aloud a children's book. I taped myself using my phone.
In HAW 102, we had more message board discussions, and again, we were encouraged to interact with our peer mentors. By this time, my vocabulary had grown so much that I was able to pick words and phrases out of songs, read more signs, and even unintentionally eavesdrop on conversations, recognizing greetings and replies.
There were many supports in place, adequate for me to feel that I could handle it while working full time. The hardest part for me was the sheer number of vocabulary words, which I am still working on. Try taking Hawaiian language online. You won't regret it!
PS - For all who have asked, Akea Kiyuna was my kumu. Mahalo e Kumu Akea!
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| ka pūpū (shell) |
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| ka 'omawawe (microwave) |
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Maikaʻi, e Melanie! E hele mai i ka papa HAW201 :)
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