'Ōlelo: Taking Hawaiian Online at Hawai'i Community College

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!

ka pūpū (shell)

ka hoe (paddle

ka 'omawawe (microwave)   

Indigenous Leadership Through Hula

One of my lifelong dreams has been to learn hula. In Fall 2017, I took Dr. Taupōuri Tangarō's class at UH Hilo, HWST 194-Indigenous Leadership Through Hula. I gained a new appreciation for the admissions process, but that's a side story! The class itself was enlightening and a joy to attend twice a week from 5:30-6:45. It joined two subjects that I'm passionate about: indigenous leadership + hula.

I discovered many things, one of which is that I'm not as fit and flexible as I thought I was. Hula is a real workout! I'm also, apparently, not as coordinated as I'd like to be. Still, the class was appropriate for beginners, and I learned some basic steps, oli (chants), and mele (songs) and had a fun time getting to know my classmates who ranged in age from teenagers to kupuna. Some were experienced dancers, and others, like me, were new to dancing hula.

Translating a chant

On the first night of class, there were no less than 80 participants! Over time the class thinned out to a core of about 40 students. It began to feel like a big family, everyone willing to help one another. One of the best parts of the class was hearing students' thoughts and appreciating the unique perspectives they brought to the learning experience. We learned a number of Hawaiian mele for which we were provided translations.

Mapping my thoughts and idea

Our task was to delve within to determine how each mele's message applied to our own lives, specifically to ourselves as indigenous leaders. We focused on enduring principles that are traditionally taught through poetic compositions from long ago. Practicing hula to these mele was a meditation on each message and its meaning and brought us closer to the authors and the generations of ancestors who spoke these words before us.

In addition to the young people taking the class with me, there were a number of recent graduates, tuta, who were practicing their leadership skills by showing us how the dances were done, gently correcting us, teaching us in small groups, and evaluating our performances. They were inspiring, graceful examples to us. I will never again under appreciate the work and skill that goes into performing a beautiful hula.

I was even considering taking the course again in the fall, but I was honored to be invited to join the Kuku'ena hula group of Hawai'i Community College in the fall. Trina Nahm-Mijo will be my mentor. I'm looking forward to taking an even deeper dive into hula and personal growth!