Is Hawaiian a Living Language?
The other day we took a fieldtrip with my 7th through 12th graders, plus a class of cheerful second graders, out to Makaweli valley tucked into the crook of the Waimea and Waikea rivers. When we got on the bus, the second grade teacher stood up and asked the bigger kids to please make sure that the younger kids ONLY hear Hawaiian all day.
The big kids, said, "ae.." and proceed to get out their phones and chatter away in English.
We got to the decrepid cable and 2x4 swinging bridge and parked our enormous school bus at a precarious angle on the ditch. I asked my students to wait until the little kids had exited the bus, and I stood up.
I was crackling. I gave them my best Queen Victoria "We Are Not Amused" glare. I delivered a monologue:
"What did Kumu Namomi ask you to do? And did you do it? I am so disappointed in you.
Is Hawaiian dead?" They gasped at my blasphemy.
"If it Hawaiian is a living language, shouldn't you be able to speak it for longer than a thirty minute bus ride? Prove to me, today, that the Hawaiian language lives. Because today, I don't believe it. I don't believe any of you believe it. Prove me wrong. Show me that the Hawaiian language is alive. I will accept the challenge, too. Today I will only speak Hawaiian. But what if you don't know how to say something? Hoao. Or Hamau."
I stomped off the bus. They trailed across the path and avoided me bristling at them.
I spent the day in a bliss of Olelo Hawaii. By the end of the field trip my brain was reverberating with it. The kids had really extended themselves to speak Hawaiian all day as they were bashing bark off of logs and carrying river rocks to build a foundation. They were tired, mentally and physically.
On the bus, they were back to muttering in English. I asked them how it went. Shrugs all around. Pretty good.
"Is Olelo Hawaii alive?" Murmurs.
"Prove it to me. Write me an essay proving to me that ola no ka olelo Hawaii. And tell me what is your part in keeping it alive."
An arch 12th grader said, "In Hawaiian?"
I said, "sure! Amaze and impress me. Force me to use the dictionary. Challenge me."
A smart-ass 9th grader said, "you spoke English today-- you should write an essay too!"
There was a chorus of, "In Hawaiian!"
"Fine!" I said, I'll do it. So I did.
So is the Hawaiian language a living language?
So I teach English at a Hawaiian Language Immersion school. From Kindergarten to 5th grade, the kids go through their day in Olelo Hawaii-- all the office business, paperwork, phonecalls home are in Hawaiian. Starting in 5th and 6th grade, they begin a little bit of formal English instruction. By the time the 7th graders come to me, they've only had a few semesters of English. When I tell people that I work at a Hawaiian language school, I get mixed reactions. Hawaiian? Really? Do you speak it? Hawaiian? I didn't know anybody speaks that. But you're not Hawaiian, are you? Why do you work at a Hawaiian school? --- Here are some of the thoughts my students have submitted so far: "If you want to get through things you need to take the hard way so you can learn."--LK. "I have to learn and share the language so the language doesn't die."-- KH.
The big kids, said, "ae.." and proceed to get out their phones and chatter away in English.
We got to the decrepid cable and 2x4 swinging bridge and parked our enormous school bus at a precarious angle on the ditch. I asked my students to wait until the little kids had exited the bus, and I stood up.
I was crackling. I gave them my best Queen Victoria "We Are Not Amused" glare. I delivered a monologue:
"What did Kumu Namomi ask you to do? And did you do it? I am so disappointed in you.
Is Hawaiian dead?" They gasped at my blasphemy.
"If it Hawaiian is a living language, shouldn't you be able to speak it for longer than a thirty minute bus ride? Prove to me, today, that the Hawaiian language lives. Because today, I don't believe it. I don't believe any of you believe it. Prove me wrong. Show me that the Hawaiian language is alive. I will accept the challenge, too. Today I will only speak Hawaiian. But what if you don't know how to say something? Hoao. Or Hamau."
I stomped off the bus. They trailed across the path and avoided me bristling at them.
I spent the day in a bliss of Olelo Hawaii. By the end of the field trip my brain was reverberating with it. The kids had really extended themselves to speak Hawaiian all day as they were bashing bark off of logs and carrying river rocks to build a foundation. They were tired, mentally and physically.
On the bus, they were back to muttering in English. I asked them how it went. Shrugs all around. Pretty good.
"Is Olelo Hawaii alive?" Murmurs.
"Prove it to me. Write me an essay proving to me that ola no ka olelo Hawaii. And tell me what is your part in keeping it alive."
An arch 12th grader said, "In Hawaiian?"
I said, "sure! Amaze and impress me. Force me to use the dictionary. Challenge me."
A smart-ass 9th grader said, "you spoke English today-- you should write an essay too!"
There was a chorus of, "In Hawaiian!"
"Fine!" I said, I'll do it. So I did.
So is the Hawaiian language a living language?
So I teach English at a Hawaiian Language Immersion school. From Kindergarten to 5th grade, the kids go through their day in Olelo Hawaii-- all the office business, paperwork, phonecalls home are in Hawaiian. Starting in 5th and 6th grade, they begin a little bit of formal English instruction. By the time the 7th graders come to me, they've only had a few semesters of English. When I tell people that I work at a Hawaiian language school, I get mixed reactions. Hawaiian? Really? Do you speak it? Hawaiian? I didn't know anybody speaks that. But you're not Hawaiian, are you? Why do you work at a Hawaiian school? --- Here are some of the thoughts my students have submitted so far: "If you want to get through things you need to take the hard way so you can learn."--LK. "I have to learn and share the language so the language doesn't die."-- KH.
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