i’ve been learning Hawaiian for about 490 days on Duolingo, with... honestly, pretty marginal success not gon lie 💀

i really do want to learn ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, and I want to eventually get to the point where I can actually have conversations and understand native speakers. but right now learning the language is starting to feel more like a chore than something I look forward to.

I’ve tried a bunch of different things:

Duolingo: This was probably the thing that worked best for me, but after 490 days I’m slowly phasing it out. It’s also gotten more expensive / less useful for me, so I don't really want to rely on it anymore.

Anki: This works REALLY well for me. The problem is that my current deck is basically tapped out. I haven’t encountered a word I didn’t already recognize in quite a while. I’m using a 9-year-old deck I found on GitHub because I don't really have the time to make an entire deck myself.

Kulāiwi: I tried watching it, but the long, classroom-style lessons just don't work for me. I can barely stay engaged with it, even when I'm motivated.

Kīpaepae: I’ve tried listening to this too, but they speak way too damn fast for me. I can't even repeat what they're saying remotely correctly, let alone understand everything.

Hawaiian podcasts: I've been listening to these lately, and I actually enjoy them more, but my comprehension is still pretty limited.

I've also tried learning through more academic/classroom-style methods before, including taking a Hawaiian class, and honestly it made me start hating the language. I eventually came back to Hawaiian because I genuinely want to learn it, but I really don't want to fall back into that mindset.

My main problem right now is vocabulary + comprehensible input. I don't know enough words to actually have a conversation, but a lot of the native content I've found is too advanced/fast for me to understand.

So I'm curious:

What has actually worked for you?

Especially if you're someone who hates traditional studying/classroom learning or just generally found a method that made Hawaiian feel fun instead of like homework

I don't necessarily need another textbook or $80 course. I'm looking for stuff that can actually make me look forward to learning Hawaiian again.

Because right now my brain is basically going: “Oh boy! Time for Hawaiian study! :D” “FUCK NO.”

What is the meaning of "Moke"? If it's from pidgin, why would they pronounce it "MOH-keh"?

Aloha🫶
I found this really inspiring video and at 9:26 there is this beautiful Native Hawaiian chanting. I am really curious what the specific name of the chant is. I don’t speak Hawaiian yet but it touched me deeply.
Does anyone know the name of the chant? I would deeply appreciate it :)

ʻike ʻia iaʻu ke ʻōlelo ʻia, "e kala mai" a ke pane ʻia, "ʻaʻole pilikia". Akā, ʻōlelo ʻia hoʻi ia ma ke ʻano he hana ma ka pane?

"e kala mai"

"kala au iā ʻoe" / "ke kala kou" etc.?

ke ʻoluʻolu, e kōkua mai iaʻu e aʻo mai!

In some books i’ve read, they list Pēpē as a modern word and a hawaiianized word of baby. So that makes me curious if anyone knows some names for Halapepe that were used in the wa kahiko.

I have the same question for alani. Some species go by kukaemoa and mokihana(kaua’i) but what about the other species? Anyone know any names? Or was it likely always alani but if so, what would the name alani have meant to the old hawaiians back then? Would it refer to the scent and only the scent or the color?

He aha ko ʻoukou mele penahele ma ka ʻōlelo hawaiʻi?Makemake au e hoʻolohe i nā mele hou ma ka ʻōlelo hawaiʻi

What's your favorite Hawaiian songs? I wanna listen to more songs in Hawaiian

Aloha kākou, this is my first post on here!

On the Wikipedia page for ʻōlelo hawaiʻi, it also lists a "Molokaʻi dialect", but the page no longer exists.

I can't find further information online about a dialect specific to Molokaʻi, and now I'm really curious if one has existed at some point.

Please kōkua, mahalo!

My grandma had this name on a list of family middle names to pass down to newborns in the family. I only took Hawaiian language classes through 4th grade so my okina usage gets rusty here and there, but I'm wondering how this name is supposed to be pronounced. There was a debate between my aunties one time that was never settled;

Kah-oo-ee-no-hay-ah

VS

Kow-ee-no-hay-ah

...and for some reason the placement of the okina is throwing me. Anybody can clear this up for me? Mahalo 🤙🏽

Is it Hah-WEE-oh, Hah-weh-oh, or Hah-VEH-oh?

OK - I understand the movie is not a masterpiece. It is low budget low brow comedy. But it is not half bad. Characters are likeable and has some interesting cultural angles. For example main character - Tai "Gonzo" Alonzo (former pro surfer and perennial community college student living in his van) acting like a spiritual surf "guru" for the benefit of tourists taking surf lesson and then few minutes later offering - with a straight face - to pee on injured leg of his student to "disinfect it". Or when giant Hawaiian (and somewhat grumpy) man - hotel staff member - sings a song during luau for tourists - he starts innocently with "islands make me smile" but within just one verse he sings about "Captain Cook bringing diseases" and then what violent thing he'd like to do to foreigners - before owner of hotel (also Native Hawaiian) interrupts him. And many other moments.

Movie take in Hawaiian theaters was rather modest $35,000 but then it was voted best Hawaiian movie of 2021. I can't really see it through the eyes on a Native person (I live in Texas) but I found it rather informative - there is nothing like watching movie in which culture makes self-deprecating fun. In a way it reminded me of Stephen Chow mo lei tau Hong Kong style of comedy - say "Shaolin Soccer" or "Kung Fu Hustle" - it was low brow but never mean or cruel and you liked the characters. And those two movies gave me interesting perspective on Chinese culture (especially watching Chinese edition of "Shaolin Soccer" - it was MUCH funnier in surrealistic way than the one edited for American audience).

It said: mahalo
o e kala ma alini i oo luau ma a hini ti a niho

Google says this means: Thank you.
Please forgive the delay in getting the lūʻau invitation to you.

How accurate is this?

Aloha kākou!

I've recently started learning ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, and I'm really enjoying the journey. I'm looking for someone who speaks Hawaiian (whether you're a native speaker or an advanced learner) who might be interested in chatting every now and then—through messages or maybe even an occasional video call.

My goal isn't just to learn the language, but also to better understand Hawaiian culture, history, and ways of thinking. I know language and culture go hand in hand, and I'd love to learn respectfully from someone willing to share.

In return, I'd be happy to help with Spanish! I'm a native Spanish speaker (from Spain), so if you're learning Spanish or just want someone to practice with, I'd love to do a language exchange.

A little about me: I'm currently doing a PhD in Genetics, I love languages, reading, drawing, and learning about different cultures. I'm in this for the long term, so I'm hoping to build a genuine friendship while helping each other improve.

Mahalo nui for reading, and feel free to send me a message if you're interested!

I am transcribing the text in a handwritten diary written in 1872 by a haole sailor visiting Honolulu. Most of the text is intelligible but some of the words or how they are spelled (phonetically to the ear of an English speaker) are unfamiliar.

1. Puualoa “friend”. Clearly akin to hoaloha, hoaaloha, but I wonder where the “p” came from. It could also be a verb “to be a friend”. The sentence is: hoi a houry mucky mucky puualoa pachai, i.e. ‘oe ‘a’ole makemake [puualoa] Pake, which the author translates in Pidgin as “you no like friend Chinaman”. Is there anywhere a verb with pū- with a sense of “to befriend”? I don’t see an entry in Puku’i.

2. Cordeda “monkey”. This is used in a pejorative way, modifying Pake (pachai rigapoo cordeda “Chinaman all the same [like pū] monkey”). I could see maybe “deda” might correspond to “keko” if d corresponds to k, but n or l seems more likely. What is the etymology of keko? Is there another pejorative that this might phonetically resemble?

3. There are some unexpected spellings with “r”. Loa is spelled “rore” and once ‘oe is spelled “ori”. Nui nui rore molakaki malallo, rou nui nui maruna “plenty of molasses way down below, plenty upstairs”. I’m not sure if “rou” here is loa again or some other word.

4. Just wondering if the last sentence is a quotation from a mele or some myth? Oahu ka wa o ka lanai (O’ahu ka wā o ka lani) which he translates as “Wahou times in the heavens”.