Customer Reviews

Learn Hawaiian at Home

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found 4 great tools for learning Hawaiian, at Amazon. Your success in learning will depend on using them in the right order. They're all great.

Beginner level

1. "Learn Hawaiian at Home", by Kahikahealani Wight

If you're new to the language, this book will walk you patiently through all the basics. Slow? Yes, but it was just what I needed. There are two cassette tapes included, with all the vocabulary, dialogs, reading material and even songs! I found the package reasonably priced.

Beginner to intermediate

2. "Ka Lei Ha'aheao--Beginning Hawaiian", by Alberta Pualani Hopkins

For continuing what you learned in "Learn Hawaiian at Home", this is an excellent book. It will take you all the way through all the Hawaiian grammar, and there are lots and lots of dialogs, giving variations on what you learn.

The downside? Cassette tapes are available, and I know my progress would be much faster if I had the big bucks to buy them. I don't.

Intermediate to advanced

3. Instant Immersion CD

Good points: Very natural-sounding Hawaiian, and lots of it

Downside: If you're a beginner, this will knock the wind out of your sails. The lessons have reading passages, some with very difficult grammar.

No printed matter comes with the CDs. You have to download it from the internet.

Some vocabulary from the lessons are NOT explained. You'll need a big Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary to find out the meanings. Not exactly user-friendly!

Still, if you love hearing the lilt of Hawaiian spoken as much as I do, you may opt to get this.

Intermediate to advanced

4. "Let's Speak Hawaiian" by Dorothy M. Kahananui & Alberta P. Anthony

Too difficult for beginners, as it was for me! Explanations are minimal. An exorbitantly-priced tape set is available, but I couldn't afford it.

I was always frustrated with myself for not being able to understand this book. However, after doing a fair amount of learning through the first two books given above, I found that "Let's Speak Hawaiian" is a wonderful extension to what I know. Get this one last!

I absolutely love using this book as well as the two CD's. This has allowed me to learn yet another foreign language, something I love doing as a hobby. I am additionally studying German because my grandmother speaks it and Spanish because so many people in the US speak it.

Ignore the reviewer who said to buy the set for the CD's and burn the book. There is lots of important information on grammar and other general language rules that the CD's do not cover.

Kahikahealani Wight did a wonderful job creating this work. I believe 'olelo Hawai'i is one of the most beautiful languages on earth. The conversational material will be great for me to use in my future if I ever go back to Hawai`i Nei. Before I got the book, I had used what I had already known with lots of kama'aina and they seemed to be impressed. I also love learning the mele in this book because I love to sing.

Now I think I should ask my makua (parents) if we can take another trip to Hawai`i so I can speak with some more natives! I recommend this book for those of you who want to learn Hawaiian very badly or just want to study lots of languages in general.

A hui hou for now...

Alex or Alika

this is just the best book ever to learn about how to speak hawai'ian! if you just follow the tape and ignore the grammar part you will do well. the songs, and the pictures are wonderful. it's worth it!

I'm enthralled by the Hawaiian language and this book does a great job at demystifying it. All of the vowel combinations are still a bit difficult for my tongue to wrap around sometimes, but I now have a better understanding of the way words and concepts are outlined and combined. This book does a great job of starting out simple and basic and building on each lesson. The dialogs and sample conversations are cute but realistic.

While I still don't know as much as my Keiki that live in Honolulu, with this book & CDs I'm well on my way to having a basic conversation with them on my next visit to the islands!

Some people have complained about the simplicity of the book, but I love it, it allows you to learn at your own pace, its fairly easy to adjust the lessons to your needs and with me wanting my children to learn hawaiian as well, so we keep a piece of our families heritage, it will work wonderfully. The CDs arrived in perfect condition and work wonderful, and they match up with the book very well, you just have to remember to pause your CD when you hit the work parts of the book. And thank you to the reviewer who suggested the four different lesson books and CDs that was very helpful, I had the instant immersion hawaiian already but its diffuclt to use if you dont know how to write out the words they are telling you to, especially since they dont give you a grammar lesson and spellings, it is def. for more advanced.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants not only to speak hawaiian but read and write it as well, it is wonderful especially for the price. And follow the review that tells you the 4 different ones to do in that order it will help so much!!

In general I liked this book/CD combo. But the way it's set up, you really need to be using the book along with the CDs, a bummer for me since I like to listen to the CDs during my commute but can't drive and read at the same time! Other lanuage CD's I've used in the past can be used independently of the book, and I like that a lot better.

This is a great text to learn Hawai'ian with! Though this text is not as comprehensive as the ones produced by the University of Hawai'i Press, it is the best place to start in my opinion. It comes with audio and is prices very reasonably.

The book is set-up as most other language textbooks, with grammar dialogues, and vocabulary lists in each lesson. And interesting addition is the 'hakalama'(Hawai'ian syllabary) section beginning each chapter to help with pronunciation practice. There are also exercises for each chapter with an answer key in the back of the book. Over all I think this is a great way to start studying the Hawai'ian language.

For me, this was really a fun purchase.

I've always enjoyed hearing the Hawaiian

language. I think it is all of those

vowel endings. :) I decided that I'd

learn a little bit for doing my chanting.

I am so enjoying the exercises. I love the

way the book is set up and this is part of

my weekly fun time. For someone new to the

language, this is an excellent

book. The exercises in the book along with

hearing them on the disk are working very well

for me.

The practice exercises

are organized in a helpful way. And

there are little Hawaiian songs on the cd

which I love. :)

I've been wanting to learn to speak hawaiian especially being part hawaiian. I don't have time to go to classes, so I can't wait to get started when I have time at home.

This is okay at best. It's nice to have the book along with the CD's but the program is only so-so. If you like a little different style to switch up to from something else you might enjoy this.