Olelo Oiwi Ke Kahua: He Puke A'O 'Olelo Hawai'I [Hardcover]

Hokulani Cleeland (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Aha Punana Leo (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550363905
• ISBN-13: 978-1550363906
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,206,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, very thorough., February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Olelo Oiwi Ke Kahua: He Puke A'O 'Olelo Hawai'I (Hardcover)

This is an extremely detailed and slow-paced introduction to the Hawaiian language aimed, apparently, at high school students. The book consists of thirty-five lessons, each of which has sections covering vocabulary, pronunciation, word usage, and grammar. The exercises consist entirely of Hawaiian sentences that the student is to transform following a given grammatical pattern, along the lines of "I/go" --> "Must I go?". No reading selections or conversations are given, which makes this text rather dry for the student studying on his own. Also, the author in his (or her?) discourses on usage or pronunciation assumes an audience of inexperienced and bewildered language learners and makes great efforts to be reassuring -- sometimes to the point of talking down or even preaching to the reader. This passage came from a discussion of negative imperative sentences: "So, in learning Hawaiian, for now we should concentrate on being able to communicate our ideas clearly and accurately in Hawaiian, and not worry about being able to provide a perfect translation into English or any other language for every sentence. Besides, if we waste time and effort in worrying about having a perfect translation of everything we say, it will take us just that much longer to become fluent speakers of Hawaiian." Nonetheless, I recommend this book as a most comprehensive and well-planned introduction to the Hawaiian language.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maika'i no keia puke, June 16, 2006

By 

noeau (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olelo Oiwi Ke Kahua: He Puke A'O 'Olelo Hawai'I (Hardcover)

I noted the other reviews described this book as tedious. It might be difficult to work through for a beginning Hawaiian student, but for intermediate and advanced students it is invaluable because it gives the why's for sentence patterns and word choices. The cultural notes are invaluable not only for speaking the language, but for thinking in Hawaiian. An excellent book, highly recommended for serious students.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Textbook, June 8, 2005

By 

Steven Roberts "Maui Advisor" (Maui, HI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olelo Oiwi Ke Kahua: He Puke A'O 'Olelo Hawai'I (Hardcover)

I speak Hawaiian and use this book as an occasional 'refresher'.

This book was written as, and is being used as a textbook, in Hawaii schools; therefore, it is very logical, methodical and organized, as a textbook should be. Some may consider it tedious; however, if you treat it as the textbook it is, it will help you learn. It is the most comprehensive textbook available on the language.

The only thing that could make it better is if it were accompanied by CD's so the learner could also hear the language.