Customer Reviews

Schutz: All about Hawaiian (Kolowalu Books)

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I like this book because it is straight to the point of helping the reader rapidly begin to learn and appreciate the beauty of the Hawaiian language. I was pleased at how simply and clearly the material was presented by the author. Having taken a course in Hawaiian at the University of Hawaii, I bought the book for a quick review to get me up and speaking again after some time of disuse. It turned out to be exactly what I needed. I was also pleased that it was consistent with the more formal presentation of the material I had received in college. It is small, thin and easily packed into a piece of carry-on luggage, or stuffed in your back pocket for a day of adventure in the islands. It's size and shape and presentation are that of a primer, and as a whole, it does not pretend to be anything but that. Although the title is ambitious, the book delivers what the title promises by giving an overview, enticing more serious students to delve deeper through other means.

I have been studying Hawaiian for only one month so far and bought this book to learn more about the language. I suggest this book to you if you have been living in Hawai'i for a long time and want to find out why all those little marks are used in Hawaiian words, or to find out the correct way to pronounce place names and even to learn a little of the vocabulary used in the street signs. If you are not so interested in actually learning to speak the language, but instead just trying to pronounce correctly what you see in signs, this is a great book for you. However, if you are a student of the language, I suggest you go to the public library and read the book there. It will probably only take you less than an hour. The author gives some history of the language and how it was first transcribed into the Roman alphabet, which was something that I didn't know. If you are looking for grammar or model sentences, this book only explains--he, ua, e....ana, and lists the personal pronouns. A few example sentences inlcude...He hale nui ia. Hele aku! He maika'i. He hale ko la-ua. This is not a grammar book, nor does it pretend to be. Instead, it seems to be written for a person who is only curious about the language. Once again, if you only want to know about how to pronounce and perhaps understand a few words of street signs or place names, this is perfect for you!

I wholeheartedly recommend this booklet. It is an excellent primer of the Hawaiian language. It is not as all encompassing as the title might suggest, but it is a good starting point for learning Hawaiian. It covers mostly vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. It does have a very small and limited grammar section, but grammar can not be expected to be thoroughly covered in such a small booklet. I read somewhere that "Hawaiian is phonetically simple, but grammatically difficult" and I believe that is true, especially for English speakers. If you want a book that extensively covers grammar and you really want to learn how to converse in Hawaiian, you might want to get Ka Lei Ha'aheo: Beginning Hawaiian. "Ka Lei Ha'aheo" is the textbook used by the University of Hawaii in their beginning and intermediate Hawaiian language classes and is a much more serious volume of work, perhaps best used in conjunction with an instructor in a classroom enviroment.

This book also comes in a version for Japanese speakers at All About Hawaiian (Japanese). I noticed that somehow this review ended up on the Japanese version page, although I didn't post it there. If you are now on the Japanese version page and would like the link to the English version of "All About Hawaiian", here it is All About Hawaiian (Kolowalu Books).

As a pocket sized booklet, "All About Hawaiian" is the most complete and correct publication of its sort I have seen. It is a very handy and useful introductory pocket guide. Despite the limited size of this booklet, much good information is provided about not only the language, but also interesting tidbits of information about Hawaii, its history and culture. For some more information from the book itself, see my uploaded image of the back cover.

Well, to dive into Hawai'ian - but not only into the language.
Here You have a full-immersion!

This booklet is an enormous help to dive into the Hawai'ian culture as well.
If You want to learn a lot without taking with You big, heavy "Learn-the-language" books, this nice and handy guide is made for You!
Especially the well-chosen insights about the alphabet, the grammar, the right pronounciation of 'okina and kahako gives a good overall picture of what You need for first.

Then the vocabulary, well divided in sections like culture, the English words in everyday Hawai'ian - but also the Hawai'ian ones in English -, the most important words and phrases You will hear and see, place names, and last but not least! the important words in the Hawai'ian menu, completes this perfect friend for the "Mahilini" visiting those Happy Islands.

And, believe or not - knowing a little bit Hawai'ain will make You many friends in the "kama'aina" (native) population.

Try and see!

Mahalo for listening and Aloha
Miki