My friend Laura has been studying Hawaiian for some time now. So I thought I'd try to reply to her recent email in Hawaiian. Eeek! I only did six sentences and I felt like my brain was exploding. I had to concentrate sooooo hard! And I realized that I have such a long way to go. But it was cool to be able to reply to her at all!
It was a great class and I look forward to the next session.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
3-6-09
I feel a little lost because I missed two classes. But at least memorizing the vocabulary for this week is going a little better, don't know why.
There are some words that are harder for me than others, though. Like palaunu, the word for brown. I had no trouble with mākue. At first I couldn't figure out why there were two words for brown. But then I remembered that there are over four pages of words to describe the winds of Kauaʹi in the book, Epic tale of Hiʹiakaikapoliopele!
There are some words that are harder for me than others, though. Like palaunu, the word for brown. I had no trouble with mākue. At first I couldn't figure out why there were two words for brown. But then I remembered that there are over four pages of words to describe the winds of Kauaʹi in the book, Epic tale of Hiʹiakaikapoliopele!
Monday, March 2, 2009
3-2-09
Though I felt bad about missing class on Sunday, I was happy that I could attend my friend's birthday party. There was much aloha as we celebrated with him and serenaded him with Hawaiian mele on our 'ukuleles. And there was an abundance of ono food, ā ʹoia, as with any Hawaiian gathering!
Reading in ka puke Nā Kai ʹEwalu about Ka Pepeke ʹAike He and Ka Pepeke ʹAike ʹO really helped to cement in my mind the differences in the two forms. I liked the way it broke the sentences down into Poʹo – Piko - ′Awe. I looked up each of those words in the dictionary and was surprised at the definitions. I thought that poʹo would mean something like the object of the sentence, but it really means "head" or "end." "Piko" I already knew means "navel." And "ʹawe" means "strand, thread; thin, soft." These are rather poetic descriptions of sentence structure, I thought. But the examples were very helpful.
Reading in ka puke Nā Kai ʹEwalu about Ka Pepeke ʹAike He and Ka Pepeke ʹAike ʹO really helped to cement in my mind the differences in the two forms. I liked the way it broke the sentences down into Poʹo – Piko - ′Awe. I looked up each of those words in the dictionary and was surprised at the definitions. I thought that poʹo would mean something like the object of the sentence, but it really means "head" or "end." "Piko" I already knew means "navel." And "ʹawe" means "strand, thread; thin, soft." These are rather poetic descriptions of sentence structure, I thought. But the examples were very helpful.
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