Olo Hawaii Culture

If I could support one area of the Hawaiian culture, I’d decide on ‘olelo Hawaii. Language and culture must coexist. You can’t have one without the other. Not being able to speak your culture’s native tongue severs you from the culture itself and makes you lose your identity. It’s difficult to understand why some words are so sacred while other words hold so much meaning if you don’t know the language. ‘Olelo Hawaii is how our kupuna passed on their stories, values, and beliefs. We cannot lose their way of communication. If we don’t dare to learn the Hawaiian language, then we might as well as bury it with the many traditions we’ve lost over the years. ‘Olelo Hawaii was ranked third, with 18,000 speakers, as the language that was spoken at home in a 2009-2013 study (Wang, 2016). Tagalog and Ilocano were the top two. I personally feel like more Hawaiian households should speak and teach their children ‘olelo Hawaii. Based on my experiences in a Filipino household, there are more Filipino speakers because parents tend to speak in their native tongue even with their United States-born children. The continued use of another language at home

Back when I was in highschool, I needed to pass a Hawaii history course in order to graduate. The class felt more westernized and something was missing. I think Hawaiian studies courses should introduce the basics of the Hawaiian language along with the history of Hawaii. It’s a simple language with only five vowels and twelve consonants. Another great thing about the Hawaiian language is that it’s very similar to other languages in Oceania. So essentially you’re learning other Oceanic languages while learning Hawaiian. Unfortunately ‘olelo Hawaii wasn’t available for my school until I became a senior. If there is a stronger presence of ‘olelo Hawaii in school, then it will definitely spark the students interests in the