20 Pono (Good, Proper) Reasons for Learning Hawaiian
Click on the Reasons that Apply to You:

Reason 1: You live in Hawai`i.

Reason 2: You once lived in Hawai`i.

Reason 3: You are a Hawaiiphile. (You just absolutely love Hawai`i!)

Reason 4: You are/will be a visitor to Hawai`i.

Reason 5: You are a transplanted Hawai`i resident.

Reason 6: You love/perform Hawaiian music.

Reason 7: You love/dance the hula.

Reason 8: You love Hawaiian culture.

Reason 9: You wish to learn Hawaiian.

Reason 10: You are a relative of a native-speaker.

Reason 11: You are a teacher.

Reason 12: You love food.

Reason 13: You participate in Hawaiian sports.

Reason 14: You love languages.

Reason 15: You have a dedication to Hawai`i's past, present and future.

Reason 16: You want to contribute to the life of the Hawaiian language.

Reason 17: You have high school / college language requirements to fulfill.

Reason 18: You are contemplating taking a Hawaiian course and you wish to gain familiarity and a headstart.

Reason 19: You are spiritually inclined.

Reason 20: It is simply the Right Time for you. Ka Manawa Pono.

You live in Hawai`i.
Growing up in Hawai`i, you pretty much know what most locals know:
just a smattering of Hawaiian. You wish to learn more.
You are as a keiki o ka `âina (child of the land).

• It’s time to know what those place names and street names mean.
• It’s time to know both of Hawai`i’s official languages.
• It's time to know what that upside down apostrophe (`okina) and that line across vowels (kahakô) mean.
• It's time to gain a truer sense of identity, solid roots, and a deeper self-understanding by learning about your own culture.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
(It's about time!)

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You once lived in Hawai`i,
now you live elsewhere. Yet you yearn for Hawai`i and nâ mea Hawai`i (things Hawaiian). The language keeps you in the "Aloha State", wherever you are, and connects you back to your Hawai`i roots, whatever your ethnicity.

• It's time to be a part of the present-day renaissance of the Hawaiian language and culture. Don't miss the moku (boat)!
• It's time to keep from being a malihini (stranger) when you are in your own homeland.
• It's time to reclaim your cultural-island heritage.
• It's time to nurture your island roots and identity, as you will always be a keiki o ka `âina (child of the land), no matter where you live now or wherever you may move in the future.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.

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You are a Hawaiiphile.
You love all that is Hawai`i, including the language.

• It's time to go beyond the superficial. Go deeper. Learn the `ôlelo (language); your love for these beautiful islands will further burgeon.
• It's time to learn what aloha really means.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.

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You are/will be a visitor to Hawai`i.

• Whether you are a new, occasional or frequent visitor to Hawai`i, it's time to gain a basic familiarity with the language, place names (is it Hah wai ee or Hah vai ee?) , street names (Kalaniana`ole Avenue, Likelike Hwy), and directions ( `Ewa, Diamond Head, ma kai, ma uka), its music, dance, and culture, and most of all, its people.
• It's time to get over the "grass hut" mentality of Hawai`i before you get here. Learning about our culture - or any culture for that matter -- stretches the mind and helps dissolve false expectations and stereotypes.
• It's time to vastly increase your "comfort zone" , appreciation, and pleasure. Folks in Hawai`i mix Hawaiian words in their everyday English. Your waitress might ask, "Are you pau? Your host might say, "Hemo your shoes." Would you have a clue?

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.

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You are a transplanted Hawai`i resident.
You’ve embraced Hawai`i as your island home. Weary of being regarded as a malihini (newcomer, guest, stranger), you wish to be a contributing member of our unique society.

• It's time to earn your kama`âina (native born or one who is thoroughly familiarized and adapted to island ways) status.
• It's time to blend in and adopt Hawaiian ways and thinking.
• It's time for you to refrain from further diluting the indigenous culture.
• It's time to pâna`i ( "give back") to the culture.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You love Hawaiian music.
You can be a dilettante (one who follows an art or science without learning much about it; just a dabbler). Or, you can choose mastery with true understanding.

• If you are a pû`ukani (singer) or musician of Hawaiian music, it's past time. You have an obligation to know the language, in order to sing with accuracy and intended meaning. Go beyond singing phonetically. Learn the language, so you may sing with authenticity, confidence, and true depth of feeling.
• If you are a haku mele (composer) or an aspiring one, learn the language, so you may write works of significance, credibility, and accuracy.
• If you are an appreciator of the music, learn the language to heighten your enjoyment. You will know of the beauty expressed by the words, not just by the melodies and graceful movements of its accompanying hula. You will appreciate the music at its deeper, if not deepest levels.

Kaona (hidden meaning) knowledge only comes from knowing the language. For some of you, the time for learning was yesterday, don't be discouraged, as it is never too late.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You love the hula.

• If you are a mea hula (dancer), it's time for you to dance the hula with far more feeling and with mana`o (meaning), rather than with the rote and mechanical movements of the clueless dancer.
• It's time for you to know the hula's cultural underpinnings and depth.
• It's time for you to know that the key to hula mastery is the understanding of the language, first and foremost. Why keep guessing? Make it easy for yourself, learn the language.

Kaona (hidden meaning) knowledge only comes from knowing the language. For some of you, the time for learning was yesterday, don't be discouraged, as it is never too late.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You love Hawaiian culture.
"If you kill the language, you kill the culture" is an oft-repeated truism.

E ola mau ka ôlelo Hawai`i, e `OE e!
(Let the Hawaiian language live, YOU!)

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You wish to speak Hawaiian with
your Hawaiian-speaking relative.

• It's time to learn Hawaiian so you may speak with your kûpuna (elders) before they pass on, as well as present-day native speakers, including those from the island of Ni`ihau, school-educated speakers, and the keiki (children) of Hawaiian language immersion programs.
• As for our kûpuna, their time on Earth is running out; don't wait.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You are a teacher.

• It's time to teach the Hawaiian language and/or culture, whether in schools, hotels and tourist attractions, tour buses, hâlau (hula schools) or just being "tour guide" to your visiting friends or relatives.
• It's time for your students to have the best-informed teacher, and your work becomes more meaningful.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You love food!

If you’re "local", just imagine if you didn’t know what these are:
laulau, `ahi poke, haupia, lomi salmon!
Miss out, yeah!?

• It's time to learn more about what you may be missing, and what you are missing if you don’t know those `ono (delicious) foods. Food is a terrific motivator.
• It's time to order and try real Hawaiian food, especially Hawai`i's seafood, with confidence.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You paddle canoe.

• It''s time to know and learn about the proud cultural and historical heritage of this sport. Know the language. Master the sport.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You love languages.

• It's time to add the beauty of a melodic, kind and giving language, Hawaiian, to your repertoire.
• It's time to broaden your horizons, which allow for the direct, meaningful contact with the culture and the people.
• It's time to make up for lost time. Hawaiian was not available to many of us as keiki (children); it had been shamefully suppressed, and for time,even outlawed. It’s never too late.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You have an emotional dedication to Hawai`i’s rich past, and you presentlywish
to make a difference in Hawai`i’s future.
Whether you are kanaka maoli (native Hawaiian) or not…

• It's time that you become an informed, knowledgeable voter.
• It's time to aspire to being a pono (upright, moral, fair, just) OHA (Office of Hawaiian Affairs) or Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate trustee.
• It's time to become an informed, astute consumer of media reports on Hawaiian-related and sovereignty issues.
• It's time to become a proactive participant in Hawaiian-related issues.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You want to be a Hawaiian language contributor:

• It's time to consider contributing as a teacher.
• Or, it's time to consider contributing as a translator, as there is a vast storehouse of yet-untranslated materials.
• Or, it's time to consider contributing as a writer of news/ magazine articles, historical accounts, novels, or literary materials for the schools.
• Or, it's time to consider contributing as an anthropologist or linguist in the Pacific, as mastery of its closely related languages are essential.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You have high school or college language requirements,
such as the two years required at the University of Hawai`i or at other colleges.

• It's time to learn a language that makes a positive difference to your homeland. Hawaiian is a language you will use, at various levels, every day in Hawai`i: ordering food, listening to music, singing, speaking pidgin, reading street signs, paddling canoe, dancing hula, knowing place names, reading the newspapers, and discussing cultural and political issues.
• If you’re not from Hawai`i, it's time to learn as much as you can ahead of time before enrolling; unless you’re a language whiz, do not go into it "cold".

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You are considering taking a
Hawaiian language class,

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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You are spiritually inclined.

• It's time to get in tune with the beauty and divinity of life, nature, and relationships.
• It's time to learn that Hawaiian is an encoded language, full of kaona (hidden meanings) and wonderful mysteries to be revealed, but only to those who truly know the language, culture, and history. Until then, beware of charlatans, and charlatans beware.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
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It is simply… Ka Manawa Pono.

• It's time.
• If it is not time, know that learning Hawaiian is not for everyone. If it is not for you, that's okay, too. If you only learn "Aloha" and "Mahalo", that's wonderful! There's mana (spiritual power) in those words.

Ka manawa pono.
This is the Right Time.
Back to the Reasons Index

Share, it’s a very Hawaiian thing to do.
I’m just learning about Search Engines, net spiders, and such, but maybe the best way for others to find their way to this Web site is "by word of mouth" and e-mail. So, feel free to direct others to this site. Feel free to print out stuff for your use and for teaching others. Bookmark, and visit often. With practice, the language will pili (stick).

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