Learning Hawaiian

Aloha. Pretty much every year, I make a resolution to learn a new language. I've attempted to learn Icelandic, Irish/Celtic, French, Spanish, Zwahili and Farsi. I also try to brush up on my German every year. This year, my language choice was made for me because we moved to Hawaii. I was surprised at how many Hawaiian words are in normal day-to-day language. So, in case you've ever had the desire to learn a little Hawaiian, I'm posting a few words, their pronunciation and the meaning. For those who have visited Hawaii, you might be surprised to find you've been mispronouncing a few things. We were.

Here's my very short list of the words I've learned in our two months here (hopefully, I'm learning the right way to say them - if not, I'm sure someone will tell me 😂):

• HAWAII - ha-vy-ee - the state
• OAHU - eww-ah-who - the island
• ALOHA  - ah-low-ha - hello
• MAHALO  - ma-ha-low - thank you
• OHANA - oh-han-a - family
• KEIKI - cay-key - child
• KAPUNA - koo-poo-nah - elderly/grandparent
• MAUKA - mao-cah - in the mountain side of island
• MAKAI - muh-ky - on the ocean side of island
• EWA- ev-eh - one of Oahu suburbs
• PUPU - poo-poo - appetizers
• MALASADA - mall-a-sod-a - Portuguese donut
• MANAPUA - man-a-poo-a - basically, a stuffed bao bun (the chicken curry ones are delicious)
• SLIPPERS - slip-ahs - flip flops

Hawaiian definitely is easier than some of the other languages I've tried (Farsi - I'm  looking at you) but the problem is that there are so many online resources and the pronunciations seem to differ slightly on the sites. I'm just going to wing it and hope for the best (LOL)!

Mahalo!