Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 1, 1 January 1992 — Innovative courses in Hawaiian language [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Innovative courses in Hawaiian language

by Trustee Abe Aiona Trustee for Maui

It is truely said that a Tculture survives as long as its language. The Hawaiian language is an integral part of our heritage and our culture. We must nurture the language as we | nurture the 'aina. The I one to give strength to ®our spirit as the other

gives strength to our bodies. Therefore 1 am presenting to you, as this month's eolumn, the words of Amy Kalei Tam concerning her vision for making the learning of the Hawaiian language a rich and meaningful experience. She has a master's degree with a concentration in Hawaiian Studies and developed this curriculum to combine the spiritual side of the language with its "nuts and bolts." The study modules Kalei developed later became the core credit standard within the college and university system here. Kalei is the widow of a valiant poliee inspector who worked with me when I was Maui poliee chief. "O Ke Au I Kahuli Wela Ka Honua (" When space tumed around the earth heated. " Johnson ) So begins the Kumulipo, an Hawaiian genealogy and creation chant of the 1700s. So too begins an innovative Hawaiian language course — developed and offered since 1989 — by Maui Community College eommunity services division instructor Kalei Tam. Then as now, the nitty-gritty of beginning language and the esoterics of oral literature work together in a language-as-a-whole learning experience. A bold innovation then. But challenging and tempting. And proven possible and wonderfully intriguing. Amy Kalei Tam, longtime MCC English and Hawaiian Studies instructor, now retired, developed the course as one of several open-ended courses integrating basic, living Hawaiian language with a selected chant from oral tradition. Sound, sense, words and images eome to life in

lines of everyday speaking; together with lines of literal and symbolic meanings. The courses are in modules. Eaeh draws upon an oli or mele as the vehicle for integration with basic fundamentals. For example, from mo'olelo (legend) as Pele and Hi'iaka; from mele hula (dance); from mele inoa (name chants); or even chants from halau procedures (protocol) as oli pa'u (skirt dressing) or oli komo (entry); or as already mentioned, the prologue from He Kumulipo (The Source of Deep Darkness.) While training in Hawaiian Chant at UH Manoa, the writer became convinced that oli (chant) facilitates learning language as a whole. An oli or mele is an organic whole. It eommunicates ideas, imagery and emotion in specific and/or general setting of time, plaee, action, theme. The whole ean be seen as parts; ean be seen as language bits or kernels. And more naturally, how the parts eome to make up the whole. Result — the sum is more than the total of the parts! In language study generally, the language is presented in small logical units, such as: (1) general and specific vocabularies, word meaning and usage, word function and role, word position and placement in sentences; and (2) basic and special patterns of sentences as statives, equationals, commands, possession, actor emphatic, situation emphatic. Why not a series of integrated basic language and selected oral traditions for learning language as a whole? Eaeh would serve to amplify, illuminate and reinforce the other. Modules, small bit units, ean be built one upon the other, but not dependent one upon the other. This is possible through the conceptual process we all go through where integration is the mode. Language is a living entity. To study it, particularly as a second language, requires absorbing, feeling, and seeing beyond printed and external limits of grammatical structure or linguistic definitions. Even in seeing, there are differences. Hawaiians have an apt example of this. In their lexicon are two words, nana and 'ike. Nana is to see, to look at, to observe. 'lke is also to see, but to see with insight, to feel, a come-to-know kind of seeing.

The purpose of this innovative series of Hawaiian language is to help on see and feel the language and eventually to eome to know. lt is a lifetime endeavor toward preservation of our Hawaiian heritage. Non-credit course offerings, Office of Community Services, Maui Community College, Spring 1992. Amy Kalei Tam, instructor, M.Ed. I. Title: Our Living Hawaiian Language Description: Hawaiian — A Living Language. Bring it to life! Action, wonder, tradition. Maika po mai — From the night we eame. Hiki mai ka la — The sun rises. We combine sounds and sense with lines from chant He Kumulipo (creation chant.) Eight Saturdays — Jan. 25-March 14 Mornings — 8-9:15 a.m. Kihei School. Last session will be all day field trip. Plaee to be a sacred plaee that had been rededicated by Liholiho, Lo'alo'a ('alo'alo'a.) Fee: $60. II. Title: The Heartbeat Of Hawai'i — Hula Description: Hula 'auwana ('auana). Dance for fun, joy, song. Celebrating life and love. Class will focus on composer Charles E. King's eelebrated song Mi Nei, and his ideal that the dancer sings as she dances. Six Thursdays — Jan. 30-March 5, 7-8:30 p.m. MCC P.Ed and Saturday session, Jan. 22, will be an optional field trip combined with Hawai'i language class. Fee: $60. III. Title: Hawaiian Dance: Mele Hula Description: Dance for fun! For the joy of song — Mele. Mele is poetry and hula is poetry in motion, dance celebrating life and love. Come leam Hawaiian and leam to dance to two beautiful numbers honoring King Kalakaua, the Merrie Monarch. Six Saturdays, April 20-May 25, 8:15-9:30 a.m. Fee: $50. fAmy Tam has a masters with a concentration in Hawaiian studies. In 1969 she started the Hawaiian studies curriculum in the eommuni • fy colleges in Hawaii whieh was gradually built to Uniuersitg of Hawai'i transfer-level and core credit requirement standards. Since retiring from MCC in the ear/y 1980s she has taught many Hawaiian courses at MCC and throughout the community.