HONOLULU, October 8, 2018—Imagine walking into your favorite coffee shop, and saying, “I kapukino naʻu, ke ʻoluʻolu,” and the barista replies, “ʻĀ ʻoia! Pehea ka nui?” This is the Hawaiʻi 1 that those in the Hawaiian-language revitalization movement imagine. A Hawaiʻi where you can use ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian language, everywhere. Now, a new online course is making Hawaiian language learning free and accessible wherever you go, so you could even learn to ‘ōlelo over your morning coffee if you wanted.

Kanaeokana, a network of over 50 Hawaiian culture-based schools and educational organizations, has partnered with Kamehameha Schools and Duolingo, the most popular language-learning platform in the world, to launch a free online ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi course. Duolingo has over 300 million users around the world, and people have been requesting the Hawaiian language for years.

“So many people in our community cherish ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, but not all of them have the time or resources to take classes,” said Pōkiʻi Seto, a member of the development team. “Duolingo’s course allows ʻohana to build a connection to ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi whenever and wherever they can.”

“I jumped at the chance to work with Duolingo because of how closely it aligns with Kanaeokana’s goals to renormalize ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi,” continued Seto. “The Hawaiian language movement is carrying our ʻōlelo to places we never thought it would go. And that’s how it should be.”

In the kingdom era, Hawaiian was spoken by Americans, British, Chinese, Greeks, Spaniards, Tahitians and more, and people in the Hawaiian-language community see Duolingo’s new course as an opportunity to help renormalize the language.

“Our language is our foundation, but it is also the language of this land, and everyone, Hawaiian or not, can connect to the ʻāina more deeply through it,” said Keiki Kawaiʻaeʻa, a Hawaiian language expert who is a major part of Kanaeokana’s Hawaiian language renormalization efforts.

Kawaiʻaeʻa continued, “This course is not about replacing classes; it’s about making ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi more accessible. If you are too busy to enroll in classes or even if you just want to brush up on what you learned, Duolingo is an accessible resource. We hope that families and friends will take the opportunity to use the app as a fun and convenient way to engage in learning Hawaiian together.”

Most of Duolingo’s courses are created by bilingual volunteers from around the world. Since there are relatively few speakers of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, Kanaeokana and Kamehameha partnered to bring together a group of Hawaiian-language specialists from across the islands to create the initial content set.

“Duolingo is a true innovation in mobile language-learning,” said Kāʻeo Duarte, Vice President of Community Engagement and Resources at the Kamehameha Schools, a Kanaeokana member. “Bringing ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi to this platform is just continuing the tradition of our ancestors in the nineteenth century who embraced the new technology of print to pass on our traditions and moʻolelo.”

ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi will be available on Duolingo’s website on October 8, 2018, to coincide with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Check out the course for yourself at: https://www.duolingo.com/course/hw/en/Learn-Hawaiian-Online .

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Media contacts

Name: Michaela Kron, PR Manager, Duolingo Email: [email protected]

Name: Kēhaunani Abad, Director, Kealaiwikuamo‘o, Kamehameha Schools (in support of Kanaeokana) Mobile: 808-366-5235 Email: [email protected]