Keola Donaghy: Olelo

Signs, signs, everywhere signs.

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 00:17:20 GMT

If this had happened tomorrow (St. Patrick's Day), I probably would have fallen flat on my face... One of our Hawaiian Studies majors came into our office with a young part-Hawaiian woman, perhaps 20 years old. He introduced us, and she explained that she had lived in Cork off and on from when she was eight until she was about 16. Apparently her father is from Cork and she has many relatives still there. We talked about our experiences there, and her eyes grew large when I explained that I was considering pursuing a Ph.d. at either UC-Cork or QUB. Apparently some of her Irish-speaking relatives visit frequently, so we talked about wrangling one of them to teach. She hasn't lost her love of the language, though apparently has lost much of it to disuse. We'll have to fix that.

The kind of comment that can make your day.

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 07:33:55 GMT

Or year. 'Analu is a student in our online Hawaiian language class, and I can relate to his feelings. Since returning from Ireland some 3 and a half years ago, I've tried to make some progress with learning Gaeilge, only to give it up after a few weeks, and then starting from scratch again months later. Here's the best part:

"I do have a cassette for studying the language, but your podcast was the first time ever that I was able to hear Hawaiian as a true living language!"

I know exactly how 'Analu feels, as An tImeall and Cumann Carad na Gaeilge have filled that void for me. David Webb started a Yahoo group for people who are working through the "Learning Irish" text together. I no longer feel like I'm alone with my textbooks and tapes in the middle of nowhere struggling with the language and not knowing how or where I'll ever be able to use it. It feels good.

Nahenahe.net Podcasts going native.

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 04:26:44 GMT

I posted an announcement and a brief podcast on Nahenahe.net announcing my decision to cease the use of English in my podcasts. I'm sure some people will be unhappy with this decision, but I spent the better part of a week pondering. English is my native language, and Hawaiian my language of choice. I couldn't justify starting another podcast just to do one in Hawaiian, and I didn't want to do a Hawaiian language podcast and simply talk about Hawaiian language in it. As Conn does with his An tImeall podcast, I didn't want Hawaiian to be simply the vehicle, but also the content. The language needs to live in these contemporary contexts. Conn talks tech on his Irish language podcast, I'll talk about music in mine. I'm comfortable with the decision; only time will tell what the reaction will be.

Measuring Linguistic Diversity on the Internet.

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 17:28:45 GMT

Coincidences (or signs) seem to abound this week. Following Conn's post and my reply on his upcoming decision on whether or not to begin posting in English as well as Irish, I recieved this link from a totally different source... "UNESCO has been emphasizing the concept of 'knowledge societies', which stresses plurality and diversity instead of a global uniformity in order to bridge the digital divide and to form an inclusive information society. An important theme of this concept is that of multilingualism for cultural diversity and participation for all the languages in cyberspace." I should also note that Bernie Goldbach has posted his thoughts on Conn's post. Well put, Bernie.

To Gaeilge or not to Gaeilge, that is the question.

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 06:16:20 GMT

Conn at an tImeall posted about a topic that I've been agonizing over as well - weblog and podcast language choice. His blog is, of course, done in Irish. I was a bit surprised to see that the bulk of hist post today in English, though the accompanying podcast was still predominantly in Irish. His quandary - should he continue to blog and podcast in Irish exclusively (BTW, I like the term "GaelBlogs"), or to begin to also produce them in English as well. Is it better to have separate blogs for each language, or produce a dual language blog. He has many valid points about the value of being able to fully participate in the technology blogosphere. As it is, he can read both Irish and English tech blogs, but by publishing an tImeall in Irish only, he restricts his own readership and participation. I agree with Conn that not everyone has to be an "A-list" blogger to create value on the web. This blog exists to entertain me and me alone. If others stumble across it and find something of value or interest, that's gravy. Like him, I view it as "thinking out loud", and appreciate (most of the time) people taking the time too comment on my thoughts. I've done quite a bit of soul-searching myself. I did a Nahenahe.net podcast in Hawaiian a few weeks ago, on a whim. I didn't intend it to be a cultural or linguistic statement, but I guess it is. As far as I know there are no regular Hawaiian language podcasts. That alone should be incentive for me to do one, but at this point it is not. I have two blogs, both done in English, and I need to start another one like I need another hole in my head. Ditto for doing a second podcast. If I do the Nahenahe.net podcasts in Hawaiian I might gain some new listeners and probably lose a lot more. Not that this is an issue for me personally, but it would negatively affect those that I believe benefit most from the existence of the blog and podcast - my friends in the recording industry and their fans and supporters. While our situations are somewhat similar, there is one glaring difference - by posting in English, Conn would expose his thoughts and writings to a far larger audience. If I begin to podcast in Hawaiian only, I greatly reduce my own. Of course, many may listen simply for the music or to listen to the "sonorous" (as it has been described) Hawaiian language. But most would be in a similar situation that I face in listening to An tImeall - being able to pick out a few words or a short phrase, but not comprehending the bulk of the podcast or blog. I can't make out most of the comments he's gotten on his blog in response to his request for feedback. I image most he will get will be the "it's your blog so do what you want, but this is what I think..." variety. Which is exactly what I'm going to do here The value of Conn's blog and podcast to me at this point is simply the fact that it is done in Irish. I am a long way from being able to comprehend and appreciate what he is talking about. While he obviously takes great pride in his ability to communicate on a specialized topic like technology in Irish, the language itself is simply the vehicle and not the content. From that perspective, my desire for him to continue to blog and podcast should be inconsequential, and I don't mind. If he were to stop blogging or podcasting in Irish, he's left behind a significant legacy of material in the Irish language. I did this a few years ago when I blogged my travels in Ireland in Hawaiian. A hundred years from now, my (hopefully) Hawaiian-speaking great-great-great-great grandchildren will be able to read and appreciate it. And hopefully Conn's work will be seen, heard and appreciated by his. When my wife and I departed Ireland three and a half years ago, I made a promise to myself that I would continue to learn the language. I have found it very difficult to fulfill that promise, however, in discovering his blog and podcast, and those of others, I have been inspired to pick it up again. The technology has made it possible for me to connect with speakers of Irish (or at least those that tolerate a Gaeilge newbie's feeble efforts). Perhaps there will soon be a real (I hate the term "virtual") Gaeltacht online, where people will be able to interact as Gaeilge synchronously and asynchronously, as easily as someone in Ireland. So my friend, whatever decision you make will be the right one. I have hours and hours of your podcast that I will someday be able to listen to and appreciate for their content as well as their language vehicle. And your work has helped inspire me to fulfill a promise to myself. Consider it an unintended consequence of your work, but certainly not one that compels you to keep doing it. Go raibh maith agat a mo chara. As for Nahenahe.net, I am not considering switching the blog to Hawaiian, but may do so for the podcast. And while I value my listeners and their opinions, the decision is ultimately mine alone.

Funding to help business in city go bilingual.

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 23:50:42 GMT

[ From the Daily Ireland ] "Businesses in Belfast are being encouraged to embrace the Irish language with the relaunch of a scheme to help them benefit from using it more. Foras na Gaeilge is offering small to medium-sized enterprises funding to erect bilingual outdoor signs on their premises or produce brochures or websites in both Irish and English." I've sometimes thought of starting a program in Hawai'i that would encourage the promotion of Hawaiian in the business arena. More and more my family and I encounter Hawaiian speakers that we don't know, and learn this by some chance encounter. I often wonder how many people we encounter on a daily basis can speak the language, but we don't know it, and they don't know we do either. What if a store would advertise that it has Hawaiian speaking employees. I'm sure the Hawaiian speaking community would support such an endeavor and patronize such an establishment. No program yet exists to support such efforts.

13th Annual Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium.

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 22:30:27 GMT

2006 SILS Conference Theme "And Together Our Minds Are One". To be held at Buffalo State College, State University of New York, 18-21, 2006.

Wired: How Do You Say Computer in Hawaiian?

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 23:04:53 GMT

My goodness, 10 years has passed since this article was first published in Wired. Boy, do I feel old now. The work that is described in this article laid the foundation for everything that we've done with Hawaiian and technology since. Reading the article again has brought back some fond memories. Thank God Connie didn't take any pictures for the article. Wait, I think she did but they weren't published with the article. Whew! Wired was the magazine for geeks in those days, and the article brought us a lot of recognition and offers of kōkua (help).

Hawaiian language enjoying revival in its homeland.

Sun, 13 Mar 2005 20:45:19 GMT

The North County Times has a nice feature on the efforts to revitalize the Hawaiian language, particularly as a medium of education. Our college's director, Dr. Kalena Silva, is extensively quoted.

Global Pop, Local Language.

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 00:27:47 GMT

I came across this book in my search for a dissertation topic, and have not been disappointed. It examines how global performers deal with the issue of language and dialect choice. I was most intrigued by Anthony McCann's article on the heirarchy of tradition in Irish- and English-language song in Ireland, and am considering a similar approach to the analysis of language choice in Hawai'i's musical traditions. Global Pop, Local Language also includes an interesting article by C. K. Szego on Hawaiian language performances at Kamehameha School. I highly recommend the book.

Next Royal Hawaiian Band leader must speak Hawaiian?

Fri, 25 Feb 2005 01:57:38 GMT

Former bandmaster Aaron Mahi testified in favor of a bill which would require future bandmasters of the Royal Hawaiian Band be able to speak Hawaiian. I'd like to see it go further - all future members of the band should be required to speak the language or must commit to learning it. At the very least the ability to speak Hawaiian should be a "desirable qualification" for any potential future employee of the band.

High Tech Hawai'i Appearance In Real Video.

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 01:18:38 GMT

Our ITS division is on the ball - my appearance with Bob Stauffer on David Lassner's "High Tech Hawai'i" TV program is online and streaming already.

High Tech Hawai'i TV Appearance Next Tuesday.

Sat, 19 Feb 2005 23:10:44 GMT

I'll be appearing on David Lassner's "High Tech Hawai'i" TV program next Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005 at 8PM, along with my colleague Robert Stauffer from Alu Like, Inc. The show will highlight Ulukau, the electronic library for the Hawaiian language. Ulukau currently features an extensive collection of Hawaiian language source materials including searchable and downloadable Hawaiian language books, newspapers from the 1800 and 1900s, historic and contemporary Hawaiian dictionaries, the Hawaiian Bible, and a database of place names. And that's just the beginning. It will be broadcast through Hawai'i on the UH channel available through most cable providers, and also webcast.

Combining drama and the Irish language is the way to go.

Thu, 17 Feb 2005 20:55:08 GMT

This sounds like an outstanding initiative to get children excited about and using the Irish language, and something we should probably look at for Hawaiian.

Useless and worthless.

Tue, 08 Feb 2005 23:21:21 GMT

This article is filled with so many inaccuracies and generalizations it's hard to pick a place to begin. First and foremost, the Hawaiian language is not extinct. It never was outlawed, however, its use as a medium of education was. The word "Hawai'i" does not mean "homeland." The author informs us that he has "studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents" and has written two unpublished two books. Hopefully they are better researched than this article.

Governor Lingle's State Of The State Address.

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 22:53:34 GMT

I'm most happy to see this line: "...I've included $20 million to build the long-promised Hawaiian Language Building at UH-Hilo." Yes, it is long-promised and long-overdue. We'll keep our fingers crossed that the legislature funds this request. Mahalo e ke kia‘āina!

Namu Pa'i 'Ai.

Sun, 23 Jan 2005 19:13:27 GMT

Sarah Roberts' weblog features "News and Linguistic Sketches on Hawai'i Creole English and Other Pidgins and Creoles." One of the web examples she posts, though it is not her own, is curious: Lyk da ada dae... he wen stay making troubLe... so den she wen make hym go in tha breakout room... en den Lyk he was pLaying wif everything in there. I grew up in Kihei, Maui. I spoke SE (Standard English) in front of the parents, and HCE (Hawaiian Creole English, or "Pidgin" as it's called here) with friends. I never heard th become f in Pidgin as we spoke it. Most commonly the h was dropped and "with" became "wit." I'm hoping Sarah adds an RSS feed to the blog to ease monitoring it.

Scott summarizes the past 15 years of my life.

Thu, 20 Jan 2005 18:07:19 GMT

I guess on a subconcious level I realized what all of this work meant, but never focused on it in this way. It's simply been a matter of trying to keep the Hawaiian language contemporary and viable in today's society. There have been times that I just want to let it go and focus just on the language, but every once in a while we hit a new high, like getting the OS X support for Hawaiian, and it recharges my battery. Hopefully we'll get Microsoft on board as well and I'll experience that all over again. I've registered the domain Culture-Hack.com. I may just have to change the name of this blog. Thanks for the idea, Scott

Survey finds wide support for Irish-speaking youth radio.

Thu, 20 Jan 2005 17:39:16 GMT

I've thought about this quite a lot myself. In our Hawaian language radio program, Alana I Kai Hikina, we only play music in the Hawaiian language. Most of this is perfomed in a traditional style. However, what if we had a show that played the music that appeals to today's youth, but with the DJs conversing in Hawaiian? Hmmm. Something to think about.

Hawaiian language support in OS X.

Thu, 20 Jan 2005 02:25:38 GMT

This page documents what exactly 'Hawaiian Language Support' means in Mac OS X, with screen shots. We'd love to have all of this in Windows as well. This is the original announcement from August, 24, 2002, a date burned into my memory forever. Some of the information in it is outdated - Office 2004 for Macintosh applications now support Unicode, and therefore support Hawaiian.

I was truly saddened to learn of the passing of 'Elama Kanahele.

Wed, 19 Jan 2005 21:05:02 GMT

She was a true gem of the language, a native speaker of Hawaiian, and treasured teacher. Her passing is deeply felt in the Hawaiian language community.

The state legislature is gearing up for the 2005 legislative session.

Sun, 16 Jan 2005 20:59:07 GMT

Senator Kalani English mentioned a bill that would strengthen the use of Hawaiian language in government documents. I helped him put together a bill that was introduced last year; unfortunately it went nowhere due to the very high-visibility legislation that had to be dealt with. I hope he can get some movement on it this year.

Success of bilingual education in Ireland.

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:19:42 GMT

"An Irish-speaking school has reportedly joined the list of the top-10 feeder schools for Trinity College Dublin ahead of some of Ireland's best-known fee-paying institutions." This is similar to our experience. Nearly every 12th grade student that has graduated from our laboratory immersions school, Ke Kula 'O Nawahiokalani'opu'u has been concurrently enrolled in university classes during their senior year in high school, and a very high percentage (in the 90% range) has continued into college. We heard critics for years telling us that our children would not be able to function in college if they received their elementary and secondary education through Hawaiian, but the opposite has happened - they're doing better than students going through the rest of the DOE.

A hui hou e Alana...

Tue, 11 Jan 2005 05:59:41 GMT

I did my last regular appearance on Alana I Kai Hikina last night, but may return periodically as a guest or part-time DJ. Alana founder Makela Bruno-Kidani has returned from a few months off, allowing me to enjoy my Sunday evenings at home again. I'll miss the comradery, though.

3rd Annual Hawai'i International Conference On Arts & Humanities.

Tue, 11 Jan 2005 05:54:44 GMT

I'll be presenting at this conference on Thursday with my colleague Kiele Akana-Gooch. We'll be discussing the development of the Ulukau Hawaiian Language Digital Library project, which seems to grow each day in breadth and depth.