Learn Hawaiian language at your own pace with interesting audio, video, and textual lessons.

ʻŌlelo Online offers video lessons about Hawaiian grammar and structure given in plain English language in a "pen and blackboard" format, with accompanying documentation. There are also audio samples for absolute beginners, intermediate beginners, and budding Hawaiian language speakers. Listen to them to test your comprehension and practice your pronunciation.

Described in the videos are the Hawaiian grammatical structures and their relationships to English grammar. You will also learn about Hawaiian culture and how the language carries cultural understandings which can help inform learners who may not be familiar with the Hawaiian culture or the "local" culture here in the Islands.

College-level ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi resources

University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, Hawaiian Studies and Language resources for students in HAWN 301 - 402, including moʻolelo, mele, and analula.

Clinton Kanahele (1902-1979) spent his career as an educator in Hawaiʻi. He spoke fluent Hawaiian and was dedicated to the preservation of the Hawaiian language. From June-September 1970, Kanahele interviewed 20 kūpuna from around the pae ʻāina, whose exceptional knowledge of language, culture, and history would prove valuable to future generations. This collection, curated by the Joseph F. Smith Library at Brigham Young University Hawaiʻi, is a rare archive of the audio recordings of those interviews in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, with line-by-line transcriptions and translations in both ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and English. Most of the interviewees in this collection were living at the time of the Overthrow and witnessed many changes to the lāhui in their lifetimes. Colloquialisms and regional language variations of mānaleo, captured in first-person audio, make this primary-source collection especially valuable for modern-day listeners and language learners.

In this book by Queen Liliʻuokalani, she recounts stories from her childhood, major events that defined the reigns of former monarchs before her, and the events surrounding the overthrow of her government in 1893.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ (OHA’s) Papakilo Database, is the ongoing development of a cutting edge and comprehensive “Database of Databases” consisting of varied collections of data pertaining to historically and culturally significant places, events, and documents in Hawai'i’s history. This online repository of data will greatly increase our ability to preserve and perpetuate cultural and historical information and practices, thus providing an invaluable resource to educate other regulatory agencies, Native Hawaiian beneficiaries, and the general public.

The Hawaiʻi State constitution, Article XI Section 7 says the state has an obligation to protect, control, and regulate the use of Hawaiʻi water resources for the benefit of its people for now and future generations. But why are the laws not being enforced? And what are the impacts of this failure in East Maui? Watch this video to discover the answers to these questions and more. Dive in deeper still with this article.

Hawaiʻi finds itself in the cross hairs between the military’s needs and the need to protect our ‘āina and its people. We learned from Kahoʻolawe that the impacts of continued bombing will reverberate long after we are gone. So why are we making the same mistakes?

This short film takes a look at the movement around Maunakea and the significance of this crucial issue to the continued vibrancy of our environment and culture.

Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied tells of the ongoing struggle to ensure that the State of Hawai‘i fulfills its commitments to the Native Hawaiian people stemming from the loss of their ancestral lands.

Hawaiʻi's high cost of living and unaffordable housing market is putting more and more pressure on local families. How many more people and generations can we squeeze into our homes just to be able to afford to live here? How many more of our family members have to move away before we say enough is enough?

From Mauna Kea to Hanapēpē, development threatens sacred spaces and Native Hawaiian cultural practices across the pae ʻāina.

Right off the coast of Kauaʻi, 22 salt maker families of Hanapēpē have passed on the traditional methods of making paʻakai (Hawaiian salt) for generations. Each year, the families dig wells, harvest a special clay from the area, and mālama the salt bed to produce paʻakai for the community. However, outside forces such as a powerful Las Vegas-based helicopter company, flooding, pollution, and homelessness all endanger this cultural practice. In this video, the Hanapēpē salt makers share their story.

Hūlili is a multidisciplinary forum for current research that examines the nature, needs and strengths of Hawaiians, their families, and their communities.

Through collaboration and critique, Hūlili fosters new connections and shared insights to mobilize greater Hawaiian well-being. All Hūlilil content is available for free download via pdf including the newly published issues 11.1 and 11.2.