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The Importance Of The Hawaiian Language

Decent Essays

This loss of language persists in today’s era though it has improved as time passes. Though Hawaiian phrases such as aloha and ohana are commonly used due to the popularization of media and film, the use of the language in daily life in terms of use of literature and communication is not as frequent. The Hawaiian language revival movement, known as the Ku’ikahi ‘Olelo Hawai’i (Brezinger and Heinrich, 2010), was stimulated by the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The movement itself began with the resurfacing of Hawaiian dance and song and later encompassed the language in daily use. A central figure in the movement is Doctor Larry Kimura who spent years documenting the speech of the last Hawaiian language speakers on the island and worldwide (University of Hawaii, Hilo, n.d.). Additionally, Doctor Kimura emphasized the importance education has on spreading the Hawaiian language to future generations in order to keep the language alive. In speaking solely Hawaiian to children during their developmental years, ages 0-5 (The First Five Years, n.d.), the children can continue using their first language for the rest of their life even as they learn English when they grow older. Furthermore, with Doctor Kimura’s awareness in the importance of education, children can continue using the language when they enter school, due to the fact that many public and private schools teach the curriculum in a bilingual, or medium, setting, incorporating English and Hawaiian. This course of

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