Hawaiian · ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
Hub 9 verified age-safe resources · revitalization cluster. A short orientation plus a verified resource table — not a generated essay.
About Hawaiian
- Language family
- Austronesian, Polynesian branch
- Where it's spoken
- The Hawaiian Islands
- Speakers
- a critically endangered language with only a few thousand fully fluent speakers, now growing through immersion schooling
Hawaiian is part of the Polynesian branch of Austronesian, related to Māori, Tahitian, and Samoan through a shared ancestor spoken by Pacific voyagers over a thousand years ago. It has one of the smallest sound inventories of any language, with just eight consonants and five vowels. Near-extinction after decades of suppression in schools was reversed starting in the 1980s through Hawaiian-medium immersion preschools ('Aha Pūnana Leo), now credited with rebuilding a new generation of fluent speakers.
| Resource | Type | Levels | Cost | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wikipedia Hawaiian
Open reading practice by topic in the language's own Wikipedia edition.
|
reading | A2-C2 | free | 2026-07-22 |
|
Forvo Hawaiian pronunciation dictionary
Native-speaker word pronunciations, searchable.
|
reference | A1-C2 | freemium | 2026-07-22 |
|
Omniglot: Hawaiian writing & pronunciation
Script and orthography orientation with sample text.
|
reference | A1-B1 | free | 2026-07-22 |
|
DLI GLOSS (Hawaiian search)
Search GLOSS for authentic Hawaiian reading/listening lessons — coverage varies by language.
|
course free | B1-C1 | free | 2026-07-22 |
|
italki Hawaiian tutors
Speaking-practice marketplace; confirm tutor availability for less common languages.
|
tutoring | A1-C2 | paid | 2026-07-22 |
|
Mango Languages Hawaiian
Conversation-based course; often free through public libraries.
|
course paid | A1-B1 | freemium | 2026-07-22 |
|
Duolingo Hawaiian
Gamified intro course; app-based practice.
|
course free | A1-B1 | freemium | 2026-07-22 |
|
Wehewehe Wikiwiki (Hawaiian dictionary)
Hawaiian-English dictionary maintained by the Hawaiian language college at UH Hilo.
|
reference | A1-C2 | free | 2026-07-22 |
|
ʻŌiwi TV
Hawaiian language and culture media; some content fully in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.
|
listening | A2-C2 | free | 2026-07-22 |