Pronunciation Practice Text With Audio
This free reading practice is available to both members and non-members of ʻŌlelo Online, as well as those in the ʻŌlelo Online Virtual Classroom.
Introduction
This short excerpt comes from a set of articles written in the first few issues of the very first newspaper in Hawaiʻi, Ka Lama Hawaii, published in 1834 by Bostonian missionaries on their heavy and hard-working printing press at Lahainaluna Seminary (now Lahainaluna High School on Maui).
The series was written to teach Hawaiian readers about foreign four-footed animals such as the hippopotamus, deer, bison, and giraffe. The latter is the subject of this first couple of paragraphs of the article from March 7th, 1834 in the fourth edition of the newspaper.
How To Use This Lesson
This resource is primarily targeted at the beginner level student who wants to practice pronunciation. There are several great ways to use the lesson:
- listen to the entire audio a few times and then try to replicate what you heard on your own
- see if you can read along at the same time and with the same pacing as the reader
- listen to the audio while trying to “shadow” the reader by simultaneously repeating what he says immediately after you hear it without stopping
- find a friend who is also learning Hawaiian to work with and use the PDF printout to read to your partner (who does not have the paper) and have your partner shadow you
- record yourself reading the passage and listen back to it
In all cases above, you should listen to your own voice and continually analyze the quality of both your phrasing and your pronunciation. You must become good at doing this all the time when learning a new language, and even when you think you are completely fluent! Now is a good time to start building that skill. When you listen to your own recording, put aside what you think is your “funny sounding voice” —because that’s how we all hear you anyway!— and focus on the quality of your spoken language.
Lesson Resources
The resources for this lesson include marked-up PDFs and audio readings for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.
Following the resources links below is the complete text (in Hawaiian) along with an English translation to help you understand what the Hawaiian was talking about.
Reading Practice PDFs
Read-Along Audio Files
No Ke Kāmelopadi
Ua kapa ʻia kēia lio he kāmelopadi, no ka mea, ua like iki ia me ke kāmelo, a ua kikokiko e like me ka leopadi; no laila, ua kapa ʻia ma muli o ia mau mea ʻelua.
ʻAʻole i like kona ʻano me kekahi lio ʻē. Ua like kona mau wāwae a me nā kapuaʻi me ko ka dia. Ua like kona ʻāʻī me ko ka lio maoli, a ua like kekahi ʻano o kona poʻo me ko ka lio; ʻelua ona pepeiao hao pōkole. Ua pōkole kona kino; ua kiʻekiʻe loa ke poʻo, a kū pololei ka ʻāʻī i luna, ua kiʻekiʻe ke kino ma mua, a haʻahaʻa ma hope; e piʻi nō ke kua mai ka huelo a i ka ʻāʻī e like me ka ʻaoʻao o ka hale. Ua pōkole kona huelo, a ma ka wēlau he puʻu lauoho. No ke kiʻekiʻe o kona poʻohiwi a no ka lōʻihi a me ke kū pono ʻana o kona ʻāʻī, ua kupanaha ia lio.
translation
About The Camelopard (Giraffe)
This animal is called a “camelopard” because it is a little like the camel and it is spotted like the leopard; therefore it is named as a result of those two things.
Its characteristics are not like any other foreign quadruped. Its legs/feet and hooves are like those of the deer. Its neck is like that of a horse, and some aspects of its head are like those of the horse. It has two short horns. Its body is short; its head is very high, and the neck stands straight up, and the front of the body is high while the rear is lower; the back rises from the tail to the neck like the side of a [Hawaiian] house. Its tail is short, and on the end is a tuft of hair. Due to the height of its shoulders and the length and upright nature of its neck, this quadruped is quite amazing.
translation by Kaliko Beamer-Trapp