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DriveLanguage revitalisation fact

Hawaiian, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, came close to disappearing in the twentieth century. Families revived it by opening Hawaiian-language preschools in 1984 and winning Hawaiian-medium classes in public schools in 1987, a path that now runs from early childhood to university.

Hawaiian language

LanguageCulture

The story behind the card

In 1896, three years after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, a law made English the language of instruction in schools, and speaking Hawaiian in class was soon discouraged, sometimes punished. By the early 1980s, by the organisers' estimate, fewer than fifty children could speak it. Parents and teachers founded the Pūnana Leo ('nest of voices') preschools, where only Hawaiian is spoken, then campaigned for classes in state schools where children learn every subject, from mathematics to science, in Hawaiian. The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has run a doctoral programme in Hawaiian and Indigenous language and culture revitalisation since 2006, the first of its kind.

Türkçe oku
Hawaii dili, yani ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, 20. yüzyılda neredeyse yok olmuştu. Aileler 1984'te Hawaii dilinde eğitim veren anaokulları açarak, 1987'de de devlet okullarında bu dilde eğitim hakkını kazanarak dili yeniden canlandırdı. Bu yol bugün anaokulundan üniversiteye uzanıyor.

Hawaii Krallığı'nın devrilmesinden üç yıl sonra, 1896'da çıkan bir yasa okullarda eğitim dilini İngilizce yaptı; kısa süre sonra sınıfta Hawaii dilinde konuşmak hoş karşılanmaz, kimi zaman cezalandırılır oldu. 1980'lerin başında, girişimi başlatanların tahminine göre, bu dili konuşabilen çocukların sayısı elliyi bulmuyordu. Anne babalar ve öğretmenler yalnızca Hawaii dilinin konuşulduğu Pūnana Leo (“seslerin yuvası”) anaokullarını kurdu; ardından devlet okullarında matematikten fen bilgisine bütün derslerin Hawaii dilinde okutulduğu sınıflar için mücadele etti. Hawaii Üniversitesi'nin Hilo kampüsü 2006'dan bu yana, Hawaii dilinin ve öteki yerli dillerle kültürlerin yeniden canlandırılması üzerine türünün ilk örneği olan bir doktora programı yürütüyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Hawaiian language
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