He ʻŌlelo Ola Field Study

An optional two-day He ʻŌlelo Ola Hilo Field Study (on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi) to visit Hawaiian language revitalization programs in action will take place March 4-5, 2019, immediately after the ICLDC conference on the island of Oʻahu. 35 years ago marks the start to restore life for the Hawaiian language through Hawaiʻi’s first Pūnana Leo Hawaiian language medium preschools. The Hilo Field Study provides first-hand experience of Hawaiian language revitalization by visiting the infant toddler through high school Hawaiian medium education system. The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s College of Hawaiian Language prepares fluent second Hawaiian language speakers to become Hawaiian immersion teachers through the College’s Kahuawaiola Teacher Licensing Program. The theme for the He ʻŌlelo Ola Hilo Field Study conference, Lono Aʻe I Nā Leo Kūpuna – Hearing Ancestral Voices, highlights Hawaiʻi’s last native Hawaiian speakers and the importance of connecting to language documentation for language rejuvenation.