Hakuoh Students from Japan

This year we will be having a lot of short-term program students joining us from all over the world. Our short-term programs are perfect for visiting student groups that would like to improve their English skills as well as to experience the culture of Hawaii firsthand. The ESL classes and excursions are custom-designed for each group to maximize their learning experience.

One of our first groups for the new year comes to us from Hakuoh University in Japan. They have been going all around the island and breathing in the culture and beauty of Maui. Not only did they get to explore all around the island, but they also went to the beach to feel the smooth Maui sand between their toes. And of course, you can't come to Hawaii without trying some of the delicious food here. They got to try traditional Hawaiian cuisine as well as some local delicacies. If you want to see a sample of the delicious Hawaiian food that they ate here, check out our blog about food. Trust me, you can’t read any of those blog without getting hungry!

I mentioned in previous blog that Hawaii Pidgin English was influenced from the many different cultures that live together here. Today's Pidgin word is a perfect example of how certain words from different cultures were taken and incorporated into Hawaii Pidgin English. The word is "bachi" and it comes from the Japanese language. Bachi carries a meaning of divine punishment, kind of like karma. So if you see someone doing something bad, you can tell them that they will get bachi. Let's take a look at an example conversation to see how this word is used.

Michael: Eh, we go play inside dat graveyard!
John: What? What you like do dat fo? That place is sacred lolo! No do dat bumbai you going get bachi!

Translation:
Michael: Hey, let's go play in that graveyard!
John: What? Why in the world would you want to do that? That place is sacred dummy! If you do that you'll get bad luck.

Wow! That conversation was chocked full of Pidgin English words! We already learned all of these words from past blogs except for the word "lolo." Lolo refers to someone who is not smart, or in more colloquial terms, an idiot or a dummy. Although this word has a negative meaning, it is usually not used to viciously insult someone. It is usually used between friends to lightheartedly say how crazy or idiotic a person or situation is. So if you hear someone say "ai, dat guy is so lolo," it means something like "wow that guy is so crazy!"
It's time for me to say goodbye but another blog update is already on it's way. Until then, aloha!

Our Special Guests

Aloha everyone! Today we have two special guests joining us on our blog. Our first guest is Eun Young, who is originally from Korea. Our second guest is Kentaro, and he comes to us from Japan. Eun Young and Kentaro were full-time students at the MLI, but eventually moved into the credit program here at the University of Hawaii, Maui campus. Through their hard work, they were able to improve their English skills and take classes at a college-level

I had the chance to talk to them between their classes, and found out how they felt about the classes that they took from the MLI as well as how they felt about the classes they are currently taking at UH – Maui College. Eun Young is currently taking English 21 while Kentaro is taking English 19 and English 21. Both of them said that the English classes at UHMC can be difficult at times because of the fast pace of the classes. However, Kentaro said that the classes at MLI challenged his critical thinking skills, which gave him the motivation to study harder. He also likes the fact that there are students from all over the world who attend the Maui Language Institute, and this diversity makes the classes fun and exciting. Eun Young said that she loves the MLI classes as well, because everyone there shares the same goal of improving their English. The camaraderie that the students have with one another provides an atmosphere in which she can be totally comfortable. In fact, many students say that they look forward coming to class because of the friends that they have made here. Both Eun Young and Kentaro had to get to their next class, but I would like to thank them for taking the time to talk with us!

As you can tell from some of the previous blogs, I love food! In a couple of the past blogs, I talked about some of the local cuisine that we have here in Hawaii. If you haven't had a chance to read those blogs yet, check them out! Be warned however... it might make you hungry!

Today I would like to talk a little bit more about the delicious cuisine of Hawaii. A dish that everyone in Hawaii knows and loves is saimin. Saimin is a dish consisting of thin noodles in a clear soup base. It is similar to ramen, a Japanese dish that originated in China. Many of you have probably tried instant ramen (especially starving college students) before, and at first glance, it looks exactly like saimin. However, the ingredients that go into making of bowl of saimin differs. Saimin is literally a melting pot of cultures. It has its origins from the plantation days of Hawaii, where Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, and Korean laborers lived close to one another. Elements from each culture were incorporated in communal meals, and this would eventually lead to the birth of saimin.

There are many other food dishes in Hawaii that have been born from the influence of the different cultures here. Many of these dishes have become local favorites that you should definitely try when you come to Hawaii. My recommendations are shoyu chicken (shouyu is the Japanese name for soy sauce). In Hawaii, we actually say "shoyu" instead of "soy sauce,” chicken katsu, mochiko chicken, spam musubi, and of course saimin!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to eat now! So until next time, take care and aloha!

MLI's former Poet-In-Residence Publishes First Novel!

Eric Paul Shaffer is author of five books of poetry, including Lahaina Noon; Living at the Monastery, Working in the Kitchen; Portable Planet; RattleSnake Rider; and Kindling. His poetry appears in more than two hundred local, national, and international reviews and in the anthology 100 Poets Against the War. Shaffer received the 2002 Elliot Cades Award for Literature and a 2006 Ka Palapala Po'okela Book Award for Lahaina Noon. He won a 2006 Fellowship to the Summer Fishtrap Writers Workshop in Oregon. Burn & Learn, his first novel, was published in Fall 2009. He teaches at Honolulu Community College and was recently awarded the 2009 James M. Vaughan Award for poetry (Hawaii Pacific University's yearly poem contest).

Dr. Eric Paul Shaffer, a former instructor at MLI, just published his first novel. He recently read from his latest work to a highly receptive audience at a book launching event in Wailuku. Not only is Eric a gifted writer, but he is an astute storyteller and had the audience in stitches during his presentation in which he took on the roles of many of his colorful characters. One of Eric's main attributes is his ability to find humor in himself and in life's ordinary circumstances. MLI caught up with Eric in the following interview.

How long did you work at the MLI? Do you have a favorite memory from your time at the MLI that you would like to share?

My favorites memories of MLI are the people. I worked with Alice, Derek, Jackie, Nicole, and Amy, and they were all the kindest, most generous, funniest, smartest, and most hard-working people I know. My students were also a delight. So many were dedicated to becoming fluent in English by spending all of the time they needed to spend to make their dreams come true, and that kind of dedication is always inspiring. In my Vocabulary class, we used to play a game that included all of the students. We were yelling and laughing and scoring vocabulary points, and those games were a lot of fun. That is what I remember most often.

When did you become interested in writing/poetry and how did you get started?

Reading motivated me to start writing. I became a writer because I am a reader. There are many ways to come to writing, but in my view, the best way is to be encouraged to write by another writer. At the age of four or so, I became enthralled by reading when my grandmother taught me to read. My Nana, my mother's mother, Marion Gates Finlay, was the one who taught me to read. I loved to be read to, and she taught me to read by reading me the same story over and over, and as she did, she pointed at each word as she spoke. Eventually, I memorized the story, and I could read as she pointed at the words, and on the day that I read the story, I felt the excitement that eventually motivated me to write and still does. I write poetry because I love to read poetry. I think poetry is the most difficult kind of writing because the successful writer needs to be aware of so many parts of his or her culture. I love a challenge that requires creativity, knowledge, all five senses, a sense of humor, and a sense of wonder, and writing poems provides that.

Is there a process you follow when you are writing one of your pieces?

I keep my eyes, ears, mouth, and mind open. Each of these organs contributes greatly to a good poem. Eyes provide images. Ears follow and listen and direct attention. Mouth provides conversation and information and stories. And a mind provides a good way to combine all that the other in the best possible way. Once that is in place, a writer needs a schedule, and he or she needs to stick to that schedule and write every day. No one who doesn't write every day is really a writer.

Do you have any books or movies that inspired you as a writer?

I've only been inspired to write by books. When I was young, I was inspired by A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin. They taught me that any one of us can make up stories, good stories. As I got older, I read everything: Melville, Marvell, Vonnegut, Trollope, Shakespeare, King, Koontz, Collins. From them I learned some of what was possible to write about.

The moment of inspiration that I remember most clearly was the moment I finished reading The Tokyo-Montana Express by Richard Brautigan. I was very impressed with his writing and the shape of the novel. I looked up and thought to myself, "I want to write my own novel." That day I wrote five short pieces that became chapters in my novel, Burn & Learn.

Could you tell me about your new book?

Burn & Learn is a wild tale of five friends attending college, drinking coffee at the Frontier Restaurant, and learning the wisdom of the ages, the era, and the street in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This episodic novel begins where Laurence Sterne and Richard Brautigan left off, introducing a truly amusing and alluring wilderness of words through which readers can blaze their own glorious trials.

The novel reveals all in thirteen modes ranging from mythology, science-fiction fables, American koans, Coyote tales, coyote chapters, BookMovie chapters, Missing Lists (and other relevant context), realistic narrative, encyclopedic entries enumerating the details the Century of Technological Disaster, commentary on the Ideal Edition of the novel, a love story, a lost-love story, and parables of four monkish brothers residing in a cabin on the Continental Divide.

Reckless, K.C., K.C., King Charles the RagMan, and Rufus (and others) are the central figures in a novel that encompasses all time from the beginning to the end of the universe and examines everything through the brief, flickering frames of 167 short chapters projecting the brief, brilliant moments that sparkle through the lives and glimmer in the darkness above the heads of this handful of friends and a host of mythological, fabulous, cinematic, historic, and literary characters.

Readers can hop, skip, and jump through the book to their heart's, hand's, mind's, and eyes' content. Nothing is missing, even if readers overlook something accidentally, purposely, temporarily, or permanently, and the chapters are best read as constellations in the night sky are read: by making connections between the twinkling lights that fill the darkness that surrounds us.

Most important, Burn & Learn is the most complete sequel currently available to The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, and one character may even look familiar in color and in black and white. The initials are K.C.

Do you think that it is necessary for a writer to incorporate their personal experiences and feelings into their works?

"Necessary" implies that writers can choose. We don't get to choose; no one does. Writers will incorporate their personal experiences and feelings because fundamentally we are our personal experiences and feelings. The real question is how we will incorporate our experiences and feelings.

Some of us write barely-fictionalized autobiography; others create entire past and future universes of aliens, demons, gods, and ghosts. Still, writers are all, in some fundamental way, writing about their personal experiences and feelings because they have no choice. Everything writers write about comes from and is shaped by them.

That is the long way around to say yes.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who would like to be published one day?

I always give the same advice: read, read, read, write, read, read, read, write, revise, read, read, write, write, publish, and repeat.

Front Street Escapades

Aloha! We're back once again for more fabulous updates here at the Maui Language Institute. This past Friday, we went out on another one of our fun field trips. We went to Lahaina, a town filled with history and wonderful sights. It's no coincidence that the name Lahaina comes from a Hawaiian word meaning "unmerciful sun." The weather in Lahaina is usually hot and sunny, which makes it a perfect place to explore the town by foot or to take a leisurely stroll on the along the beach.

For our field trip, we explored Front Street, which is a popular area filled with lots of interesting shops, historical sites, and amazing restaurants. Lahaina is also the place to be if you are an art lover. There are many art galleries here, as well as an art night with special events that happen every Friday night. The Lahaina Town Action Committee has a website that lists many of the upcoming events and you can check them out at http://www.visitlahaina.com/

After arriving in Lahaina, we walked around and explored the many shops and historical sites on Front Street. The beautiful sunny weather provided us with an absolutely breathtaking view of the ocean and the West Maui Mountains. After we did a little shopping and sightseeing, we decided to grab some lunch. We went to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant. We chose this restaurant because our advanced Film Studies students had just finished studying the movie, Forrest Gump. When the restaurant hosted a raffle to see how much our group knew about Forrest Gump, they were surprised to discover that our students knew answer!

And now on to our Pidgin word of the day! Today's word is "manini (rhymes with "panini")." A Manini is actually the name of a species of fish, but in Hawaiian Pidgin English, it carries a meaning of something small or insignificant. While it can be used to describe the size of something, it is often used to describe a situation (and how insignificant it is). Let's take a look at an example.

1. Micah: Ho I gotta walk all da way to school tomorrow!
Adam: What? Bra, that's so maninis!

Translation:
Micah: Man....I have to walk to school tomorrow!
Adam: What are you complaining about? It's only 5 minutes away!

2. Wesley: I gotta do my math homework by tomorrow!
Josh: Ahh sooo minini dat!

Translation:
Micah: I have to finish my math homework by tomorrow!
Josh: That shouldn't be a problem at all! (Implying that Micah should be able to finish his math homework quickly because it's easy).

Another word that carries the same meaning is "minors." This word is probably easier to understand because it has virtually the same meaning as the word "minor" in standard English. The only difference is that in Pidgin English, an "s" is added on the end.

3. Mike: Ho, you no have choke work fo do today?
Billy: Nah bu, minors!

Translation:
Mike: Hey, don't you have a lot of work to do today?
Billy: Nah, it won't be a problem at all!

Okay folks! That's all for now but stayed tuned for another update coming soon! Aloha!

Our Very Own Idol

Aloha and welcome back to another MLI blog update! I've got some exciting news for you! A couple of weeks ago, there was a talent competition held on the Maui Community College campus that was open to all students. Many students auditioned and only 6 acts made it to the next round. One of our students, Hidenori "Denny," auditioned and passed with flying colors!

The competition was fierce, but Denny gave it his all and performed with energy and charisma. Nearly a hundred people were present at the talent show and all were asked to fill out a secret ballot to vote for their favorite act of the night. The votes were tallied and the winners were announced...Denny took 2nd place! What is even more amazing is that Denny taught himself how to play the ukulele. The host family that he is living with had an ukulele that was left behind by one of their former host students and Denny picked it up one day and never put it back down. By watching videos on YouTube and through diligent practice, Denny built up an impressive repertoire of songs. Now, just one year later, Denny claimed 2nd place in a competition filled with many other talented artists. On behalf of everyone here at the Maui Language Institute, I would like to congratulate Denny on doing such a great job. We look forward to hearing more of Denny's music in the future. Congratulations Denny!

A Little Taste of the MLI

Hey there! I told you we would be back in a flash! Thursday, October 8th was the last day of our Fall I session. I can't believe how fast time is flying by! The one good thing about coming to the end of a session is our wonderful potluck. If you have been reading our blogs, you know that we celebrate the end of each session by having a potluck party. Many of our students showcase their culinary prowess by cooking succulent dishes that taste amazing. We also had lots of great entertainment. Some of our students acted in skits and presented some of their work from class. One of our students even serenaded us with his solo ukulele music. Our students also got to play a fun, easy game. Students vote for their favorite person in specific categories such as “the best cook”, “the best singing voice”, and “the best laugh” just to name a few. The winner of each category was rewarded with a fun gift. Some students won Hawaii calendars and others won Hawaiian key chains or Hawaiian luggage tags. One student received a beach mat for winning the “best tan” category! That’s it for our MLI update. Now, let’s get onto the Pidgin Lesson.

Today's Pidgin English lesson is simple and sweet. This phrase is easy to learn and can be used in a variety of situations. The phrase is "chance um." The meaning of this phrase is to "take a chance" or to "go for it!" A literal translation of this phrase into standard English would be "chance it." Let's take a look at some real life examples.

1. Tyler: Bra, I don't know wat for do. I got one mean job, but the buggah is in New York. I don't know if I going go or not.
Micah: Bra, chance um!

Translation:
Tyler: I don't know what I should do. I just landed a great job, but I would have to move to New York. I don't know if I am going to take it or not.
Micah: Dude, go for it!
Steve: Ho, Angela, she's mean ah! I like talk to her but I don't know wat fo say...Jeff: Nah, chance um!

2. Steve: Ho, Angela, she's mean ah! I like talk to her but I don't know wat fo say...
Jeff: Nah, chance um!

Translation:
Steve: Hey, don't you think Angela is absolutely gorgeous? I want to talk to her but I don't know what I should say....
Jeff: Go for it man! Take a chance!

See? Nice and simple right? We've reached the end of another blog, but keep practicing your Pidgin English and we'll see you soon!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat...

Hi everyone! We're back with another blog to satisfy your Pidgin English cravings and to fill you in on the fun events taking place at the Maui Language Institute. This past Friday, we took another field trip to the Kahana Beach Park. The last time we were there, we volunteered by helping to clean up the area. So we decided to have a little fun this time and go canoe paddling! We got to experience the feeling of sailing over the beautiful waters of Maui. Some of our students have never tried canoe paddling before, so it was especially memorable for them. After we worked up our appetites from all of that padding, we got to enjoy “choke” food at our potluck. Just like always, there was an amazing variety of culinary treats made by our students. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in the warm Hawaiian sun in the company of good friends.

By the way, if you are ever on Maui, there is a wonderful event celebrating the culture and artistry of canoes that takes place every year called, "The International Festival of Canoes" and it showcases master canoe makers from all over the world. You can actually see tree logs being carved into full-sized canoe hulls. You can check out pictures of last year's event at http://www.mauifestivalofcanoes.com

Since I'm sure that all of you that have been reading our blogs have mastered basic Pidgin English words and phrases by now, today's word will be a little more esoteric. It's actually an easy word to learn and to use, but it is not used in conversation as much as the other words taught in this blog. The word is "poho" and it comes straight from the Hawaiian language. Poho describes something that is wasteful, as in the English phrase "what a waste." Let's take a look at some examples.

Jack:Ho, wat wen happen to all the food the other night?
Mike: Oh, we wen throw um away.
Jack:Poho!

Translation:
Jack: Hey what happened to all of the food from last night?
Mike: Oh we threw it all away.
Jack: What?! What a waste!

2. Alan: Ho, how’s your cousin, he stay med school ah?
Trevor: Ho bra, he had one scholarship and everything, but he when drop out.
Alan: No ways....ai some poho ah!

Translation:
Alan: Hey how is your cousin doing? He's in medical school right?
Trevor: Even though he had a scholarship to go to medical school, he dropped out.
Alan: Are you serious?! That's a shame (waste)!

If you could read and understand those Pidgin English sentences without looking at the translation, congratulations! This is what a typical conversation in Pidgin English might sound like. I must leave you all once again, but another blog update is on its way! So I'll see you soon! Aloha!