A Little Pidgin, a Little Poetry

...and we're back! In just a couple weeks we will be starting our Fall I session. It will be nice to see all of our returning students again. We are also looking forward to meeting our new students that are joining us this year. It's amazing to see people from all over the world using English as a common language to communicate.

Now that you have a quite a few Pidgin English words in your repertoire, I'll do something a little bit different today. I'll write out a few dialogues using Pidgin that you would hear if you came to Hawaii. These dialogues will help you to get a feel of the natural use of Pidgin, and how it flows in everyday conversation. It will also help you to see how the words we have learned can be implemented and used in different situations. I'll translate the first two, but I'll leave the last one for you to translate. I'm sure you'll do great. So let's get started!

1. John: Ho howzit bra, how you?
Mike: Ho I stay good bu, how you?
John: Good good. Long time I neva see you..what you stay doing now?
Mike: I stay working at the mall. Eh you like go get something fo grind? I stay on my lunch break now.
John: Oh shoots bu, we go!

Translation:
John: Hey! What's up, how are you?
Mike: I'm good man! How are you?
John: I'm good. I haven't seen you in forever! What are you doing now?
Mike: I'm working at the mall. Hey, you wanna grab a bite to eat? I'm on my lunch break right now.
John: Sounds good, lets go!

2. Adam: Ho bu, we going go to one club tonight, you like come?
Roger: I like go but I no can! I get choke homework tonight.
Adam: Nah no worries! Bra garans you going get one A!
Roger: No ways bu, I gotta study. But if I pau early I go meet you guys afta.

Translation:
Adam: Hey we're going to a club tonight. Do you want to come?
Roger: I would love to go, but I can't. I have so much homework to do tonight.
Adam: Don't worry about it! I'm sure you'll get an A!
Roger: No way! I have to study tonight. But if I finish early I'll meet up with you guys later.


3. Rick: Ho, I going move to one new house next week. You can help me move?
Joe: Oh yea bu, can. What time?
Rick: We gotta start by 2 o'clock bumbai no can finish before get dark.
Joe: Shoots I come your house 2 o'clock.
Rick: Hey mahalos ah!
Joe: Yea bu no worries.

You may have noticed the words "bra" and "bu" have been used quite a lot in the previous dialogues. An equivalent to these words in English would be "brother," "bro," or "man." For example, the phrase "hey man, how you doing?" would be translated as "ho bra, how you?" in Pidgin. Or in English slang, the phrase "what's up brother?" can be roughly translated as "what's up bra?" in Hawaii Pidgin.

We have another talented poet for you today! His name is Hidenori and he comes to us from Ehime, Japan. Let's take a look at a couple of his poems!


Especially MAUI

Island Maui, sunny language Aloha.
Flowers Maui, sunshine Mahalo.
Ocean Maui, Endless Waves.
Sky Maui Hovering Breezy.
I can hear Whispers to Maui.
Like Ocean Waves, and Wind.
Now new Maui Birth again.


Hawaiian Salt

A sweet taste of the ocean
A hot electric shock - woah!
I can't eat a lot.

But pass me more
Hawaiian salt
Salty as Japanese
Barbecued chicken

But not soft of sifting
like regular salt
More like rich red
chunky island earth
Or blood in the mouth

Whoa! - I need water.


It's sad to say but it's the end of today's blog. Come back again soon cause we'll have more updates in no time. Aloha for now!