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!