Hayeon's Haiku

Here's another amazing piece of poetry for you to enjoy. Hayeon is a beginning level Korean student at MLI who loves to read English poetry. She recently wrote her first Haiku.


An old tree stood long
Without breath, without no leaves
A swallow come sing.


It's beautiful isn't it? There will be more great updates with poetry and pictures, so stay tuned and we'll see you soon. Aloha!

Poetry

Aloha! I'm excited to say that we have a special treat for all of you out there. Over the course of the next few blogs, we will be showcasing a few of our students and the poetry that they wrote in our classes here at the MLI.

But first, let's learn some new Pidgin! Here are a couple of words that can be used to describe something that you like a lot or that you think is great, like our students’ poetry! The word we will learn today is "mean." I bet that the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear the word "mean" is someone who is not nice. However, it can have another completely different meaning.

Mean - Awesome, great, fantastic, amazing.
1. John: How was da concert last night?
Mike: Ho, was mean!

Translation: John: How was the concert last night?
Mike: It was amazing!

2. John: Hey I just when cook this, try try um...hows?
Mike: Ho, the buggah is mean!

Translation: John: Hey I just cooked this, can you taste it for me? How is it?
Mike: Wow, it's fantastic!

Now on to some of our “mean” poetry! Our first poet hails from Japan. He recently completed our program here at the Maui Language Institute and will continue his education at a university on Oahu. So without further ado, here's Kazuya!


My sweet hometown
I smell the warm heart in Komobuchi.
"Hello" can be heard all around.
I smile in return.
"Good bye" can be heard all around.
I come back and say "I am home" in return.

Bright English
It's too bright to see.
Still I have a desire to grab it.
Always she escapes from me.
Knowing it's hard to get.
Someday I will catch up with her.


Ho that was mean, ah? We'll be back with more Pidgin English updates and great poets soon, so stay tuned. See ya for now. Peace!

Passionately Presented Poetry...and Good Food ;)

I can't believe how quickly time goes by! We have already come to the end of another session. You know what that means right? Another one of our potluck parties of course! We were mesmerized by the entertainment provided by our talented students. We were treated to poetry readings, fun skits, and even musical performances. There was also choke food! After we feasted, there were leftovers for people to take home! (a Hawaiian practice - take one plate lunch home for to grind later.) There was everything from seafood, to soup, to homemade baked goods, to exotic desserts.

Although our potluck parties are a time for relaxing and having fun, it is also a time to say goodbye to our students who have completed our program. Although we had to say farewell to a few of our students, we are also proud of all they have accomplished. The skills that they have learned from the Maui Language Institute will continue to serve them as they pursue their life goals. Many of our students continue their education and earn degrees at English speaking colleges and universities around the world.

Pidgin English time! I have already used today's word in several of the past blogs, so this will be an easy lesson for those of you who have kept up with your Pidgin English studies.I will continue to incorporate more and more Pidgin English sentences into these blogs so you can see how Pidgin can be used in natural conversations. Keep up with these lessons and you'll be well on your way to having conversations in Pidgin English.

Shoots - OK, alright, sounds good, see ya later
1. Jack: Eh I gotta go work so I'll talk to you afta.
Jim: Shoots.

Translation:
Jack: I have to go to work now so I'll talk to you later.
Jim: Ok, see ya

Now if we combine the words you’ve learned from the last few blogs, we can build a small conversation.

John: Eh, howzit?
Mike: Howzit?
John: I stay hungry, you like go grind?
Mike: Shoots!

Translation:
John: Hey! What’s up?
Mike: What’s up?
John: I'm pretty hungry. Do you want to get something to eat?
Mike: Sure, sounds good!

I will continue to incorporate more and more Pidgin English sentences into these blogs so you can see how Pidgin can be used in natural conversations. Keep up with these lessons and you'll be well on your way to having conversations in Pidgin English. Aloha for now!

Canoes, Paddles, and MLI Students! Oh my!

Alo-o-o-oha! We just got back from another one of our field trips! We headed down to the beach on Friday for some canoe paddling and a little fun in the sun. For many of us, this was the first time experiencing the thrill of paddling on the open sea.

After a brief lesson on the basics of canoe paddling, we jumped right in and went for it. You could feel the anticipation build as we entered the water to begin our adventure. We quickly got into the rhythm of paddling in unison, which allowed us to glide smoothly over the gentle currents. We even caught a few waves and rode them back to shore. And of course, the day wouldn't be complete without a little competition. We got to show-off all of our newly-learned canoe paddling skills by having a little race. We had choke fun! What does "choke" mean you ask? Lets find out with this blog's Pidgin lesson.

Choke - A large quantity of something, many, lots, copious
Ex.
1. Had choke guys at the party? - Yea, had choke!
Were there a lot of people at the party? - Yes, there were a lot of people there!
2. Get choke food ah!
Wow! There is so much food here!

If you have kept up with all of our past Pidgin English lessons, you now have quite a good arsenal of words under your belt. I will conclude this blog by writing my last paragraph completely in Pidgin. There will be words you already know, as well as some that you might have not heard before. Try to see if you can figure out the meaning of those words on your own. If you are able to understand what I write here, give yourself a pat on the back! I think you'll find that you can probably understand a lot!

Ho, we had choke fun going canoe paddling! I like go again! Bra, gaurans I going go again this weekend. Oh yea, this week is the last week of da session fo our MLI students! Den they get one week off from school! Ho, some lucky ah dem! We going have one pot-luck party this week so we can end dis session wit one bang! Every time we get one pot-luck party, get choke ono grinds! I no can wait for eat um all! No worries, I going take choke pictures and put um on top this blog. So you can check um out and drool over all the ono grinds we going get! K, dat's all fo now! Shoots!

Chicken Wings Anyone?

Hey there! Just this past week, two of our students participated in a chicken wing eating contest that was held here on the college campus. Itsuki and Ji Hun were nominated by the student body to represent MLI, and to go after the coveted iPod Nano (first prize!). What they neglected to tell us is that the chicken wings would be spiced with el scorcho buffalo sauce (‘ho dat bugga is hot!’). Itsuki ‘wen go fo broke’ but got hot lips, and Ji Hun thought he could eat slowly… but still came out in second place. No surprise that a culinary student won. “Ho, he wen win!” They did a great job and made MLI proud. Pictures speak louder than words, so check it out.

Here is another quick Pidgin English lesson. I think that this word is easy to use (because you can use it in so many situations), but can be quite difficult to understand at first. If you ever come to Hawaii, I am sure that you will hear this word at least once or twice while you are here. Da kine - This can be used in lieu of a noun, verb, adjective, pronoun...pretty much anything. It can also be used in place of "umm" or "hmm" in casual conversations. Because you can use da kine in place of virtually any word (especially nouns), you must understand the context of the conversation in order to understand what da kine is referencing.

Sounds confusing? Let’s go to some examples to help clear things up.



Situation: Jake was invited to birthday party by Karen last night, but he told his friend Mike that he wasn't sure if he would go or not.


Mike: Ho Jake, you when go to da kine (the party) last night?
Jake: Oh yea yea, I went
Mike: Was da kine's (Karen’s) party ah?
Jake: Yea yea, Karen.
Mike: What kind of party was?
Jake: Was one da kine (birthday) party.

It seems confusing at first, but it's easy to understand once you hear it a few times. It's very commonly used, so keep your ears open!

That brings me the end of this blog. Take care and I'll see you all again soon!

Upcoming Field Trip!

Hello! The arrival of spring in Hawaii makes it a perfect time to head down to the beach. Our students will be going on a field trip in a couple of weeks to learn how to paddle canoes in the oceans of Maui. We will also have lots of delicious food to eat while we relax our worries away on the beach. We'll take lots of pictures, so be sure to check back soon!

For today's Pidgin lesson, let me introduce you to a word that you probably haven't heard before.

Bumbai (Bum-Bye) - 1. Later, after, at some other time. 2. A conditional clause with a nuance of "if you do something, then this will happen." However, the most common usage of this word is to express a later point in time (definition 1).

1. Jack: Eh, you get one test tomorrow ah? You better go study.
Frank: Nah no worries, I going study bumbai.

Jack: Hey, you have a test tomorrow right? You should go and study now.
Frank: Don't worry about it, I'm going to study later.

2. Jack: Ho it's raining! I going play in the rain.
Frank: Eh no do that...bumbai you going get sick.

Jack: Wow its raining! I'm going to go outside and play in the rain.
Frank. You shouldn't do that because you might get sick.

Got it? Great! See if your Pidgin knowledge is up to par by seeing if you can understand this next paragraph:

Howzit! Spring is da best time fo go to da beach. On our MLI field trip, our students going paddle canoes jus like Ancient times. And of course going get choke ono grinds too!

That's all for now! There is going to be more fun updates soon, so stay tuned!

Spring has Arrived

Spring is here! The warm weather makes it perfect for hiking or relaxing on the beach.

In addition to improving their English skills through our language classes here at the Maui Language Institute, our students also have the opportunity to learn about the Hawaiian culture through our Hawaiian studies class. We also have a couple of new classes this session. One of these classes is our creative and performing arts class. Students are learning how to do things like writing and reading their own poetry. Writing poetry is a great tool for improving your English because you must use creative and colorful language to do so.

We also have a class that helps you prepare for the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication). This class goes over important grammar points, helps you to identify common mistakes in grammar, and goes over practice tests.

We come to yet another installment of Pidgin 101! Let's keep today's lesson simple and sweet. The word I would like to talk about today is garans.

Garans - Guarantee, for sure, definitely
Ex.
1. Daniel: Ho, you when ace yo test?
George: Ho garans! Was so easy!

Daniel: Hey, did you ace your test?
George: Definitely! It was so easy!

That’s all for now folks! See you later!