Aloha mai kākou, welina! ʻO Iokepa Bardwell koʻu inoa a noho au ma Maui. Greetings everyone, welcome! My name is Iokepa Bardwell and I live on Maui in Hawaiʻi. My wife, Anita, and I have been students of the Hawaiian language since 2013, studying with the Punana Leo community group, with Kumu Leomana Crozier at the Pāʻia Kaiapuni community group, and, weʻre students at the University of Hawaii in Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian Studies. We are active Hawaiian language coaches and are local hosts for Duolingo, the language-learning app. We been leading a weekly on-line meetup since February, 2020. In the Spring, 2021, we had the privilege of serving in the role of substitute teacher for the UH Hawaiian Language Community Class on-line. We are both State-certified substitute teachers in the Hawaiian Language immersion program in the public school system.
It's important to me that you, a welcome visitor to this website, know that I'm not a native speaker and I don't consider my self completely "fluent" in Hawaiian. I am, however, an experienced (and retired) professional educator and engineer. My wife (also a trained educator and engineer) and I feel a personal responsibility to share what we have learned and do our part to support the revitalization of the Hawaiian language. If you see any mistakes in the material we've shared, or if you have any comments, criticisms, or suggestions, please send me an email and let me know.
Me ke aloha,
<Iokepa Bardwell>, <Anita Bardwell>