Language practice
Choose a language, then practise its grammar, vocabulary, culture or writing.
WORKSPACEPick a task before a language tab. Choose the language you want to use, then work on one small task. Reading a script, learning a grammar rule and responding in conversation need different practice.
How to use this
- Need to speak today?
Choose a language and start with Survival. Practise the reply as well as the phrase you say first.
- Need to read?
Use Writing systems for recognition, Pronunciation for spelling-to-sound rules, and Kanji + Hanzi for character and word study.
- Need to build sentences?
Read a grammar rule, work through its example, then answer without looking. Check Vocabulary and Culture to see how the words are used.
Try this: Choose German. Find a survival exchange and say both parts aloud. Change one noun using the grammar explanation instead of memorizing a second whole sentence.
You should get: You can make one small variation and explain why the form changes. If you cannot, revisit that rule before adding more phrases.
Know the limit: Track depth varies. A chart is a reference, and recognizing an answer is not the same as producing it in a conversation.
Start with pronunciationBopomofo / Zhuyin
注音符號A set of phonetic symbols used to show Mandarin pronunciation. Syllables are assembled from an initial, a medial or final, and a tone.
The first version was created in 1913 and released in 1918. It remains a practical reading, dictionary, and keyboard tool in Taiwan.
- SYMBOLS
- 37
- TONES
- 5
- ALSO CALLED
- Zhuyin / Zhuyin Fuhao
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This is your own flashcard record, not a proficiency score. Backups contain card IDs for this writing system, not quiz results. Only IDs still present in this chart are restored. Nothing is uploaded or synced between devices.
Initials
21Medials
3Finals
13Tones
5All 47 pronunciation chapters & the IPA sound key →
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
Start with the words you need.
Build your own sentences.
The words for everyday life.
Find a situation, read the phrase, or show the native text. Learn common replies as well as questions.
Pronunciation & how to use these phrases
Start with the writing charts, then listen to complete words. Device speech depends on installed voices and may use a different regional accent. Spelling and sound do not match one-to-one.
ʻOkina and kahakō distinguish words and pronunciation; keep them in names. English remains widely used in travel settings. Do not assume every resident speaks Hawaiian. Learning path: recognise words and phrases → build simple sentences → practise questions and replies → expand tense and connected speech → read and discuss longer texts. These foundation lessons are available now; later stages will grow with the collection.
15 phrases
Basics
Communication
Bathrooms
Food & ordering
Shops & payment
Help
Reply
Taxi & transport
Airport
Further reading & cultural sources
Forms, rules & structure
Contemporary Hawaiian foundations. ʻOkina and kahakō are part of accurate spelling; English grammatical labels are used cautiously.
Grammar terminology
- Noun
- A word used to name or classify an entity: person, place, object, substance, idea.
- Adjective
- A word that describes a property; its form and position depend on the language.
- Pronoun
- A form used to refer to a participant or entity without repeating a full noun phrase.
- Determiner
- A word such as an article, demonstrative or possessive that helps specify a noun phrase.
- Verb
- A word heading a predicate, often describing an action, event or state.
- Conjugation
- A pattern of verb forms expressing grammatical distinctions such as person, tense or mood.
- Declension
- A pattern of noun, pronoun or adjective forms, often marking case, number and gender.
- Case
- A distinction marking a noun phrase’s grammatical role or its relationship to a governing word.
- Gender
- A grammatical classification of nouns; it need not match sex or have a transparent meaning.
- Agreement
- A form changes to match features of another expression, such as person, number, gender or case.
- Tense
- A grammatical way of locating a situation relative to a time of reference.
- Aspect
- How a situation is viewed: for example ongoing, habitual, completed or prior to a reference point.
- Mood
- A grammatical distinction associated with assertion, possibility, commands, wishes or other clause functions.
- Finite form
- A verb form that can serve as a clause’s main inflected verb, contrasting with infinitives and participles. The precise criteria vary by language.
- Participle
- A verb-derived form used in constructions such as modifiers, compound tenses or passives; its roles vary by language.
- Infinitive
- A nonfinite verb form in languages that have one; it is not automatically equivalent to English “to + verb”.
- Subject / object
- Grammatical relations in a clause, not universal synonyms for “doer” and “receiver”.
- Clitic
- A short grammatical form that depends phonologically on a neighboring word.
- Transitive
- Describes a verb construction that takes a direct object.
- Register
- A variety of expression associated with context, relationship or level of formality.
Noun phrases, determiners & number
- Hawaiian nouns do not have grammatical gender agreement or a European case-ending system. Determiners and relation markers organize noun phrases.
- Ka/ke mark definite singular reference, nā plural. Ke commonly appears before k/e/a/o, but lexical exceptions must be learned. He introduces indefinite/classifying phrases, with he mau for a plural class.
| Construction | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| definite singular | ka hale | the house |
| ke-pattern | ke keiki | the child |
| plural | nā hale | the houses |
| indefinite | he hale | a house |
| indefinite plural | he mau hale | some houses |
| demonstrative | kēia hale | this house |
Worked examples
He hale kēia.
This is a house.
How it works: He introduces class membership; kēia identifies the referent being classified.
Location
Aia introduces location; i hea asks where.
Read the model, complete the gap, then change one word and explain what changes.
Try it yourself
1 / 1 · 0 correctComplete the model using the rule.
Aia i ___ ka hale?
All words · vocabulary quiz
1 / 20 · 0 correctChoose the English meaning.
wai
waiwater
ʻaifood / to eat
waiūmilk
palaoabread / flour
kopecoffee
kītea
laikirice
halehouse
kahua mokuleleairport
kaʻavehicle
pukadoor / opening
hemaleft
ʻākauright / north
kēia lātoday
ʻapōpōtomorrow
ʻekahione
ʻeluatwo
ʻekoluthree
kōkuahelp
alohalove / greeting
Between the words
Hawaiian is a living Indigenous language with a revitalization community. It is distinct from Hawaiʻi Creole English, often called Pidgin.
Aloha.
A living languageHawaiian is a living Indigenous language with a revitalization community. It is distinct from Hawaiʻi Creole English, often called Pidgin.
Aloha.
ʻOkina and kahakō distinguish words and pronunciation; keep them in names. English remains widely used in travel settings. Do not assume every resident speaks Hawaiian.
Read the situation
1 / 1 · 0 correctRecall the opening greeting from this collection.