I had always wanted to learn our languages, but I could never quite put longing into action. At last, I realized that we ourselves will be the ones who bring our languages back into use. At the same time, I found many people have a strong longing to learn but we have limited tools to help in our studies. By writing this book, I hope to be some small part in keeping our languages alive.

This book grew out of the desire to help save our native languages so they will thrive for future generations to come. My Hawaiian brother Na’ilima Gaison, challenged and inspired me to write this book. As Na’illima would say, no one is going to save our native languages, but us!