Read this article in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
Awaiaulu was founded in 2003 to teach ways of translating the diverse materials found in the Hawaiian language repository of the past. This training is a 2-year cycle, and 20 trainees have completed one, two, or more training cycles to date. Some are on a fifth or even sixth cycle.
The last group to enter a training cycle was in 2017, and most of them and their trainers are still engaged in this endeavor until today. The levels they have achieved include translation fellow, translation coach, translation reviewer, and translation kumu.
The guiding principle of Awaiaulu is to open up the historical Hawaiian archive in order to provide and integrate Hawaiian knowledge from the past with that of today. In this endeavor, knowledge resources are generated for all, and a cadre is trained with the skills to do and carry forward the many parts of this work for the current generation and the next.
While AI programs can now translate Hawaiian language, they have limited capacity, being far more accurate with simple text. AI gets tangled and trips over complicated or confusing text, like what is found in historical writings. Skilled humans are best suited to the difficult work.
This is how a training cycle works, with 10 hours per week being dedicated for a span of two years. For the first weeks interns meet with the kumu and with the various translation coaches to get familiar with the work at hand and with themselves as a group.
Eventually, each intern will be paired with a mentor, who is responsible to lead the process, and who will review, advise, and correct the research, typescripting, and translation of his or her intern. The two of them will meet each week to review and advise, fulfilling the requirements agreed upon for the hours of that week.
Every two or three weeks (tbd) the pair will meet with the kumu to closely go over the progress of the training. The 10-hour per week commitment is dedicated to research, typescripting, or translation of selected materials drawn from the Hawaiian language repository, that being newspapers, documents, or books from the Monarchy and Territorial eras of Hawaiʻi.
Awaiaulu hopes to open some new training positions this year, and anyone interested is encouraged to submit an application prior to April 1, 2026.
We seek interns who are fluent in Hawaiian, interested in this form of training, have a public service ethic, and who can commit the time to carry out the responsibilities of the position. If interested in candidacy for an Awaiaulu internship, submit the candidacy requirements below:
- Personal Data: Name, location, address, phone, e-mail, experience in Hawaiian language (schooling, professional, projects, etc.).
- Letter of Interest: One page with the reason you are interested in this training.
- A Translation: One page in Hawaiian with your English translation.
Submit via email to: info@awaiaulu.org, or mail to: Awaiaulu, 2667 ʻAnuʻu Place, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi 96819.
