'Ölelo Gaeilge au

Ó iSpeak Hawaiian (podchraoladh nua):

'Ölelo Hawai'i au.
(I speak Hawaiian).

Being able to say those words could mean the difference between a Hawaiian comfortable with his or her ethnic identity and a Hawaiian with less self-esteem, as Kiaka (Ki-a-ka) Gaughen found when researching his master's degree thesis at the University of Hawai'i.

"(Research) revealed that Hawaiians who participate in a Hawaiian-language course had a significant increase in self-esteem compared to those Hawaiian students that were not taking Hawaiian-language courses," said Gaughen, a Hawaiian.