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Rating: 
Summary: Great for hearing "real" Hawaiian
Review: I found 4 great tools for learning Hawaiian, at Amazon. Your success in learning will depend on using them in the right order. They're all great in their own ways.
Beginner level
1. "Learn Hawaiian at Home", by Kahikahealani Wight
If you're new to the language, this book will walk you patiently through all the basics. Slow? Yes. But it was just what I needed. There are two cassette tapes included, with all the vocabulary, dialogs, reading material and even songs! I found the package reasonably priced.
Beginner to intermediate
2. "Ka Lei Ha'aheao--Beginning Hawaiian", by Alberta Pualani Hopkins
For continuing what you learned in "Learn Hawaiian at Home", this is an excellent book. It will take you all the way through all the Hawaiian grammar, and there are lots and lots of dialogs, giving variations on what you learn.
The downside? Cassette tapes are available, and I know my progress would be much faster if I had the big bucks to buy them. I don't.
Intermediate to advanced
3. Instant Immersion CD
Good points: Very natural-sounding Hawaiian, and lots of it
Downside: If you're a beginner, this will knock the wind out of your sails. The lessons have reading passages, some with very difficult grammar.
No printed matter comes with the CDs. You have to download it from the internet.
Some vocabulary from the lessons are NOT explained. You'll need a big Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary to find out the meanings. Not exactly user-friendly!
Still, if you love hearing the lilt of Hawaiian spoken as much as I do, you may opt to get this.
Intermediate to advanced
4. "Let's Speak Hawaiian" by Dorothy M. Kahananui & Alberta P. Anthony
Too difficult for beginners, as it was for me! Explanations are minimal. An exorbitantly-priced tape set is available, but I couldn't afford it.
I was always frustrated with myself for not being able to understand this book. However, after doing a fair amount of learning through the first two books given above, I found that "Let's Speak Hawaiian" is a wonderful extension to what I know. Get this one last!
Rating:
Summary: Instant Immersion CD's - It's about time!
Review: I've been reading quite a few discussions on AlohaWorld.com as well as soc.culture.hawaii about these CD's. Although I'm home in Hawai'i now, I lived on the mainland for quite awhile (CA & OR) and shared the frustration of many ex-pats on the lack of access to Hawaiian language materials, particularly recordings. These CD's provide excellently modeled spoken Hawaiian by Kaliko Beamer-Trapp and Kiele Akana-Gooch.The CD's cover the basics quite well, as well as give lots of opportunities to hear stories in Hawaiian. I would have given the program 5 stars but for the lack of written materials to accompany the CD's (although some of the material is available on the website). Overall, I'm glad to see a quality product available to help those on the mainland (and here in Hawai'i) attain spoken fluency (I know we all have vast vocabularies and can read Hawaiian - now we can speak it and understand it as well).
Rating:
Summary: Instant Immersion CD's - It's about time!
Review: I've been reading quite a few discussions on AlohaWorld.com as well as soc.culture.hawaii about these CD's. Although I'm home in Hawai'i now, I lived on the mainland for quite awhile (CA & OR) and shared the frustration of many ex-pats on the lack of access to Hawaiian language materials, particularly recordings. These CD's provide excellently modeled spoken Hawaiian by Kaliko Beamer-Trapp and Kiele Akana-Gooch. The CD's cover the basics quite well, as well as give lots of opportunities to hear stories in Hawaiian. I would have given the program 5 stars but for the lack of written materials to accompany the CD's (although some of the material is available on the website). Overall, I'm glad to see a quality product available to help those on the mainland (and here in Hawai'i) attain spoken fluency (I know we all have vast vocabularies and can read Hawaiian - now we can speak it and understand it as well).
Rating: 
Summary: Great Opportunity to Hear Spoken Hawaiian
Review: Outside Hawaii, there are very few opportunities to learn the Hawaiian language...in fact, there are very few opportunities to even hear the language spoken. The wonderful thing about this product is that you will hear a great deal of spoken Hawaiian! Also, I'm very pleased to see it available through a major retail outlet like Amazon and at a very affordable price. Another plus: you will definitely learn to speak some Hawaiian by using this program. The vocabulary is extensive, the grammar lessons simple, and the instructors have pleasant voices and personalities. There are a few shortcomings that I hope can be addressed in later editions: It doesn't seem to make the best use of the all-audio format. The structure resembles that of a text book, and it often sounds as if they're reading directly from a text. Each CD starts with a long narrative in Hawaiian, followed by a long list of vocabulary words and phrases, then a grammar lesson...an effective approach if it accompanies a text book, but confusing without one. Compounding the problem is the fact that listeners are given few to no instructions about what to do with the material, and no explanation of how each section connects with the others. "Tell 'em what you're gonna tell them, tell 'em, and then tell 'em what you told them," is one of the basic rules of instruction, and is even more important when there are no written or visual supplements. We learn language by listening - this is the theory behind most "all audio" language learning programs. However, context and interaction are equally important. Conversation is one of the best ways to provide this, yet this program doesn't include much, and very little context is provided beyond the stories. Contrast this with the Pimsleur Method, all-audio series of language programs: it relies heavily on conversational excercises to provide context, draw you into the language, and to teach grammar and vocabulary. The simulated "real life" encounters are those that a student might have in a true "language immersion." I have used a couple of the Pimsleur products and found their approach highly effective. One of the instructors is often inconsistent with pronunciation and inflection, particularly while reading the vocabulary lists. This might be confusing to those who are new to the language. Despite these shortcomings, I encourage people interested in learning the language to purchase this series first. It is an excellent opportunity to hear spoken Hawaiian, a good introduction to Hawaiian grammar, and is very affordable. Follow up with Hawaiian music or chant CDs that include printed lyrics, and some of the other exellent online resources available. There is a website with supplemental material, but I didn't discover it until recently and haven't had time to review it. A note on pronunciation: Mr. Beamer-Trapp speaks Hawaiian with the same pronunciation, rhythm and inflection that I have heard elders use (I'm a Native Hawaiian), and which you can still hear in certain places or on documentary recordings. He is being more enunciative for educational purposes, of course, but what he says sounds "right" or "natural" to my ears. Ms. Akana-Gooch has a speaking style with which I am unfamiliar, and it sounds peculiar to my ear. The best way I can describe it is an "American" accent, or maybe an "academic" accent. I often didn't recognize some of the words when I first heard them. (Please bear in mind that I am not a Hawaiian language expert, I'm only sharing my personal opinion based on my own experiences...I'm not saying her pronunciation is wrong or poor, only that I'm not familiar with it.)
Rating:
Summary: Great Opportunity to Hear Spoken Hawaiian
Review: Outside Hawaii, there are very few opportunities to learn the Hawaiian language...in fact, there are very few opportunities to even hear the language spoken. The wonderful thing about this product is that you will hear a great deal of spoken Hawaiian! Also, I'm very pleased to see it available through a major retail outlet like Amazon and at a very affordable price. Another plus: you will definitely learn to speak some Hawaiian by using this program. The vocabulary is extensive, the grammar lessons simple, and the instructors have pleasant voices and personalities. There are a few shortcomings that I hope can be addressed in later editions: It doesn't seem to make the best use of the all-audio format. The structure resembles that of a text book, and it often sounds as if they're reading directly from a text. Each CD starts with a long narrative in Hawaiian, followed by a long list of vocabulary words and phrases, then a grammar lesson...an effective approach if it accompanies a text book, but confusing without one. Compounding the problem is the fact that listeners are given few to no instructions about what to do with the material, and no explanation of how each section connects with the others. "Tell 'em what you're gonna tell them, tell 'em, and then tell 'em what you told them," is one of the basic rules of instruction, and is even more important when there are no written or visual supplements. We learn language by listening - this is the theory behind most "all audio" language learning programs. However, context and interaction are equally important. Conversation is one of the best ways to provide this, yet this program doesn't include much, and very little context is provided beyond the stories. Contrast this with the Pimsleur Method, all-audio series of language programs: it relies heavily on conversational excercises to provide context, draw you into the language, and to teach grammar and vocabulary. The simulated "real life" encounters are those that a student might have in a true "language immersion." I have used a couple of the Pimsleur products and found their approach highly effective. One of the instructors is often inconsistent with pronunciation and inflection, particularly while reading the vocabulary lists. This might be confusing to those who are new to the language. Despite these shortcomings, I encourage people interested in learning the language to purchase this series first. It is an excellent opportunity to hear spoken Hawaiian, a good introduction to Hawaiian grammar, and is very affordable. Follow up with Hawaiian music or chant CDs that include printed lyrics, and some of the other exellent online resources available. There is a website with supplemental material, but I didn't discover it until recently and haven't had time to review it. A note on pronunciation: Mr. Beamer-Trapp speaks Hawaiian with the same pronunciation, rhythm and inflection that I have heard elders use (I'm a Native Hawaiian), and which you can still hear in certain places or on documentary recordings. He is being more enunciative for educational purposes, of course, but what he says sounds "right" or "natural" to my ears. Ms. Akana-Gooch has a speaking style with which I am unfamiliar, and it sounds peculiar to my ear. The best way I can describe it is an "American" accent, or maybe an "academic" accent. I often didn't recognize some of the words when I first heard them. (Please bear in mind that I am not a Hawaiian language expert, I'm only sharing my personal opinion based on my own experiences...I'm not saying her pronunciation is wrong or poor, only that I'm not familiar with it.)
Rating:
Summary: for those who need text with the CDs
Review: There's a website where you can download the vocabulary, stories, etc. for the CD's: http://homepage.mac.com/drmacnut/panpoly/topics/index.html
Rating:
Summary: Good CD program in the Hawaiian language
Review: These CD's are just what they say: instant immersion. Written materials would help the very beginner; since I already know some Hawaiian, they aren't really necessary but would be nice. I enjoyed writing the vocab out and that helped to reinforce the teaching. I concur with one of the other reviewers: the gentleman who speaks Hawaiian on the CD has a genuine "old style" accent (my kumu was a native speaker as well) while the woman speaker seems to have been trained in "university Hawaiian," which can be a bit jarring to the ear. But, it is good to have a male and female voice speaking the words and people do have different accents by island, age and training. So it's not all bad but if you want to know how native Hawaiian speakers use the language, the male narrator is wonderful. His English is beautiful, too! I definitely recommend this. Novices should also buy plenty of Hawaiian-language music to help develop an "ear," too.
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