02/28/2025
No ka puana - On Puana from Tūtū and the team of reviewers
He Leo mahalo kēia iā ʻoukou a pau! You are sounding amazing and we are loving your voices. Our job is not easy and we want to award you the full point for as many readings as possible. Here are some tips to keep you at the top of your puana game:
Read in your normal voice - No need to speed up or slow down. We like to hear you as you naturally speak.
Read and decide on delivery before recording - This contributes to more accurate and smoother pronunciation overall.
Kaʻi such as ke and ka - Try not to linger overly long on. Kē and kā are different words and shift the meaning of the phrase or sentence.
Kēlā - This word has two kahakō, but our reviewers are hearing lots of single kahakō “kelā”.
Kāua v kaua - You don’t want kāua (you and I) to turn into kaua (war), LOL. This extends to all the papani (pronouns) and possessive words like kāu (versus kau).
Keep your kahakō monotone - Keep it at the same sound level as the other parts of the sentence. No need over emphasize kahakō with a rise in voice tone or volume when reading.
Mind your vowel glides - In phrases like “ke au i hala” there should be a seamless glide between “au” and “i”.
Words beginning in vowels - ʻO Oʻahu kuʻu ʻāina hānau. It is easy to accidentally add an ʻokina at the front of Oʻahu, but no need.
Mahalo piha I ko ʻoukou hoʻoikaika nui ʻana ma kēia hoʻokūkū! Thanks to all of you for making such a big effort for this competition.