Tired of Feeling Stuck? 5 Tips to Escape the Chamorro Language Learning Rut

Ever feel like you’ve hit a wall in your Chamorro learning journey? Maybe you’ve been in and out of classes for years, but still find yourself saying little more than Maolek ha’ in conversation. Or perhaps you’re struggling to follow native speakers, and the syntax or vocabulary just isn’t sticking. It’s frustrating, especially when months or even years of studying haven’t gotten you to the level you aspire to. But don’t worry – every Chamorro language learner has moments of feeling stuck, and there are ways to break through it and re-invigorate our learning process. In this post, I am going to give 5 tips for getting out of a language learning rut.

Continue reading “Tired of Feeling Stuck? 5 Tips to Escape the Chamorro Language Learning Rut”

Throw Net for Rabbitfish

This week’s story will turn back to the topics of food and where it comes from, specifically a particular fish that’s well loved by Chamorros. In this short piece, we’ll be reading about a slice of life from a family of four as they prepare at home and venture out together to catch mañåhak, the young rabbitfish. These tiny fish travel in large schools, usually presenting a great prize for the individuals and communities that pour their efforts into catching them. In this post we have the Chamorro text, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le. Happy reading!

Continue reading “Throw Net for Rabbitfish”

Kåntan Chamoru: Some Beach

This past Saturday I got to pick the song we transcribed during Praktikan Pupuengi, so I chose this cover of an English song by the same name. I actually prefer this version in Chamorro to the original English song because I think the wordplay is more fun. There was definitely a lot of laughter with this one during our praktika, so I hope you enjoy it too. In this post you’ll find the Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for “Some Beach” by Daniel De Leon Guerrero. Happy listening!

Continue reading “Kåntan Chamoru: Some Beach”

Plants of Guam, Part 2

For this week’s Saturday morning practice group, we will continue reading through the plant book that we’ve used the past two weeks. This book was found in the KPV Collection and has a number of short, interesting comments on flowering plants. But as a reminder, if you want even more about plants found on the Mariana Islands, you can check out the book Trees and Shrubs of the Mariana Islands, available from UOG Press.

In this post we have the Chamorro text, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le for the last five plants found in the book Tinanom Siha Giya Guam by Carmen C. Blas. Happy reading!

Continue reading “Plants of Guam, Part 2”

Plants of Guam, Part 1

For this week’s Saturday morning practice group, we will be reading through the first half of a book about plants found on Guam, which I found in the KPV Collection. This book certainly does not have everything, so if you are interested in learning about more of the plants found on the Mariana Islands, check out the book Trees and Shrubs of the Mariana Islands, available from UOG Press.

In this post we have the Chamorro text, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le for the first five plants found in the book Tinanom Siha Giya Guam by Carmen C. Blas. Happy reading!

Continue reading “Plants of Guam, Part 1”