Author: Schyuler Lujan

Learning to speak, read and write Chamorro while creating digital materials to support our worldwide learning community.

HITA i Lengguahi-ta! A Chamorro Language Workshop

On By Schyuler LujanIn WorkshopsLeave a comment

This morning, Jay and I facilitated a language workshop for this year’s Mes CHamoru celebration with MÅGI (Marianas Alliance for Growth of Islanders) here in Oregon. It was such an honor to be part of the event and to offer this workshop to our local community. We were excited — and honestly a little nervous — since it was our first time teaching a workshop like this. But it went well, and we’re excited for more opportunities to offer language classes and workshops.

We designed this workshop as a “foundation builder” for beginners, starting with pronunciation, sounds, and word shape. From there, we jumped right into a simple fill‑in‑the‑blank introduction before moving into vocabulary and basic sentence building.

The sentence building portion centered around one core pattern: “_______ yu’.” Using that as our anchor, we slowly expanded into different thoughts by introducing new vocabulary and the small connecting words needed for everyday dialogue. Activities alternated between learning new words, language pattern exercises and applying concepts in simple dialogues. By the end, we had moved from short sentences like Maguf yu’ to fuller thoughts like Ti ñalang yu’ sa’ chumochu yu’ pån yan magof yu’. One of the participants even read and translated that final sentence — and she did wonderfully. Jay and I left the celebration with our hearts full, and we will probably write a more full reflection of the workshop in a different post.

For anyone who would like to access our presentation slides and accompanying booklet, they are linked below:

Link to Workshop Presentation: HITA i Lengguahi-ta! A Chamorro Language Workshop

Booklet – HITA i Lengguahita (FINAL)Download

Un dångkulu na si Yu’us Ma’åsi to everyone who attended our workshop – we so appreciate your time and your graciousness with us. And dångkulu na kulu to everyone at MÅGI (and particularly Bertina!) who made this celebration happen.

How to Say “How Many?” and “How Much?” in Chamorro

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Beginner1 Comment

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

Questions with kuantu are a useful way to ask about quantities in Chamorro, such as How many books did you borrow? How much money did you spend? In this lesson, we’ll learn a core sentence pattern using kuantu (“how much” or “how many”) and practice expanding it to ask about past, present, and future actions. We’ll also look at how kuantu is used in questions about time, and how those questions can be extended to talk about past events. By the end of the lesson, you’ll have several flexible patterns you can use to ask simple but meaningful questions in everyday conversation. As always, this post includes example sentences, Chamorro audio by Jay Che’le and English translations to support your learning. Happy studying!

Continue reading “How to Say “How Many?” and “How Much?” in Chamorro” →

How to Say “Which?” in Chamorro

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Beginner2 Comments

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

Asking “which” comes up frequently in daily conversation—Which drink? Which do you like? Which will you buy? In this lesson, you’ll learn Chamorro patterns for asking “which” questions with månu na (“which”), starting with a basic core pattern that will be expanded upon to include asking about likes, wants, and actions in the past, present and future. As always, this post includes Chamorro sentence drills, English translations, and Chamorro audio narrations by Jay Che’le to support your learning. Happy studying!

Continue reading “How to Say “Which?” in Chamorro” →

How to Say “Why?” in Chamorro

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Beginner2 Comments

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

Asking “why” is one of the most useful ways to understand reasons and causes in everyday conversation. In this lesson, we’ll explore how to form simple “why” questions in Chamorro, starting with patterns for describing situations (“Why are you late?” or “Why is the child sleepy?”) and moving into questions about actions (“Why did you buy it?” or “Why did you laugh?”). You’ll get plenty of practice with these patterns and see how they change depending on what you’re asking about. As always, this lesson includes example sentences, English translations to support your comprehension, and audio narrations by Jay Che’le to guide your pronunciation. Happy studying!

Continue reading “How to Say “Why?” in Chamorro” →

How to Say “When” in Chamorro

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Beginner2 Comments

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

Asking when comes up constantly in daily life—at work, at home, and in your community. When is the party? When did you buy the coffee? When will you work? In this lesson, you’ll learn core Chamorro patterns for asking “when” questions. We’ll begin with events (“When is the novena?”) and then move into asking about past and future actions. As always, this post includes Chamorro sentence drills, English translations, and Chamorro audio narrations by Jay Che’le to support your learning. Happy studying!

Continue reading “How to Say “When” in Chamorro” →