Author: Schyuler Lujan

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

Håfa Fina’tinánas-mu? by Mick Celis – Kåntan Chamorita Lyrics and English Translation

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Songs2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, Tamar Celis shared this kåntan Chamorita with our practice groups. The story behind this song is actually quite sweet: Tamar gave her father a “homework assignment” to make a kåntan Chamorita, and this is what he sent back! Not only is this a delightful song about preparing Chamorro food, but he also uses some older words that we may not hear too often. And it’s also a lovely example of the Chamorro tradition of impromptu musical storytelling about the activities and relationships that make up the fabric of Chamorro life. I so appreciate Tamar’s generosity in sharing this song with our group and allowing me to post it here on the blog.

You can also find Tamar on her YouTube channel, Tamar Agupa’, where she shares her own journey to becoming a Chamorro speaker. If you are looking for inspiration to become a speaker – especially if you have tried several times before – I highly recommend watching her videos. Tamar is honest, approachable, and refreshingly candid about her process, which makes her journey both relatable and motivating.

As always, this post includes the Chamorro song lyrics, an English translation, and language notes for the kåntan Chamorita “Håfa Fina’tinánas-mu?” by Mick Celis. Happy listening!

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Chamorro Listening Comprehension Activity: Coconut Crab Soup, Part 1

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro VoicesLeave a comment

Lately Jay has been testing out a different kind of learning activity with our practice group, focused on strengthening listening comprehension of spoken Chamorro. He listens to online clips of Chamorro speakers and creates comprehension questions to see how much we actually catch. These types of exercises are a great way to strengthen real-time listening comprehension of Chamorro.

This post includes the first set of Jay’s listening comprehension exercises for a clip from the video “Kadon Ayuyu” by Stel Star Productions, which can be found on YouTube. The video does include English subtitles, so make sure to hide the subtitles (or don’t look at them!) to get the most out of this exercise. I’ve included the comprehension questions with sample answers, in Chamorro first followed by English translations. The questions are formatted as “click-to-reveal” – just click the question to reveal a sample answer. Do your best to give your answers in Chamorro, in your own words. Happy listening!

PS: If you want to listen to the video clip again, refresh the whole page to reset the time stamps (4:24 – 8:23).

Image Credit: By Drew Avery – originally posted to Flickr as Coconut Crab {Birgus latro}#2, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9861915

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Churisus Påkpak by Chilang Delgado – Chamorro Lyrics and English Translation

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro SongsLeave a comment

Two Saturdays ago our evening practice group listened to and transcribed Churisus Påkpak by Chilang Delgado. On the surface, the song appears to be about churisus påkpak, a sausage that is common in Chamorro kitchens and gets its name from the fact that it bursts open when cooked (hence the word påkpak which means “explode” or “pop”). But this is a song full of innuendo, and the churisus påkpak is just imagery to represent something else. It wasn’t until we reached the final lyric that it suddenly clicked for the group what the song is actually talking about. (Jay only had us listen to the audio, as the music video makes the underlying meaning obvious).

This post includes the music video, Chamorro lyrics, an English translation, language notes and a cultural context note for the song Churisus Påkpak by Chilang Delgado. Happy listening!

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How to Say “How” in Chamorro

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Beginner1 Comment

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

In this lesson, we’ll explore different ways to ask how something is done in Chamorro. These are the kinds of questions we use when we’re curious about a process — whether we’re asking How was the soup made? or How does one fish? Chamorro uses the word taimanu (“how”) in several patterns, and we’ll learn some of the most common ones that are easy for beginners to apply. We’ll start with questions about actions done to something, like making rope or building a shelter. Then we’ll shift to questions about activities, such as swimming, dancing, or running on the sand. Each pattern builds on the last, helping you expand the core patterns step-by-step.

As always, this lesson includes example sentences, English translations, and audio narrations by Jay Che’le to guide your learning. Happy studying!

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Nihi Fan Che’lu by Walter Manglona – Chamorro Lyrics and English Translation

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro SongsLeave a comment

I was recently reminded of this song when Jay and I were walking into the city a few days ago. We often like to have a good walking song, which manifests in either improvising Chamorro lyrics to random tunes (Jay is great at this and I am terrible, haha) or just singing our favorite Chamorro songs. Last week we sang this song, which is fun for walking because it’s sung in a call-and-response style, framing a conversation between two friends trying to decide what to do next. Admittedly, one of the friends in this song seems like a pain, but that’s also what makes the song so fun. Our Saturday evening group actually transcribed this one back in 2024, so it has been sitting deep in our Chamorro music backlog. I’m glad I finally got around to posting it 🙂

So here are the Chamorro lyrics, an English translation (with plenty of notes!) and the audio recording for the song Nihi Fan Che’lu by Walter Manglona. Happy listening!

Continue reading “Nihi Fan Che’lu by Walter Manglona – Chamorro Lyrics and English Translation” →