Here is another fairy tale from the Grimm Brothers, about a straw, a coal, and a bean that seem to escape their fate, only to fall into misfortune later. This version was translated by Dolores Marciano and includes an audio narration in Chamorro by Jay Che’le, the Chamorro text, an English translation, and a link to the original source document. Happy reading!
As a child I owned a copy of the tales collected the Brothers’ Grimm, and whenever I didn’t know what to read I would choose a fairy tale at random and lose myself in the story. It was like my analog version of a Kindle back then 🙂 “The Old Man and His Grandson” is one of the shorter tales from their collection, and perhaps you have never heard of it. But it has stuck with me since I first read it over 20 years ago and it has always been at the top of my list of stories to translate into our language. In this post, I am excited to share my translation of this story, which was edited by my Chamorro language teacher Ray Barcinas and my fellow learner Jesus Lujan. This post includes the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le, notes on word usage, and the English version of the story. Happy reading!
This week in our practice group, we will be listening to and reading the first chapter in the book of Mark from the 1908 Chamorro Bible. Jay was out of town all week for work, so I’m giving him a break from recording for the week 🙂 The full text of 1908 Chamorro Bible is available digitally for free at the chamorrobible.org website, along with some audio recordings of the readings. In this post, I’ve included the Chamorro text with updated spelling, an English translation from the King James Version, and the Chamorro audio narration by Josephine Chargualaf Varley. Happy reading!
Our Saturday morning practice group will be reading a short story this week. This is a story from the island of Luta, about a cart that is sometimes seen and heard at night. It has some spooky vibes, which is perfect for the end of October. This post includes the Chamorro text, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le. Happy reading! (Updated 11/2/2024: Added footnotes on select words and phrases to highlight the main discussion points from our practice group session.)
I am so excited to share this song titled Otro by my friend Dabit Taitingfong! Some of you may know Dabit from his work on @dihan.dabit on Tiktok and Instagram, where he makes videos and mini Chamorro language lessons – entirely in Chamorro! These past few months Dabit has been caught by a music muse, composing song after song in Chamorro – and this is his first release! If you’ve been wanting more original Chamorro music that’s both contemporary and fresh, his songs won’t disappoint. With romantic lyrics and soft vibes, his songs are a welcome addition to my Chamorro music library. This post includes the Chamorro lyrics, an English translation and footnotes to help us understand some of the language usage in the song. Happy listening!
Continue reading “KÃ¥ntan Chamoru: Otro”
Lengguahi-ta 