Author: Schyuler Lujan

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

The Canary and The Chungi’

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Stories1 Comment

Here is a charming tale of friendship between the canary and the chungi’, which in English is known as the white tern. I’m excited for our Saturday practice group to read this story because it really made me smile, and it reads like a happy folktale telling us how the two birds became friends. This story is from the book Istreyas Mariånas: Chamorro, written by Joaquin Flores Borja, Manuel Flores Borja, and Sandra Chung. Physical copies may be scarce, but thankfully we are able to access a digital copy on the Inetnun Kutturan Natibun Marianas website.

This post includes the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le, and an English translation. Please also note that this story follows the CNMI orthography. I have also added stress marks to some words, to make it easier for learners to see the stress placement. Happy reading!

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Intermediate Actions Part 2: Making Past Tense Sentences in Chamorro With Indefinite Objects – “I bought coffee”

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Intermediate1 Comment

To build off of part 1 where we practiced transforming our transitive verbs with the indefinite man- prefix, in this post we will start using those transformed verbs in sentences. We will learn how to make simple sentences like “I bought coffee”; “I heard something”; or “I made some soup.” We will also add noun subjects to say things like “The woman bought coffee.” This post includes sentence drills in Chamorro with Chamorro audio, and English translations. Happy studying!

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Kirida by Joe Garrido – Chamorro Lyrics and English Translation

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Songs1 Comment

A few weeks ago someone on the Chamoru language subreddit asked for lyrics and a translation of this song, and I wanted to also post it here. This is a great song beginners, and by a newer singer and songwriter! It’s really nice to get new, original music written and sung entirely in our language, especially since it doesn’t happen too often these days. So here are Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for the song Kirida by Joe Garrido. Happy listening!

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The Beautiful Woman at the Well

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro StoriesLeave a comment

This story evokes elements of the legend of the scented woman or the white lady, and we’ll be reading it this Saturday in our morning practice group. It’s another story from the KPV Collection (details below) which has been an invaluable resource for our practice groups. I’ve marked this story at the Intermediate Level, but the grammar isn’t too complex, so it’s also great for upper-level beginners who know a fair amount of common vocabulary and have famliarity with reduplication and plural man- prefixes.

As always, this post includes the Chamorro text, an audio narration in Chamorro by Jay Che’le, and an English translation. Happy reading!

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How to Say “I Like This” in Chamorro – Using “This” and “That”

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Beginner3 Comments

This lesson is part of the Beginner Chamorro learning path.

In this lesson, you continue learning how to talk about likes and dislikes in Chamorro by saying things like “I like this,” “I like these,” and “I like this coffee.” If you’d like a refresher, you can review Part 1 of this series. Happy studying!

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