Category: Chamorro Lessons: Intermediate

Learning “Don’t” in Chamorro, Part 1: Saying “Don’t Do That” with Mungnga’

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Intermediate1 Comment

Have you ever wanted to tell someone not to do something in Chamorro, such as “Don’t do that” or “Don’t touch it”? One Chamorro word you can use is mungnga’ —it’s how you can say “no,” “not,” or “don’t” when you’re stopping someone from doing something.

In this post, we’ll start learning about some of the ways mungnga’ works in Chamorro sentences. You’ll see examples like “Don’t touch it”, “Don’t eat that” and “Don’t say the answer” so you can start using them right away. For parents, learning mungnga’ is especially useful. You can start using it with your children to give gentle guidance, set boundaries, and practice Chamorro in everyday situations.

By the end, you’ll be able to build your own “don’t do…” sentences with mungnga’. As always, this post includes example sentences, Chamorro audio narrations by Jay Che’le and English translations. Happy studying!

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Is Somebody Grilling The Meat? – Learn How to Say “Somebody Is Doing Something” in Chamorro

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Intermediate2 Comments

Ever want to say something like “There’s someone making soup” or “Somebody’s barbequing the chicken” in Chamorro? In this post, we’ll look at how to build these kinds of sentences step by step and learn simple patterns for talking about someone doing something, even when we don’t name the person. We will practice with a small selection of verbs, learn how to transform them, and practice using them in simple example sentences. As always, this post includes explanatory notes, example sentences in Chamorro, and Chamorro audio pronunciations by Jay Che’le to guide your learning. Happy studying!

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Talking About Togetherness in Chamorro: How to Say “We Were Together” and More

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: IntermediateLeave a comment

Whether you’re reminiscing about time with family, expressing gratitude for a gathering, or even writing your next love song, these all involve talking about being together with others. In this post, we’ll learn how we can talk about togetherness in Chamorro, including expressing thoughts in the past, present and future tenses. You’ll also find Chamorro example sentences, Chamorro audio narrations by Jay Che’le, and English translations to guide your learning. Happy studying!

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Doing Things For or To Someone in Chamorro: Key Verbs Explained

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: IntermediateLeave a comment

In Chamorro, some verbs don’t just need an action—they need a recipient. If you give something, someone must receive it. If you teach something, someone must learn it. These types of verbs require not just the thing being acted upon, but also the person receiving the action. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at how this concept is applied in Chamorro, start practicing with some of the most common verbs that are used this way, and explain why these verbs can be challenging for our English-oriented brains. By the end, you’ll have a better grasp of this concept by practicing with commonly used verbs. Happy studying!

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Describing Things in Chamorro, Part 1: Noun-Noun Descriptions

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro Lessons: Intermediate3 Comments

When we start out in the Chamorro language, one of the first things we learn is how to describe nouns with adjectives, in phrases such as dångkulo’ na kareta (big car) or yayas na palao’an (tired woman). We learn the structure that teaches us to use the na particle, and it’s easy to start with because the word order is the same as English. But Chamorro includes different ways of making descriptions, and in this blog post we will start to learn how to describe things with nouns to say phrases such as “olive oil” or “water bottle.” This post includes Chamorro audio pronunciations of all phrases voiced by Jay Che’le. Happy studying!

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