Chamorro Taro Dishes

On February 8, 2025February 9, 2025 By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro StoriesLeave a comment

Chamorro recipes that use taro root or taro leaves were rare for me when I was growing up, as they weren’t easy for us to find here in the Pacific Northwest. It was more common for my grandmother to cook with other roots, particulary kamuti (sweet potato), and spinach leaves are a frequent subsitute for the taro leaves when cooking the gollai hagon suni. In this post we will learn more about taro on Guam, and read five short recipes for cooking taro. This is the fourth part of the book Manmannge’ Na Nengkanno’ I Manchamorro Yan Taimanu Manmafa’tinas-niha written by Carmen C. Blas, which I found in the UOG Archives and Digital Collections website. This post includes the Chamorro text, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le. Happy reading!

Updated Feb-8-2025 with discussion notes from our Saturday morning practice group.

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42 Words for Animals in Chamorro (with Audio Pronunciations)

On February 4, 2025February 2, 2025 By Schyuler LujanIn Word ListsLeave a comment

Animals are a fun and memorable category for building your Chamorro vocabulary. They are often featured in Chamorro legends and stories, and are usually part of everyday life. In this post, we will learn 42 different Chamorro words for different animals. As a note, animals specific to the Mariana Islands will be covered in a separate post. This post also includes audio pronunciations voiced by Jay Che’le. Happy studying!

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Manmenhalom by Daniel De Leon Guerrero – Chamorro Lyrics and English Translation

On February 2, 2025March 5, 2026 By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro SongsLeave a comment

This past Saturday our evening practice group welcomed a new member, so we made him choose the song. He ended up choosing Manmenhalom by Daniel De Leon Guerrero, which is an energetic song conveying deep pride in being Chamorro. This one is on the slightly faster side, but everyone did such a great job when it was their turn to listen and transcribe the lyrics. This more recent recording from Dåndan Marianas is a really nice acoustic version, which makes it great for learners. So here are the Chamorro lyrics and and English translation for the song Manmenhalom by Daniel De Leon Guerrerro. Happy listening!

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Chamorro Banana Recipes

On January 31, 2025 By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro StoriesLeave a comment

Another common ingredient featured in Chamorro cooking is the chotda or the green banana. It is often cooked in coconut milk in a dish called gollai åppan chotda, or else it might be dipped in flour and fried to make banana fritters. In this post we will learn about the chotda (green banana) and go through three recipes that use either the green banana, or the aga’ (ripe banana). These selections are from the book Manmannge’ Na Nengkanno’ I Manchamorro Yan Taimanu Manmafa’tinas-niha written by Carmen C. Blas, which I found in the UOG Archives and Digital Collections website. This post includes the Chamorro text, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le. Happy reading!

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

On January 28, 2025October 15, 2025 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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