This song is the very first Chamorro song that I listened to where I was actually able to understand some of the lyrics. I remember it clearly – back in 2020, it was a really hot summer in Seattle and I was washing dishes in the kitchen while listening to Chamorro music. It was all a bunch of meaningless noise in my ears until this song started playing. I remember how thrilled I was to comprehend some words and attach meaning to them. It was nice to listen to this song again, as I haven’t listened to it in a few years. This song is great for beginners because it’s an easy-going tempo, the phrases are short and it’s sung clearly. Here are Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for the song Bonitu i Ha’åne by KC DeLeon Guererro. Happy listening!
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How to Say “I Like Coffee” in Chamorro – Expressing Likes in Sentences
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. This time, you practice talking about things instead of people, with sentences like “I like coffee,” “I like the coffee,” or “Juan likes coffee.” You’ll build on what you learned in the previous lesson and practice making natural sentences through guided examples and drills. If you’d like a refresher before starting, you can review the previous lesson on how to make statements about what you like and don’t like. Happy studying!
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Legend: The Story of Sirena
This is the legend of Guam’s mermaid, Sirena, written in Chamorro by Dolores I. Marciano from a book I found in the KPV Collection (details below). When I was a kid I used to interpret this story as a warning to children, to always obey our parents. Reading this story again as an adult makes me realize it’s also about parenting. It’s a warning to parents to have a care for the words they use with their children, but also about the pain of letting go of them. We did deep dive on this legend with Ray Barcinas a few weeks back, and his analysis moved us and brought a few of us to tears.
So here is the Chamorro legend of Sirena, with Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration, and an English translation. I actually recorded this narration because Jay was in Europe all week for work and things got too busy for him to do the recording. But as soon as he gets back, I’ll have him record his narration and I’ll update the audio. 🙂 Happy reading!
Tuhu I Lago’-hu by The Guam Sirenas – Chamorro Lyrics and English Translation
This past weekend, our Saturday evening practice group got to look at our refreshed song list for 2024. I voted for this one and everyone was down to transcribe it! Also, a reader had requested this song a few weeks back when we were refreshing our song list for the praktika, so it was perfect timing. Here are Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for Tuhu I Lago’-hu by the Guam Sirenas. Happy listening!
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9 Tips and Tricks to Find Chamorro Words
Do you ever come across a Chamorro word and then spend hours trying to figure out what it means because you can’t find it in the dictionary? Or do you struggle to know how to use words once you find them in the dictionary? I think every learner of Chamorro at every level encounters the frustration of struggling to find words. With our incomplete dictionaries, varying orthographies, and the small amount of Chamorro media available for supporting learners, it can make learning really difficult and time-consuming, especially if we can’t ask any speakers. In this post I’m going to share some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years for finding words in Chamorro, which is geared toward people who may be unable to ask native speakers for help. I hope these tips can save you some time :)
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