Here’s a song that our practice group listened to a while back. I remember hearing this song within my first few months of learning Chamorro, and at that time the only words I could really catch were “Saipan”, “Chamoru”, and “para’isu.” I’m happy to say that now I’m able to hear the lyrics and sing along to this one, and it has become another favorite. During my brief visit to Saipan last year, the island and its people really were as welcoming and lovely as the song says. We even met a Korean couple who were on their honeymoon in Saipan, and the first thing they talked about was everyone’s kindness. Bula guinaiya to Saipan 🙂
taitai måsTag: Beginner Songs
KÃ¥ntan Chamoru: I Yori
On Saturday evenings our practice group has been doing something new. We pick a Chamorro song, listen to it, write down all the lyrics in Chamorro and then translate the song into English. At the end, we all mute ourselves and sing along. This is actually one of the primary methods that my boyfriend used to learn Chamorro when he was in high school – he listened to Chamorro songs over and over, wrote down the lyrics, and then translated them. When he proposed this activity for our evening practice group I was less than thrilled because I prefer stories to music, and listening comprehension is my weakest skill. But damn, this exercise really helps! We’ve been doing this for almost 3 months now, and I can really see an improvement in my listening comprehension. Here are the lyrics and translation we did for “I Yori” by Mike Duenas, which is now one of my favorite Chamorro songs.
taitai måsKåntan Chamoru: I Kapiya
This is an old Chamorro song, which is still popular today, about a chapel in the “Valley of Dreams.” It’s a lovely song for weddings, and this is a new rendition from the Tradewinds album sung by the singer from Microchild, Shannon Sengebau McManus. If you’re a beginner in Chamorro, this is a great song to learn for its pleasant tune and easy lyrics. In this post are Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for the song I Kapiya. Happy listening!
taitai måsKåntan Chamoru: Guinaiya
When I first listened to this song, Jay and I were driving on the Oregon Coast. He was playing Chamorro music to help train my ear, and often said, “Listen to the song and repeat the words.” My listening in the Chamorro language is not very good and Jay knows this. He really knows this. So he often teases me and says, “You just don’t like to listen!” But my anwer is always,” That’s not true! My ear is bad in every language!” This is true – whether it’s English or Chamorro, I can’t always hear words and sentences clearly! But on that particular sunny drive down the Oregon Coast I was able to make out the words to this song by Ti NÃ¥pu, and I hope you enjoy it. This post includes Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for their song Guinaiya. Happy listening!
taitai måsKåntan Chamoru: Hunggan
Before I translated this, I knew one word from the song: yes. I often sang this word to Jay: “Huuuuuuuuungan.” But I did not know the singer or the other words. Jay asked me, “Is that a real Chamoru song?” because he didn’t recognize it. So I am putting this song on my blog because I want to show him that, yes, this is a real song. This post includes Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for the song Hunggan by JJ Concepcion. Happy listening!
taitai mås
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