Tag: Ray Barcinas

The Lenten Boar

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro StoriesLeave a comment

As the Lenten season draws to a close, we’re featuring a story rooted in the intersection of Chamorro cultural traditions and Catholicism – the tale of the Lenten Boar. This fearsome and gigantic jungle creature was traditionally used by elders to teach children respect for the sacredness of Lent, warning them to follow the season’s rules or risk encountering the Babuen Kuaresma (the Lenten Boar). Consequences would include being bitten by the Babuen Kuaresma, or else being swallowed whole. Ray Barcinas, who grew up hearing tales of the Babuen Kuaresma, also said that his elders warned that if you were swallowed by the boar, you would not die, but you would be forced to witness your family’s life – without you in it. In this story I Babuen Kuaresma written by Ray Barcinas, Jesus Lujan and Velma Santos, we get to read about this distinctly Chamorro creature. It is easy to imagine oneself as a young Chamorro child while reading this piece, sitting and listening to the elders’ warnings about the Babuen Kuaresma.

This post includes the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le and Schyuler Lujan, an English translation, and translation notes provided by Jesus Lujan. We will also be receiving more translation notes from Ray Barcinas after Easter. Please note that the English translation focuses on giving the meaning and does not preserve the internal and external rhyme schemes found in the original Chamorro. Happy reading!

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4 Ways to Say “No” in Chamorro (with Audio Pronunciations)

On By Schyuler LujanIn Phrase Lists, Word Lists4 Comments

One of the first words we learn in Chamorro is åhe’, which means “no.” But did you know that there are different ways to say “no” in our language? And depending on the context, some forms of “no” are considered more rude or polite than others in spoken Chamorro. In this post, we will learn four key ways to say “no” in Chamorro, and the appropriate contexts for each. Un dångkulo na si Yu’os ma’åse to native speaker Ray “Mahettok” Barcinas for providing more in-depth explainations to our learning group on this topic. This post includes 22 question and answer drills with audio pronunciations voiced by Jay Che’le. Happy studying!

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The Old Man and His Grandson

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro StoriesLeave a comment

As a child I owned a copy of the tales collected the Brothers’ Grimm, and whenever I didn’t know what to read I would choose a fairy tale at random and lose myself in the story. It was like my analog version of a Kindle back then 🙂 “The Old Man and His Grandson” is one of the shorter tales from their collection, and perhaps you have never heard of it. But it has stuck with me since I first read it over 20 years ago and it has always been at the top of my list of stories to translate into our language. In this post, I am excited to share my translation of this story, which was edited by my Chamorro language teacher Ray Barcinas and my fellow learner Jesus Lujan. This post includes the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le, notes on word usage, and the English version of the story. Happy reading!

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Estorian Taotaomo’na: The Ones Driven Out

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro StoriesLeave a comment

Our story for this Saturday’s practice group is this fantasy short story written by Jay Che’le, edited by Ray Barcinas and friends. In this story, we follow the fictional main character Chå’ as they recount a dramatic encounter with taotaomo’na in Talaifak (a historic Chamorro village on the southen end of modern-day Hågat/Agat on Guam). This story draws inspiration from different encounters with taotaomo’na that happened in Jay’s family in Talaifak over the years, some of which still give everyone goosebumps when they recall them. These encounters range from people suffering a sleepless night, to a dramatic instance when a mango tree was burned to expel the ill-intentioned taotaomo’na (who were in the tree) to the islet of Annai. This explusion of these spirits is why Jay’s mother always told him to never go to Annai.

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

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