“Learning Chamorro Outside of a Classroom”
by Sandy Uslander
February 24, 2013
Guam PDN
In the previous weeks I have shared current efforts to teach
the Chamorro language outside of the islands. While it has been inspiring
to learn about these opportunities, obviously many aspiring Chamorro speakers
do not have access to study in this type of formal setting. This sent me
on a quest to find the best resources for learning the language on your own.
The start of this investigation was where many of us go when
we want to make connections across the miles: Facebook. I asked the
question, “What is the best resource you have found to learn or brush up on
your Chamorro language”? I also did my own online searches and inquired from
knowledgeable individuals.
The Facebook discussion did not provide any help at first,
mostly one guy I’ll call “J” who said I would never learn the real Chamorro
because it was essentially gone. That was not what I wanted to
hear.
From my individual inquiries I did get recommendations for
two sites, www.LearnChamorro.com, and
www.Guampedia.com (you need to look for “Chamorro” under “Lesson Plans”).
Later, Facebook came back with a recommendation for www.Chamoru.info/dictionary,
which is helpful and widely used. There was also mention of a closed
Facebook group dedicated to the use of the Chamorro language. The
discussion here included many of the news and resources that I had seen in
other places, including www.Paleric.blogspot.com,
and www.minagahet.blogspot.com.
There was also another post from “J” who said my best hope
of learning the language was to find a group of old Chamorro speakers at a
barbecue and ask them to teach me. Again, he wasn’t encouraging.
In my own research, I came upon lessons on www.OffIsland.com. There is also a
government site at www.ns.gov.gu that
provides an almost overwhelming number of Chamorro cultural resources.
Scrolling down the home page you can find a link to “Learn the Chamorro
Language”, which takes you to lists of vocabulary and phrases at www.uog2.uog.edu.lessonz/.
Some of my favorite video resources are the Word of the Day
and Chagi Chamorro produced by the Hurao Academy on Guam and available on their
YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/huraoguahan.
I must also mention the most useful dictionary that I have found, the
Chamorro-English Dictionary by Topping, Ogo and Dungca, a standard, first
published in 1975.
As great as all these resources are, I have to wonder if
they alone can really teach you the language. You have to learn so much
about pronunciation and what is common usage, and you just have to get into the
habit of speaking it. Recently, Dr. Robert Underwood wrote an opinion in
the PDN entitled, “Preserve the Chamorro language by using it,” and in it he
says, “If we are going to create a Chamorro-speaking community, we must have
Chamorro language immersion programs…” This is a prominent educator involved in
the Chamorro language discussion for three decades. It occurs to me that
these language tools need to work together with actual use of the language.
Back to Facebook, I find a message from a kind stranger I’ll
call “D”: “Sandy, I’ll teach you. Where do you live? Or better yet, am
just a phone call away”. Then “J” again chimes in. As I get ready
for another of his discouraging posts, I’m pleased to read his response:
“And THAT is how you learn Chamorro”, he says. Maybe he has a point
after all.
