Contest Helps Keep Chamorro Language Alive

Written by Jacob Camacho, Pacific Sunday News, Mar. 18, 2012.

Thousands of students participated in the Chamorro Language Competition-Inacha'igen fino' CHamoru Monday and Tuesday at the University of Guam. The event helped Chamorro culture educators' efforts to keep the local language and culture vibrant.

With March being Chamorro Month, the emphasis on learning the language is amplified.
One of the creators of the language competition, author, educator and playwright Peter Onedera has said the Chamorro language is the "soul of the culture."

Others agree.

"If the language disappears, so does the culture," said Ron Laguana, Guam Department of Education Chamorro Studies administrator.

While educators have supported efforts to increase the amount of time public schools devote to teaching Chamorro language, they continue to note that it's also important for students to get their education at home.

Chamorro teacher Joseph Leon Guerrero said if parents speak Chamorro at home and continue the various traditions that embody the language, children will learn the language more easily.
Leon Guerrero encourages his students to ask their grandparents questions or to just help them by speaking Chamorro at home.




"It's good for both (parent and child) because (the children) start picking up words and putting them into sentences," Leon Guerrero said.

Chamorro teacher Francesca C. Blanco encourages Guam's parents to continuously speak to their children in Chamorro. Blanco, a mother of three, said she is constantly teaching her children to ensure the perpetuation of the language.

"You need to do your responsibility. You need to continue," she said adding that the Chamorro people also need to come together to ensure the culture and language will not be lost.

"We are one -- unu ha' hit," she said.

Source: http://www.guampdn.com/article/20120318/NEWS01/203180317/-1/NLETTER01/Contest-helps-keep-Chamorro-language-alive?source=nletter-news