NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

No one ever fully knows a language, and that is always an interesting way of reminding people that a language is, first and foremost, a social organism. It connects people. It exists to connect and express connections.  But as no one ever fully knows a language, it means that even those who use it everyday are always still learning in the language. There is always more to know, as a language is always belong what a single person can know or do. One way that I have continued to learn and grow in the language is by translating songs from English, regularly into Chamoru. At this point, I've translated hundreds of pop songs, rock songs, hip hop songs, country, punk, alternative, emo, ska, at this point just about any genre you can imagine, I've probably translated at least one song from it, into the Chamoru language.  Sometimes I try to keep the original intention and metaphor of the song, other times I completely abandon it. Sometimes even the tune of the song itself, its flow get

For my intermediate Chamoru coffeeshop classes, which during the current lockdown, have been moved online, we translate a Chamoru song into English each week. We listen to the song twice, go over the lyrics, sometimes talk about the cultural dimensions of the song or the metaphors and history that it invokes. It is one of my favorite ways to teach the language, since it involves not only teaching the language itself, but also making connections across generations and sometimes using the nostalgia that people have to encourage further learning. My lyrics are often from just listening since few Chamoru albums include lyrics. This means that sometimes my lyrics are slightly to noticeably off. But even years after doing this regular assignment, I still learn new things from this exercise, even for myself. Sometimes I hear lyrics in a new way and realize I was singing them wrong for years. Last week, at the request of one of my students, we translated the song "An Mo'na Hao&quo;

When my son Akli'e' and I played Assassin's Creed Black Flag (Åttelong na Bandera) together, we were both touched by the game's ending ballad, "Parting Glass," a famous Scottish farewell song. Even  after  I stopped playing it years ago, we still find ourselves singing to it in the car and referencing his favorite line from the song "for want of wit." Este uno gof ya-hu na huegon bideo. Ya hu hasso gi finakpo' annai makånta este na kånta, kulang tumåtanges yu'.  Over the years when we sing this song, my kids and I eventually added in our own Chamoru lyrics for it. I've pasted them below.  As I reflect back on the year that was 2019; the love, the pain and everything in between, this song was a beautiful way to bid it adios. ************************* The Parting Glass Of all the money there ere I had I spent it in good company Put todu i salape’ ni’ hu chule’ I manabok-hu hu gaståyi And all the harm that ere I

For the past few months my Saturday morning Chamoru coffee shop classes have been structured around two activities. Each class begins with the translation of a Chamoru song into English. Usually the students get to the pick the particular song, or at least the type of song. Second, we go through a longer narrative, sometimes a story, a speech or a poem in Chamoru and also spend time translating it and practicing reading it. As a result of this, I've been translating lots of Chamoru songs lately. When I first started learning Chamoru, gi minagahet, I was terrible at transcribing Chamoru songs. I hadn't grown up with the ear for hearing or catching Chamoru and so my transcriptions of songs were often wildly inaccurate. For the first few years I had people both politely and impolitely correct my attempts at transcription and then translation. My ear for Chamoru has gotten better, but I still struggle sometimes with particular artists who may have their own flair for pronunciat

Last month for UOG's annual Chamoru Christmas celebration "Puengen Minagof Noche Buena" my Radical Chamoru History class performed their own version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" using Chamoru and also references from the Fanuchånan semester and Guam's recent election. It was a lot of fun watching them write it and as you can see in this picture, they used appropria te props when performing it. Here are their lyrics: "I fine’nina na Krismas, este ma susedi I fine’nina na na palao'an gobietno (The first day of Christmas, this is what took place The first female governor (of Guam!)) I mina’dos na Krismas, este ma susedi Dos na Påkyo (The second day of Christmas, this is what took place Two typhoons (that happened during the semester)) I mina’tres na Krismas, este ma susedi Tres freskon mannok (The third day of Christmas, this is what took place Three fresh chickens (new fresh, faces in the Legislature) I mina’kuåtro na Krismas, este ma susedi Ku

--> Chachalåni By Jay Baza Pascua Fo’na yan Pontan hu gågaogao hamyo Chachalani i famagu’on-miyu Ginen Pontan na gaige ham guini gi tano’-ta Ma nå’i ham ni tahtaotao-ñiha Fo’na yan Pontan hu gågaogao hamyo Chachalåni i famagu’on-miyu Ginen Fo’na na gaige ham guini gi tano’-ta Ma nå’i ham ni’ lina’la’-ta!

It has been two weeks of non-stop Chamorro Christmas songs in my classes, all in preparation for tonight's Puengen Minagof Nochebuena at UOG. One of the toughest songs we've been tackling is "Annai i Niño" also known as "Kantåyi gui'." In honor of December being the season not just for Christmas but also Star Wars, I always tease my students using the equivalent of dumb Chamorro Star Wars dad jokes. After struggling through the difficult tune for the verses, whenever the students come in strong for the chorus and sing loudly "Kantåyi gui'!" I respond, "Maolek! The Kantåyi is strong with this one." As a back up, in case they aren't cringing to death already, I might throw in "ti este na Kantåyi ta espipiha" or "This is not the kantåyi we are looking for." ****************** Annai i Ni ñ o minida as Maria ( When Mary clothed the infant ) Ya nina’ åsson gi hilo’ ngåsan ( and made Him

I haven't translated an English pop song into Chamorro in very long time. I was feeling nostalgic the other day and decided to translate "Sex and Candy" by Marcy's Playground. Note that the translation isn't meant to be literal and I changed things where I saw it appropriate in particular lines such as "disco candy" and "platform double suede." **************** --> Kichichi yan Bukåyu Humahaggan yu’ Guahu na maisa Åpmam na tiempo Para bai fanhasso Put Guahu Ya desnek gui’ Kulang mesgo’ yan minangnge’ Hu’u ayugue Mannginge’ yu’ Kichikichi yan bukåyu Håyi matata’chong Gi siyå-hu? Håyi mana’atan båba giya Guahu Nåna siempre Guinife ha’ este! Humahaggan yu’ Guahu na maisa Ya hu dafflokgue Kafe gumimen Ya duru manhasso yu’ Put Guahu Ya desnek gui’ Gi dogga’ na yore’ Hu’u ayugue Kulang tuban binakle Mannginge’ yu’ Kichikichi yan bukåyu Håyi matata’chong Gi siyå-hu? Hå

Tomorrow for my free Chamorro lessons at a Hagåtña coffee shop, we'll be focusing on translating four Chamorro songs into English. The reason for this focus is that next week is the "Na'lå'la': Songs of Freedom" concert being organized by Independent Guåhan (July 4th, 2-5 pm at the Adelup Front Lawn). After the success of the Respect the Chamoru People Rally in April, our group decided to have a similar public event, although this time focus more on art, music and poetry, as opposed to speeches. To get my Chamorro students into the mood for the event (as most of them will be there or are even volunteering), I picked out four interesting songs, with various social/political messages. One of those songs was this one, "Ingrato" a traditional song written by Tun Jose Pangelinan, but made famous by Candy Taman and the groups Tropic Sette and Chamolinian. It has a simple, yet powerful message, especially profound in times of rapid social and cultural cha

Ti hu tungo' sa' håfa, lao gi halacha na tiempo, sigi ha' hu egga' este na video/ya hu ekungok este na kånta. Gof na'chalek i kanta, lao guaha tinahdong na hinasso lokkue', achokka' parody ha' na kånta. Buente, gof malago' yu' na bei egga' i "prequel" na mubi siha ta'lo ginen Geran Estreyas. Hekkua'. ************** "The Saga Begins" by Weird Al Yankovic A long, long time ago In a galaxy far away Naboo was under an attack And I thought me and Qui-Gon Jinn Could talk the federation into Maybe cutting them a little slack But their response, it didn't thrill us They locked the doors and tried to kill us We escaped from that gas Then met Jar Jar and Boss Nass We took a bongo from the scene And we went to Theed to see the Queen We all wound up on Tatooine That's where we found this boy... Oh my my this here Anakin guy May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry And he

It's almost Mes Chamoru once again! For my free weekly Chamorro classes today I brought a record player and a wide range of Chamorro LPs from my collection. We listened to a few songs, discussing the lyrics. One of the requests from the students was this song below "Mannginge'" from Jesse Bais. It is one commonly heard at parties, in stores, and also used by teachers for performances with their Chamorro classes. The practice of mannginge', or the sniffing and sometimes kissing of the hand of an elder is the subject of different community debates. First there are the debates over whether or not it is dying or still persists. Although it may not be something practiced in all Chamorro families today, it is definitely not dead, and if anything I find more and more families practicing it because of the belief that it is dead. Second there are the debates over who you should or should not pay respect to in this way. This is something that I struggle with as well.

If you were to ask me what type of music is my favorite, I will always say Chamorro music. It isn't really that I like every single Chamorro song, but I will purchase every single Chamorro CD or record I can get my hands on, in order to support one of the main ways that the Chamorro language persisted even during the generations which were quietly trying to silence it by not teaching it to their children. Chamorro musicians deserve far more support and credit than most people give them. They are, within recent Chamorro history, the ones who played the most significant, but unheralded role in keeping the language spoken and alive. While most families did not speak it to their children, collections of singers decided to keep using the language to make music, despite immense pressure to simply sing in English and Americanize the way everything else seemed to be going. Within that collection of musicians a few names stand out more than others. There are those who had their names on t

Last year when I attended the United Nations Regional Seminar in Nicaragua I had the chance to meet and talk to Reverend Conrad Howell from the Turks and Caicos, a fellow Non-Self-Governing Territory just like Guam, albeit in the Caribbean and with a different colonizer, the United Kingdom. Reverend Howell was clearly charismatic, even just from the few days that I spent with him at the seminar. He was articulate and not afraid to stir up controversy. Like many other people that I've met from Non-Self-Governing Territories, we face similar problems of being small, being faraway and being forgotten. These issues are relative of course, but when we imagine the possibilities for our future, we feel a massive weight bearing down on us, which seems to compel so many of us to think that we shouldn't try to change anything, that our colonial situations are necessary because of our minuscule realities, we just need to accept being hopelessly dependent. But in each of our islands, w

Ginen i blog "The Islander." Estague i palabras-ña i kantan KC Leon Guerrero, i na'ån-ña "Nangga Yu'." Gof ya-hu ayu na blog, hu diseseha na i dueñu para u na'lå'la' gui' ta'lo, sa' gof maolek na hinekka para palabras kantan Chamorro. ***************** Nangga Yu' Este ta'lo ginen as KC i kanta Nangga yu' http://youtu.be/97CNdG6faO0 Kirida bai hu mapressu pago- Darling they're arresting me today Sa hu a punta i pakikku gi tinderu- Because I put the gun to the store owner Lao ayu neni chinileku- Because baby I did it ni aniyu ilekmu mas yamu- for the ring you said you liked Munga umasagua kirida nangga yu'- Don't marry darling wait for me Nangga yu' sa ti apman yu guatu- Wait for me I'll be back soon Nangga yu sa ti apman bai hu fatto- Wait for me because I'll come back soon Makonne yu' gi gima para Hagatna-They took me from my home to Hagatna Ha godde nen

Ti siguru yu' hafa maolek na pinila' gi Fino' Chamoru para i palabara "avalanche." Sina un deskribi gui' gi Fino' Chamoru komo un nåpu pat un pakyo'. Sina un usa palabra siha ni' para u ma deskribi i kinalamten-ña pat i fuetså-ña, pat i piligro kada mana'fanhuyong. Ti siguru yu' hafa i mas propiu na pinila'. Manhahasso yu' put este sa' unu na kanta ni' gof ya-hu (ya hu e'ekungok gui' pa'go ha' na momento) i na'an-ña "Avalancha" ginen un inetnon danderu ginen España "Heroes del Silencio." Anai i fine'nina hu hungok i palabra, ti hu komprende hafa ilelek-ña i taotao, lao gof ya-hu i bos-na yan i tunada. Ya kada mafåtto i koru ya ma essalao "Avalancha!" malago' yu' tumachu yan umessalao lokkue'. Kada hu hungok ya na påtte, hu imahihina na ma'u'u'dai yu' un kabayu gi hilo' un nåpu niebes ni' pumopoddong ginen un takhilo' na okso. M

Each year for the Inachaigen Fino’ CHamoru or Chamorro Language Competition at the University of Guam we offer a number of competitions where students can show their skills in reading, writing, speaking and singing the Chamorro language. Each year we provide students two texts in Chamorro, one of them is a song/chant and the other is a poem. Students will have to memorize and perform these pieces before judges and the audience. Here is the poem that was provided last year for students. It was written by two Chamorro language teachers and fa’fa’nague or dance leaders in Pa’a Taotao Tano’. The lyrics are included below: Imåhen i Taotao-ta Tinige’ Siñot Brian Terlaje yan Siñot Raymond Lujan, 2014 Betso 1 : Fresko i aire Duru i manglo’ Humuyong i atdao Chumi’op ha’åni An poddong i ichan papa’ gi i tano’ Manmagof i taotao, bunitu i ha’åni. K oru:               Humuyong i hilét i isan i langet Yan i paluma kumǻkanta gi i trongko Mamflores i tano’ P

I haven't done many song translations lately, I've been so busy with so many different types of work, this activity that used to take my spare time while waiting for meetings, for movies, while sitting at intersections, riding in planes and so on, has fallen by the wayside in terms of my schedule. This used to be a regular exercise I would do to keep my Chamorro creativity going and active. But lately that part of me has been used up for other pursuits, including story-writing in the Chamorro language. But I recently rewatched the remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and loved the way they incorporated "Space Oddity" by David Bowie into the narrative. After listening to it again and again over the past two week, I really think I want to translate it into Chamorro. Not only because I like it, but because it is in-line with my philosophy of expanding the possibilities for Chamorro and just using Chamorro for everything I like or love or find passion in. In the