“Finu’ Chamorro” is a comprehensive, hands-on instructional guide with language exercises for Chamorro language learners of all levels.
A glance inside the 450-page long “Finu’ Chamorro,” which includes multiple teaching units, appendices, and two glossaries.
DOCTOR Faye Untalan, the author of a brand-new Chamorro language learning resource, said “Finu’ Chamorro for Beginners” has been a long time in the making.
“I am so relieved and so excited,” Untalan said. “[I’m] looking forward to it being used by all Chamorros.”
According to Northern Marianas College, the book is “a comprehensive, hands-on instructional guide with language exercises for Chamorro language learners of all levels.”
The project was undertaken by the University of Guam Press and NMC’s Proa Publications.
Its publication launch is set for Friday, Jan. 19 at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library at 5:30 p.m., and not at American Memorial Park as previously announced.
The 450-page book covers a total of 24 units with supplemental appendices and two glossaries.
The units and appendices cover topics, such as the “hu”-type pronouns and transitive statements; emphatic pronouns; pronunciation; parts of the body; and much more.
Untalan said she was a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa when she was approached by Chamorro students who asked her to teach them their language.
She said the students who came to her had varying levels of Chamorro speaking ability.
In terms of instructional materials, Untalan said while she had various resources at her disposal, there was no textbook for the class she eventually created.
In her introduction to “Finu’ Chamorro,” Untalan said the lack of a textbook motivated her to create one.
“After many years of teaching the Chamorro language, I became keenly aware that there are many Chamorro students on college campuses throughout the nation who would love to fulfil their language requirement by learning their native language,” she wrote. “Thus, I made a commitment to create the textbook I was looking for when I started teaching Chamorro.”
Untalan said she used a 2013 grant from the Administration for Native Americans to develop a standard curriculum that could be taught in a college-level course.
She said a panel of Chamorro instructors from the University of Guam, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Northern Marianas College, and the Guam Community College were consulted for the project.
She likewise had access to Chamorro scholars, native speakers, and non-fluent educators “with curriculum design expertise.”
Untalan said the late Bishop Thomas Camacho was also a frequent point of contact she consulted.
The manuscript was completed in 2016 and further refined until it was ready for publication.
Untalan said the book uses the CNMI orthography or spelling system.
She told Variety that in her opinion, the CNMI orthography is a better fit for the way the language sounds when spoken. She emphasized that it was important to remember that Chamorro is still an oral language.
“Most Chamorros off-island who live away from Guam do not accept the new [Guam orthography] so that’s agreeable to me because that’s how I feel,” Untalan said.
Advanced copies of the book are available for purchase on the UOG Press website, http://tinyurl.com/4amyt28h
Aside from the official launch of the book, Friday’s event at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library will also feature a panel discussion. Untalan will be joined by other guest speakers, including Northern Marianas Humanities Council Executive Director Leo Pangelinan.
Pangelinan anticipates the discussion will include “pockets of success stories that [Chamorro teachers] are seeing” in their classes, as well as the panelists’ opinions “of what they see as the future of the language.”