Kottura: I Taotaomo’na

Our Saturday morning practice group will finish reading and translating The Dolphin and the Two Children this week, so the new story for this week is a bit shorter. It’s from a book written by Carmen C. Blas about different Chamorro cultural beliefs and practices, which I found in the KPV Collection. This short piece discusses beliefs about the taotaomo’na, or ancestral spirits. The Chamorro text, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le is included in this post. Happy reading!

Learning to Scuba Dive

Here is a narrative about the writer’s experience of learning how to scuba dive, which I found in a workbook in the KPV Collection (details below). In this post I’ve included the Chamorro text, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le. Happy reading!

The Beautiful Woman at the Well

This story evokes elements of the legend of the scented woman or the white lady, and we’ll be reading it this Saturday in our morning practice group. It’s another story from the KPV Collection (details below) which has been an invaluable resource for our practice groups. I’ve marked this story at the Intermediate Level, but the grammar isn’t too complex, so it’s also great for upper-level beginners who know a fair amount of common vocabulary and have famliarity with reduplication and plural man- prefixes.

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

Legend: The Story of Sirena

This is the legend of Guam’s mermaid, Sirena, written in Chamorro by Dolores I. Marciano from a book I found in the KPV Collection (details below). When I was a kid I used to interpret this story as a warning to children, to always obey our parents. Reading this story again as an adult makes me realize it’s also about parenting. It’s a warning to parents to have a care for the words they use with their children, but also about the pain of letting go of them. We did deep dive on this legend with Ray Barcinas a few weeks back, and his analysis moved us and brought a few of us to tears.

So here is the Chamorro legend of Sirena, with Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration, and an English translation. I actually recorded this narration because Jay was in Europe all week for work and things got too busy for him to do the recording. But as soon as he gets back, I’ll have him record his narration and I’ll update the audio. 🙂 Happy reading!

Legend: How the Young Women of Guam Saved the Island

Here is a Chamorro legend that tells us why the middle of the island of Guam is so skinny. It is definitely a beloved legend, as it celebrates the intelligence and courage of Chamorro women. This version combines storytelling from two different versions of this legend I found in the KPV Collection in their Education & Culture Content section (sources detailed below). But the majority uses the version from Dolores I. Marciano.

In this post you’ll find the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le, an English translation, and a Quizlet flashcard set for learning the affixed words. Happy reading!

The Old Pirate

Here is a fun story about a pirate and his treasure that I found in a book in the KPV Collection (details below). In the original document, this story has the title of “E-5”, in case you are looking for the source material. Since this story is on the longer side, I did not include a Quizlet flashcard deck. But feel free to practice breaking this up into phrase chunks for your own studying.

This post includes the Chamorro text, audio narration in Chamorro, and an English translation. Happy reading!