Another effort in revitalizing the CHamoru language was announced Wednesday at the Guam Department of Education.

A dedication ceremony was held to announce the new "Sagan Dinanña gi Finamta' CHamoru" or CHamoru Language Revitalization Center.

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The new center will be at the Guam Department of Education Central Office Building E and is expected to open later this year.

The center is being launched in partnership between the Guam Department of Education and Kumisión i Fino’ CHamoru yan i Fina’nå’guen i Historia yan i Lina’la’ i Taotao Tåno’, Commission on CHamoru Language and the Teaching of the History and Culture of the Indigenous People of Guam.

Commission member Laura Souder said the center will do several things.

It will allow the documentation of the spoken language by first language CHamoru speakers and provide a safe place for CHamoru language learners to converse with first language speakers, she said.

She said it's often the case for CHamoru language learners to try to speak with family members who speak the language, but get discouraged because they make mistakes.

Safe haven for learners

Family members get frustrated or they tease the person because of the mistakes and it discourages language learners, she said.

"It crushes the desire to speak CHamoru," she said.

Souder said the center would be a safe haven for learners who want to practice with native speakers and not feel intimidated or teased.

The center will also develop an accessible, comprehensive archive of oral recordings, written and multimedia materials in the CHamoru language, Souder said.

This will not only help people on the island, but the many CHamorus who live off-island to provide them valuable resources in the language.

It will provide teacher and parent training in CHamoru language education and promote research in place names, genealogies and archaic-CHamoru words, she said.

Important that legacy is passed down

Souder said language is an inheritance from ancestors, and it is important that the legacy is passed down.

"What a rich inheritance," she said.

The center will serve as a hub for educators and the community and aims to expand the footprint of CHamoru revitalization efforts while leveraging resources and opportunities to bridge the spoken CHamoru language gap and mitigate the threat of its extinction, a release from Guam Department of Education states.

“We will finally have a place for our CHamoru Studies teachers to collaborate, and for our students to practice beyond the 20 minutes that is currently allotted for CHamoru language instruction in public schools,” GDOE CHamoru Studies Administrator Rufina Mendiola said. “The new center will also support the department’s first CHamoru Immersion Program which is launching this fall.”

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