Prugråman Sinipok, a Chamoru language immersion program for adults, is slated to return to Guam this summer, from July 7-19. 

The program provides tools, instruction, and resources to empower participants to give life to the Chamoru language. The inaugural program took place on Guam in 2022. 

After successful iterations both on island and in Southern California, the program will return to Guam with its fourth cohort. 

Throughout the two-week immersion program, participants receive daily language lessons, visit important cultural and historic sites, and learn from important local figures deeply involved in both cultural and language revitalization. 

Anna Marie Arceo of Chief Hurao Academy, Påle’ Eric Forbes, language scholar and educator Teresita Flores, and Master of Chamoru Dance, Frank Rabon are among the many figures who have shared their experiences and expertise with Prugråman Sinipok participants.  

Prugråman Sinipok is the brainchild of Chamoru language learner and program director, June “Dåggao” Pangelinan. 

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, when Guam Museum Curator and Chamoru language scholar Miget Lujan Bevacqua began offering virtual classes.

June, a California resident, was among the first of his students. 

Pangelinan shares, “I was on Guåhan in the summer of 2021 and was surprised that there were few opportunities to practice Chamoru — it felt important that more opportunities should exist.” 

During her visit to Guam, Pangelinan asked Bevacqua if he would be interested in serving as the program’s lead teacher, and he agreed. With the help of program sponsors such as the Guam Museum and Chief Hurao Academy, Prugråman Sinipok welcomed its first cohort to Guåhan in 2022 and hasn’t looked back since. 

“We have seen more and more resources and support being created for young children to help give them the gift of our native language, but tens of thousands of Chamorus in the Marianas and in the diaspora are adults who want to learn their native language, either for themselves, to pass it on to their kids or to talk to their elders. It is critical to give them more support so they can build on the passion that they feel to reconnect,” said Bevacqua.

Today, the majority of living, native Chamoru speakers are over the age of 60. Prugråman Sinipok recognizes the urgency behind language revitalization. 

“We have a beautiful language that has been asleep for far too long and we need to do all we can to ensure it is spoken for generations to come,” Pangelinan says. 

Over the years, the program has had the unique opportunity to learn from many Chamoru leaders who have since passed away, the late musician and radio host Joaquin “Kin” Concepcion, the late carver and Sagan Kotturan Foundation Museum curator Johnny “Cake” Siguenza, the late oral historian and genealogist Malia Ramirez, and the late chanter Jeremy Cepeda. 

The transmission of knowledge from Chamoru elders to the next generation is one of the core elements of the program. 

Those who begin their Chamoru language learning journey as adults often face many challenges beyond simply learning another language. 

From uncovering the painful history of colonization and wartime, to being separated from cultural practices and their native tongue, to the lack of language transmission within families, learning the Chamoru language as a Chamoru person can be an emotionally taxing process. 

For many participants, Prugråman Sinipok provides the necessary time, space and care needed when learning a heritage language.  

Returning participant Vinny “Simiya” Prell shares, “In my family, I grew up with a lot of silence about what it meant to be Chamoru. Through learning Chamoru language and culture, I began to understand that it was because my parents and grandparents had been thought to think badly of being Chamoru. One of the many gifts of Prugråman Sinipok is the ability to build my skill in the language and my whole family’s pride in the culture.”