Study shows use of Chamorro language declining (fwd)

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Study shows use of Chamorro language declining

by Clynt Ridgell, KUAM News
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
http://www.kuam.com/news/20968.aspx

The study on the use of the Chamorro language was released this morning
at the Governor's Complex at Adelup. Conducted by the Department of
Chamorro Affairs, the results show older Chamorros are better at
speaking and understanding Guam's native language while our younger
generation is better at reading and writing in Chamoru.

This was attributed to the fact that many younger Chamorro's are only
exposed to the language in the classroom where they are taught formal
Chamorro, and not the language for use in conversational situations.
The study also revealed that certain villages were more proficient in
the language than others, said Dr. Annette Santos. "So we see areas
like Ordot and Inarajan having greater proficiency than areas like
Hagatna and Maite, which were consistently lower in their proficiency,"
she explained.

Although the study showed that the language is continuing in a
diminishing returns fashion, there is some hope as a majority of the
people surveyed expressed a fondness of the Chamorro language and a
longing to learn it.

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