Na’lå’la i fino’-ta!
Give life to our language!
Inspired by the community of learners created in Miget Bevacqua’s virtual Chamoru classes during the pandemic, June Pangelinan, one of Miget’s students, approached him to discuss the possibility of creating an immersion program for adults. In 2022, June’s vision came to fruition.
Prugråman Sinipok launched its pilot program the summer of 2022, sponsored by the Guam Museum, Chief Hurao Academy, and supported by their lead instructor, Bevacqua. Seventeen participants from the diaspora traveled to Guåhan for a two-week Chamoru language intensive and to connect with their Chamoru roots.
Following the success of the initial program, a second cohort gathered on-island the following summer, and in 2024, the Prugråman Sinipok team held an immersion in Southern California hosted by Cal State San Marcos.
Throughout each cohort’s two-week program, participants received daily language instruction, they learned from preeminent language scholars and cultural practitioners, and they created tightly-knit communities that continue to learn together long after the program’s conclusion.
