Transcript
RUFINA MENDIOLA: The need is that we haven't yet produced speakers for the next generation so this programme hopefully will start producing speakers for the next generation. We have already the mandate programme, which is every child in the public school that's taking classes from kindergarten to high school, they are mandated to take Chamorro, but they are limited for 20 minutes in the primary, 30 minutes in the intermediate, 45-60 minutes in the middle school and 90 minutes in the high school. That's not enough. So the master plan is supposed to help build that language proficiency and hope to produce generations of speakers.
JAMIE TAHANA: The number of full fluent Chamorro speakers has been declining over the last few years, hasn't it?
RM: Yeah, it's like really declining. Every ten years it's going down. In 1990, for example, we had 35,000 Chamorro speakers; and then in 2000 we went down to 30,000; and then in 2010 it went down to 25,000, so we can just expect 2020 to be less if we don't start now. So we hope that this immersion programme will bring that data up and it's something good for the people of Guam, especially in revitalising our indigenous Chamorro language.
JT: So you've got this plan that's been approved to go ahead with a full immersion school. What's the process you have to go through to actually get a school there? Because you would have to do a curriculum and get teachers and everything, wouldn't you?
RM: The process is definitely, first of all, the community. We have been taking it out to the community, we have been surveying the community. It's because of their want and their call that has helped them move forward. So, a lot of the community people that have been surveyed are interested, they want to put their children in this type of learning, and there also has to be a commitment from the parent because it's not only in the school - it goes to their home where the parents are also speaking the language to their kids. So there's a lot on our plate to work forward, but definitely we're not going to stop now, our drive is even higher for us to keep moving forward.
JT: Have you got a site yet? Or any plan of how it will work? When do you hope to have the first school opening?
RM: We hope to start in the next school year. We're going to pilot a small pilot. We want to start from the beginning, which is to pilot one school for the kindergarten and probably about 18 students, and then every year as the project is working and they want more we open it up to other schools. Whatever the case is, if it works for one school year we can always branch out for other schools. But we'll start small - one school for a kindergarten class.
