<p>So if there's one thing I've grown passionate about in the past two years, it is learning to speak my native tongue. I live in the Mariana Islands where Chamorro, the indigenous language, is rarely taught to and spoken by my highly-Americanized generation. I began to feel extremely guilty for not being able to carry on my obscure and dying language... so late in junior year I started to learn the language by studying it independently. My sources include an unofficial Chamorro dictionary, Chamorro songs, and Catholic hymns and prayers that have been translated into Chamorro (I'm not Catholic, however). It's been extremely hard b/c Chamorro linguists are rare and major aspects of the language itself are still being researched and disputed as we speak. But still, I try.</p>
<p>For my personal statement I was thinking of writing a short passage about myself and the importance I place on preserving my language and culture... However, I want to do this in Chamorro, then have the second half of the statement be its English translation. The only problem I see with this is that I won't be able to display my writing ability to its fullest extent, as I can only speak/write Chamorro in simple sentences. My desire to learn my language is strong and I'd love to show that to colleges, but if that desire hampers my ability to create a vivid picture of myself with ENGLISH, then I'm not sure I'd want to go down that path.</p>
<p>I need opinions. Should I go with my idea or should I just stick w/ topics that I can explain elaborately in English?</p>
<p>I think it’d be great to write about this IN ENGLISH.
But since I’m guessing none of the admissions people will speak/be able to read Chamorro, I don’t really see what the point of including the same essay in Chamorro is. However, I think you could flavor your essay with a few phrases in Chamorro, if you feel you can incorporate these easily. Good luck!</p>
<p>The idea itself sounds great! I identify with your situation completely, I’m losing my native tongue too, to the point where my parents speak to me mainly in English, and I still feel guilty about losing it. So I think it’s a pretty inspirational topic to write about.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what a personal statement is, and why you want to write it in Chamorro though. Are you applying only to colleges in the Mariana Islands, where the readers will be impressed by your ability to write in Chamorro? If so, then I’d say go for it.</p>
<p>Well no I’m not applying to the [community] college here; the quality of the institution is just sad, and plus I’d rather have the challenge of a UNIVERSITY in the U.S. mainland. But anyway now that I think about it, I think it would be a much better idea to incorporate bits and pieces of the language into the essay and then expound on them in English (thanks for the advice, quomodo hehe).</p>
<p>I also like quomodo’s idea; you could build quite a bit by using phrases/sayings in Chamorro and describing why you’re learning it, or what special meaning each phrase has to you (determination, strength, etc.). I wouldn’t put too many phrases though, just a couple and expound on them, otherwise they may get bored.</p>
<p>I think it’s a great topic and I think the advice in post #2 is spot on. I’ll read it and give feedback if you’d like; I won’t edit, but I’ll critique. Just PM it if you want.</p>