Chuukese

I have been thinking a lot about the language barrier that exists here in Chuuk between English and Chuukese speakers. The subject comes up in conversation daily among my community-mates.

Each state in the FSM speaks its own language. In Chuuk, the 70,000 people who live here speak Chuukese. Chuukese is that strangest language I have ever heard; it makes Kiswahili look easy. There are no books published in Chuukese other than a translation of the Bible- the language was historically only oral. The way the school system here works (or at least in theory) is that students speak Chuukese in school through the 3rd grade. After that classes are supposed to begin to switch over to English. The only language spoken in the high schools here is English; the only opportunities for Chuukese to go to college are in English speaking schools. The only college here in Chuuk is COM- college of Micronesia, a 2 year associates program in education. And that’s the only option. Most students seeking a college education who do not attend COM go off island, to Pohnpei, Guam, Hawaii or elsewhere in the States.

The lack of options frustrates me daily; it is a type of poverty I hadn’t considered before. Try to wrap your head around not even having the opportunity to attend college in your native language. Part of the reason for the English system is the small number of Chuukese speakers, and part is the America education system enforced here on this small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As with many challenges Chuuk faces, the Chuukese are not often assisted by the foreign system at work here in this non-Western location.

For me at St. Cecilia, the language barrier is more apparent than for the other JVs. As the only elementary school teacher, most of my students are only beginning to learn English. At St. Cecilia, the students do not start classes in English in the 4^th grade. In fact most teachers teach in Chuukese through the 8^th grade, knowing that when they arrive in high school, the students will be forced to speak only English. Most of the teachers aren’t fluent in English either. It is difficult for my students and I to understand each other. Often directions must be repeated 5, 10 times in the classroom. I worry that I will never be able to connect with my students in any sort of depth due to the language barrier that divides us.

Every day I grapple with the implications of my presence here, as I participate in a system that forces a foreign language on Chuukese people. Am I facilitating an effort to strip the Chuukese language away from its speakers? Should we just let Chuuk be, take our language and head home? I don’t know. I do know that the only option for a college education is in English, and with that education a Chuukese person has the potential to make these decisions for herself or himself. I try to explain to my 7^th graders that bilingualism is an important tool they will need to claim their own voice in the world- I’m not sure they get it.

In asking these questions to my community-mates the other night, Marcos turned to me saying- whenever you question why you’re here, remember that you were invited. Marcos’ reminder, along with Tuesday night Chuukese lessons has been enough solace for my restless wondering for now.