Guam has taken a big step towards opening its first full-immersion Chamorro language school.

Ms Cristobal told Ben Robinson Drawbridge the commission has been tasked with incorporating new words into the Chamorro language.

The University of Guam has been awarded the money to develop Chamorro language teaching at the post secondary level.

That language was part of the Austronesian language family, or Malay-Polynesian, that included both Filipino and modern Chamorro languages, he said.

The chair of Guam's newly reformed Chamorro Language Commission says she is looking forward to working with indigenous leaders from the Northern Marianas.