Bisaya Lessons Continue
It’s been awhile since I’ve done an update on my attempt to learn Bisaya online. I’m happy to report that I’m still at it. I may not be moving along at the normal pace of the program, but I am still progressing.
As I reported previously, we settled on Skype as our platform after trying a few different options. We’ve stuck with that, more because we are used to it than for any other reason. There are plenty of alternatives out there, and frankly my preference would be to use iChat/AIM if you can get that to work for both parties. The clarity of the video with iChat is leaps and bounds above the others I have tried. But the video is not nearly as important to our lessons as the audio, and the connection on both sides will determine the quality of the audio and video.
Overall I think the lessons are going very well, with my progress being somewhat slow. There are two main reasons I attribute to the slow progress; 1) while my comprehension seems to be adequate, my retention is not as good as it used to be, 2) my lack of opportunity to use the material in speaking with others.
I’ll tackle the second one first. My wife is the only person I see on any kind of regular basis that speaks Bisaya. While I admire her ability to speak at least four languages (Tagalog, Illongo, Bisaya, & English), I don’t know if she is really an expert at any. Possibly Illongo, as that was spoken where she grew up. As is the case with most Bisayan speakers, she did not learn it formally. They don’t typically teach it in schools, so it is a language often learned in spoken form only. I, on the other hand, am learning it formally, and it is by far easier for me to see it written than spoken at this point. The times I tried to speak with my wife I’ve found many misunderstandings from what I’ve learned and the way she speaks. This will get better over time, as my knowledge increases, and it will also be beneficial to see how what I learn is adapted to the real world. But at this time it doesn’t help me a lot to try to converse with her.
The first one, my retention, may also be related to the second, but the fact of the matter is it takes me longer to memorize things than it used to. I’m not that old yet, but this would have been a piece of cake for me 30 years ago. I think the language is fairly easy, as far as languages go. It has some roots in Spanish and though I never learned Spanish, I was exposed to it when I lived in Tucson.
I’ve set up a couple of different flash card systems. One is on my iPhone, and I have that with me wherever I go. I can pull it out anytime I’m waiting and get some instant practice. That has helped a lot. I’ve also started using another program on my MacBook and iMac, iFlash. There are a lot of flash card programs out there, but I settled on this because it has a nice OS X GUI, is very flexible, and sound can be added to each card. This has also helped me quite a bit as I try to work not only on my new words, but the previous ones that I’ve already learned but keep forgetting. I practice whenever I have some free time at work (MacBook) or home (iMac).
I’m finishing up lesson 9, which is a landing point, and lesson 10 will be a review before we move on to more advanced learning. My goal is to be able to converse in a simple matter with those I meet when we visit Davao & Samal Island next year. I have a little over a year to build up to that.
I know I’ve expressed this before, but I can’t post about my lessons without giving praise to my teacher, Bebe. She really makes this work. Every lesson she has to travel to Bob Martin‘s house because she doesn’t have internet at home yet. Bob is kind enough to do this because he also thinks the world of Bebe. I feel very fortunate to have Bebe for a teacher, and can’t thank Bob and Bebe enough for doing this.
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Hi Randy – I’m glad to get the update! Of course, I talk with Bebe every week, and I always ask her – “How is Randy doing with his lessons?” She always says that you are doing just fine. But, it’s good to get the scoop straight from the horse’s mouth! (Did I just call you a horse?)
Don’t worry about it being slow, Randy, I am slow too, but I am moving along every week. I am on lesson 42 now, so just 18 more to go! But, it will take time. Even if you are just on lesson 10 or so, when you are here you will find that you can understand a lot of what you hear, and also you will be able to converse with people, if you can get over the embarrassment of openly speaking a new language. That is a hard hurdle to get over, but once you do it, you will have a lot of fun!
I am thinking of taking a trip up to Cebu soon, basically just to hear the language in it’s purest form, and to talk with people. Some other of Bebe’s students have told me that they went to Cebu and were almost in heaven hearing the language there, it was so pure compared to what they hear here in Davao.
Good luck, Randy! Anytime that I can help you, don’t hesitate to let me know!
Hi Bob – the horse’s mouth is certainly better than the other end, and I’ve been called that a few times
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I really feel that I’ll get there, it’s just a matter of effort and time. Sometimes it’s difficult to find either.
We had some people over this weekend for Rechie’s birthday and a couple of her friends speak Bisaya. They came in two groups, and the first spoke Tagalog. They basically were shocked I wasn’t learning Tagalog instead. They gave me all the reasons that I’ve mentioned before but I stood up for my decision. I explained all the reasons I felt this was right for me.
The second group had the native Bisayans. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time listening, but I did pick up a word now and then. They speak so fast, it would be difficult even if I was further along. They were fascinated that I was learning Bisaya, especially since I was doing it online., so we spent some time discussing that. They may come back over for the Superbowl on Sunday, so I’ll try to get some more conversation in.
Randy,
Keep practicing, you’re doing great. I’s slow going for me too right now as I’ve got my Mathcounts team after school getting ready for our big competition on February 10th.
I just keep a big pile of index cards handy and go through them every day. I don’t want to forget all the words i’ve already learned. I can finally speak a little so that Jaycee can help me. I use the sentences in the book to read out loud before we go to bed. I find this helps me to hear the words and make a link in my mind.
I keep a stack of index card for the verbs and another stack of cards for all other words. In my office, I have the pronouns taped up so I can see them all the time.
Skype worked real good last time with Bebe, so I’ll continue to use it. I also want to give scribblar a try as they claim its faster and simpler to use as I don’t think the Wiziq will work between here and the Philippines. Maybe we can try it out sometime and see how it works. I’m working on lesson 11 this week and I think I’ve got it down.
Hi Kevin – I’m glad to hear you got things to work with Skype. I’ll keep going with what’s working. I did look at a couple of other options that you’d mentioned. We can give it another try sometime when you have time.
That’s a good idea reading back through the previous lesson’s sentences. I don’t spend enough time looking back at the lessons themselves, as I tend to focus on memorizing the vocab. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to do that.
Good luck with your competition.
Hi Randy, keep up the good work. Am sure you will ace it, just don’t know how long that will take – hahaha. Same here, I think I have retention problems, or just plain lazy and not eager enough. I studied Norwegian, and I have the same problems as you – nobody to practice it with other than with your other half. I can read and write better than listening and speaking. Then I had the difficulty of dealing with different dialects or intonation of each region. Bergen way has the guttural sound (like German) which I definitely cannot do.
Hi Kevin – Glad to see you online! I never hear from you, but I hope you are doing well! Bebe told me that your last lesson went much better, because the Skype was much better than the other service you were using. I think that we simply don’t have adequate bandwidth for that other one.
Hey – if you are starting lesson 11, that means that you just got past the first exam! Congrats on that!
Hi Randy – Don’t let those Tagalog folks sway you! I think you made the right choice!
Hi Ellen – thanks for the encouragement. Though frustrating at times, I enjoy learning a new language. I like Bisaya a lot. It mostly makes sense to me.
The accent, as like I like to call it, is something that will take some time. I probably get scolded for my pronunciation more than anything
Hi Bob – I’m glad you talked me into Bisaya (see you get the credit/blame). I think I would have enjoyed Tagalog, too, but I have no regrets. I can see how this will serve me well and it’s good exercise for the brain, too.
i now i understand how tough it can be to learn a new language. i’m trying my best over here so that i can speak with the locals & yet idiomatics & slangs are necessities that are tricky to pick up.
you’re right about bisaya & not being taught in schools therefore not learned formally. i’m not great at it, but just ok since i grew up in davao learning it from friends (mom speaks bicolano & dad prefers tagalog. in house, it was often english).
my wife is from a family that speaks it fluently, but still there are times that the dialect even throws her a curve ball. some words suddenly show up that are rarely used or replaced by modern terminology.
Hi macky – at least you get a crack at learning it while you’re still young
It’s funny that I’m learning many things that I’m told by my teacher are not commonly used. I guess it’s good to know, but I have enough trouble without the extra. I’ll have to ask Bebe how pure what I’m learning is to what is spoken in Cebu. Since Bob is planning a trip there soon, maybe he can fill us in. I know there are plenty of differences even within Mindanao. And then there is the ever present English just thrown in the middle.
While at the baptismal of my nephew in the province last spring, the pastor was going along full speed in Illongo, then in the middle of nowhere he would spout out some English, then right back into Ilongo. Not just a word or two, that I would have reasoned. I was the only one that thought it was odd, I guess.
oh yes. english words are always thrown in the mix. clearly because of our american past & that filipino dialects in general are limited.
yes, i think its a good idea to find out which words are used often or not.
for example, i have a filipino-american cousin who has a knack for learning new languages. he’s become quite fluent in tagalog (as well as bicolano & indonesian) but to my ears, he seems to be talking in the tagalog equivalent of king’s english. very complicated tagalog words that actually sounds like he’s talking like a filipino shakespeare to me (or as a political scholar). actually quite nice to hear, but a few shortcuts or common speak would have spared him a ton of syllables.
Hi macky – I’m afraid once I get speaking that I may very well be like your cousin. I hope those I’m speaking with will be be kind enough to let me know, but knowing how considerate Pilipinos are, I’m guessing they won’t want embarrass me.
I’ll learn as I go I suppose.
Hi Randy – What you are learning is pure Cebuano, as it is spoken in Cebu. Here in Davao, there is somewhat of a mix. Example, a market in Davao is most commonly called a “Palengke” although in pure Bisaya it is “Merkado”. Now, Bebe does throw in a tiny bit of the crossover words.
Yes, Bebe teaches some older, somewhat out of date stuff, but it is part of laying a foundation for you. If you understand the way the language works, learning the new stuff will be a breeze.
By the way, along these lines… watch for an announcement on my site tomorrow. I think that it is an important thing, and something that you will probably be happy about, as I am.
Hi Bob – Bebe is very good about pointing out what isn’t commonly used or what is used formally. And I know it’s good for me BUT it would be easier on the old brain if I had less to learn
I’m not really complaining, I appreciate her approach and know I will reap the rewards down the road.
Hey you can leak the announcement here. We won’t tell anyone
i hope it didn’t appear like i wanted to spook you in learning. by all means learn the big words. i myself wish i did when i was growing up in davao.
i am trying my best to learn spanish here and it is clear that i am struggling with it. i welcome learning to speak the formal way & then manuever towards the shortcuts & slangs – and maybe a few dirty words.
the other day i was playing pickup basketball in the nearby park. i suspected the other team was padding scores as well as calling suspect fouls on me & other violations. they knew i could not utter any type of protest. all i could do was just roll my eyes & continue playing till the last shot. i had nothing.
any formal mexican words would do at that moment, ” kind sir, i suspect thou has embellished the score & i wish to declare my displeasure!”
by the way, i still don’t know which team won the game.
Hi macky – no, I didn’t take it that way but I think it’s something to be conscious of. I sure I’ll say many wrong things along the way, too. Hey, I do that now in English
They probably would have tossed you out if you started using words like embellished and displeasure. “What’s with this guy?”