Journey to Samal » Langauge

He or She

Randy C — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:39:41 +0000

Communication deficiencies can, more often than not, be the cause of many misunderstandings. It is difficult enough when two people (supposedly) speak the same language, it is even a greater challenge when native languages are different.

If the words spoken were all that mattered, it would be a much simpler affair, but the meaning behind those words is not always necessarily comprehended in the manner intended. Believing that because your words were understood, but not knowing that the message wasn’t, can compound the problem even further.

In my various discussions with pilipinos, their accents, and I’m sure what they view as mine, has only added to the confusion. I know have have been caught repeating back a word, over and over, trying to determine what was being said. A simple matter of putting the accent on a different syllable can make it hard to process the words sometimes. Try saying “comfortable” accenting the “fort” and with a little foreign accent added. For me it caused some puzzled looks, and many repeat attempts, before the “ah ha”.

Hoping to be able to communicate better, not only with family but also with the populous, is one of the main reasons behind my attempt to learn Bisaya. This has helped me to not only understand (sometimes) their spoken word, but also why there is the comprehension problem with regards to some aspects of what is being communicated.

One of the things I’ve always had a hard time getting my head around was why all pilipinos that I’ve had discussions with mix their he and she, his and her. It can be incredibly difficult to follow a conversation when the “he and she” are changing like a moving target. “He said that she was leaving, but he wasn’t ready yet”. Seems pretty straight forward, right? Well that could mean any of a number of things, because he and she are not necessarily used correctly.

What I’ve learned, at least in regards to Bisaya/Cebuano, is that they only have one word for he or she – “siya” or variants thereof. The point being is they don’t differentiate male or female, as we do. Once I figured that out, it really helped me understand why they keep mixing them, or using them incorrectly. Unfortunately it didn’t help me that much with figuring out what was being said any better than previously.

Even the most well spoken pilipinos that I’ve met seem to mix he and she. Not always, but they’ll throw it in there now and again.

I’m sure there are many other examples that I will eventually get a better grasp of. That is all the process of living and learning. Being there should accelerate the, at least I certainly hope so. Given my communication skills at times, I’m not sure anything is going to help though.

Photo credit : Carmen the Chicken Killer

Akong Bisaya Maestra

Randy C — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:55:08 +0000

As many readers that have been visiting my blog for any time now will know, I have been taking Bisaya (Cebuano) lessons online for around two years now. You might be thinking that I should be pretty proficient at it by now. Well, I agree that would be the case if it wasn’t such a stop and go affair for me.

That’s what I want to write a little about today. First the incredible patience of my teacher (maestra, magtutudlo) and second the nature of my lessons and what the have become to me.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I take lessons online via Skype with my teacher, Bebe Metillo, who lives in Davao. I have only had a couple of lessons in person, so by far the bulk of my learning has been through the internet. It works well most of the time, but there are technical issues (brownouts for instance) that must be dealt with. Then there are life commitments from both of us that also cause interruptions.

I’ve stopped a few times, and Bebe has always been more than understanding. She has held my spot for me, and that is no small deal, as she is incredibly busy. She not only teaches privately but also at some Academies. There have also, especially lately, been instances of personal issues that cause the lessons to either be cancelled or steer off kilter.

That brings me to the second point. Bebe has become much more than a language teacher to me. She has become a counselor in regards to the cultural differences that I encounter. Helping to explain any things that I have a hard time understating. Even more than that, she has become a true friend.

Since my visit to Samal Island and Davao last October, many of lessons have taken on more of a counseling/discussion nature than a language lesson. I’ll not go into all the reasons for that, but I can not begin to explain how grateful I am to have a person like Bebe to confide in, and to truly learn more about the area that I hope to retire in. I feel that I’ve learned many lessons, that I may have eventually learned while living there, that will really serve me well in the future. More importantly, I feel I have a real friend in Davao, and that means a great deal to me.

Daghang salamat para kang Bebe.

Filipino-American Christmas Party

Randy C — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:22:00 +0000

The FAAIE (Filipino-American Association of the Inland Empire) had their annual Christmas party last night. I attended for the first time in a couple of years, and observed some expected and some unexpected results.

The first observation was that the function started on time. I was late, but I expected that this was at least a mostly Filipino function, so I assumed many late arrivals. Guess I was wrong on that one. It seems it doesn’t take long to pick up some of the US customs, though I know many Americans that have trouble with the time thing, too.

Second observation was the food, and there was no surprise there. It was heavy Filipino fare and typical of every party, and gathering, that I have attended. Only difference here was that it was a potluck, so all the food was prepared ahead of time and brought to the hall.

Entertainment was a mixed bag, but plenty of karaoke style talent show exhibitions, especially from the children. Some of those young kids were fearless. Lots of dance acts, with both Americans and Filipinos taking part. The music was loud, no surprise there.

Conversation consisted of the usual mixture of English, Tagalog and Bisaya. Not much luck for me trying to understand, as it was quick and never pure. I could pick up a word or two of Bisaya here and there, but not as much as I had hoped. This was really very similar to what I experienced recently in Davao, so I guess it’s not much different here. Filipinos still like to speak natively when they get together here.

Lot’s of stories about recent visits to the Philippines, retirement there, and where people were from. A sad story from a lady who’s older husband left her for a 19 year old girl there in the Philippines. Kicker there was he had built a real nice house on the beach, and of course he no longer has any rights to that since they have divorced. Better think twice on that, huh.

It’s surprising how many Filipinos we have in this small community. What’s not surprising is their sense of community. It’s also heartwarming to see the acceptance of both cultures, but I suppose you would expect that at such a gathering. It feels similar to what I experience when in the Philippines, too.

Our Menu Has Recently Changed

Randy C — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:25:00 +0000

I’m not sure I’ve ever called a company that has an automated message system that hasn’t had their menu change recently. Must be difficult to keep the menu the same, because no one, I mean NO ONE, can do it.

I’m no fan of these automated systems in the first place. They go under the guise of being a service for the customer, when if fact they are nothing but a convenience for the company you are calling. They are supposed to get you the information you are looking for, or to the department that can get you that information, but more often than not they are just delaying your trip to a “live” person.

That live person may not be any better, I’m afraid, but at least you can plead your case, assuming they actually understand English. Sorry, I’m not a fan of the foreign call centers either, but at least the Filipino call center employees are comprehensible, for the most part. Problem is they don’t usually have the ability to solve your problem. The call centers do provide lots of jobs in the Philippines, so I always say “salamat”, whether I get satisfaction or not.

I’ve noticed a few companies that seem to “get it” and have moved away from these automated systems, back to a real live person answering the phone. My insurance company, Pemco, is one of those. It certainly makes me think more of them now. There was a period when I felt their service had really deteriorated, the automated answering service was a part of that, and I had considered changing companies. I’m not sure what happened, but I feel their service has since improved once again to the point that I’m happy to be with them still.

I guess if a company is doing so well that they don’t need to be concerned with their service, or how it is perceived, then more power to them. Just don’t tell me that it’s for my benefit. Let’s at least be honest about that.

Photo credit: catherinesherman.wordpress.com

Free Bisaya Dictionary | A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan

Randy C — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:04:11 +0000

In my search to find a good reference book for my Bisaya studies (currently suspended), I found only a couple of dictionaries. The most common one I came across was only intended to go from English to Cebuano, not from Cebuano to English. Not only are Cebuano dictionaries difficult to find here in the States, they are pretty expensive, too. I guess that’s they way it is with dictionaries in general, but it’s not in my budget unless it was very well done and comprehensive.

There are a number of excellent online dictionaries that provide both English to Cebuano and Cebuano to English. I find that for the most part these meet my needs. They are being updated on an ongoing basis and should eventually be as complete as any of the hard copy books that have been published, since essentially that is where the material is coming from.

Here is a list of a least some of the more robust online Cebuano dictionaries that I have found:

http://www.bohol.ph/diksyunaryo.php
http://www.binisaya.com/cebuano/
http://bansa.org/dictionaries/ceb/

Thankfully there is still available a hard copy of the best Cebuano to English dictionary in PDF format. Here are the free downloads (public domain) of the “A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan” by John U. Wolff courtesy of Cornell University. Please note these files are PDFs and around 50 MB each, so if you are on a slow connection, you may want to go get a cup of coffee or tea:

Copyright © by Cornell University. Copyright is claimed until 1982. Thereafter, all portions of this work covered by this copyright will be in the public domain. Distributed in the Philippines by the Linguistic Society of the Philippines, and outside of the Philippines by the Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University.
The work was developed under a contract with the United States Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. However, the contract does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of that agency, and no official endorsement of these materials should be inferred. Publication of this work was aided by a grant from the South- east Asia Program, Cornell University and by The Asia Society, New York City.

For those interested in a more visual/aural vocabulary training of Bisaya, please check out my Bisaya flash cards.

Bisaya iFlash Cards Update

Randy C — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:19:17 +0000

I’ve added Bisaya (Cebuano) iFlash cards Lesson 21-29 to the Journey to Samal Shop. As such I’ve also added a combo for all cards, Bisaya (Cebuano) iFlash cards Lesson 1-29, everything I have to date. That’s over 550 flash cards WITH spoken Bisayan words.

Within this post I’m including, for the first time, a trial version of the cards and program so you can see how it works before forking over your hard earned kwarta. There are ten random spoken Bisayan words with answers in the trial download.

I’ve also adjusted the pricing to keep the full combo at $19.99. All other prices have been lowered accordingly.

Bisaya iFlash Trial

System requirements:

- iFlash runs natively on Intel Macs
- Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later
- PowerPC G4, G5 or Intel-powered Mac

iFlash Touch

Randy C — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:16:45 +0000

For those of you lucky enough to have an iPhone or iPod Touch, there is a new companion program for the Mac OS X desktop program, iFlash. In case you are not familiar with it, iFlash is the program I use to study my Bisaya vocabulary. iFlash Touch is free, though you will need to buy iFlash (the desktop version) after the 15 day trial, if you want to continue transferring decks to the Touch/iPhone. If you just wanted to study on the Touch or iPhone, you would be able to transfer all files during the trial, and therefor not need to buy the desktop version.

Not too long ago I had hired a native Bisayan speaker to record the audio for my vocabulary study onto each flash card. This has been of considerable help to me, as I usually don’t get to hear these words spoken except when I’m taking my lessons. As this is the initial release of iFlash Touch, it doesn’t yet support the audio. So at this point you will have to be content with the word study only. Audio is being worked on, and is scheduled to be in the next release.

I’ve updated the files for download in the Journey to Samal Shop to include the latest version (2.8) of iFlash, as this version is needed to transfer the decks back and forth from the desktop to the iTouch/iPhone. Currently there are three downloads available from my shop: Bisaya (Cebuano) iFlash cards Lesson 1-9, Bisaya (Cebuano) iFlash cards Lesson 11-19 and Bisaya (Cebuano) iFlash cards Lesson 1-19 (combo). I hope to have Bisaya (Cebuano) iFlash cards Lesson 21-29 ready within the month.

Samaleños

Randy C — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:29:18 +0000

I’d seen the term used a few times, but really paid no attention until a recent article caught my eye. I actually realized that it’s used quite often to refer to those from Samal Island. I guess I had never really thought about it before. It’s always interesting to see what names are given to those of a particular area. Sometimes it seems to make perfect sense, and other times not so much.

Here in Spokane we are known as Spokanites, similar to Seattle and Seattleites. Those from Davao are known as Dabawenyos. Mindanaoans would be those from the more general area of Mindanao. Of course we also have the terms Filipino (Pilipino) and Filipina (Pilipina). My wife for instance can claim to be all of those with the exception of a Seattleite. I would guess this carries further to barangays and puroks, though I don’t know for sure. Are those from Limao called Limaoans, for instance?

When meeting a Pilipino here in the states, the first thing that everyone does is establish what part of the country each is from. That’s a normal reaction from anyone, anywhere I suppose, but more so with Pilipinos because of the many languages spoken there. We were at the Bay Market (a local asian market) yesterday and there were three pilipina there that were sure my wife was from the Philippines. They quickly established that they were from Cebu, and of course were delighted to know that my wife was from the Davao region. I even made some brownies points because it was mentioned that I’m learning Bisaya, and the other husbands were not interested in such.

I have noted in such situations that I don’t recall anyone referring to themselves as Cebuanos, Dabawenyos or whatever. I wonder why that is.

Maybe the word Samaleño caught my eye because of the similarity to jalapeños (well they aren’t so similar now that I type it), which are a favorite of mine. Whatever the reason, I hope that I can one day use the term for myself.

Samal Island Map Print

Randy — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:00:44 +0000

Island Garden City of Samal Map Print

Now available from the Journey to Samal Shop, the Samal Island Map Print.

Also added Bisaya iFlash Cards Lessons 11-19 & Lessons 1-19 combo pack.

Journey to Samal Shop

Randy — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:01:57 +0000

I am very pleased to announce my latest addition to the Journey to Samal empire , the Journey to Samal Shop. Here I hope to offer a few items, over time, that would appeal to those interested in Samal Island.

My first (and only) item at the moment is flash cards “Bisaya Lesson 1-9” for use with the iFlash program (Mac OS X only) . What makes these different is that I’ve hired a native Bisayan to record all the Bisaya words directly on each card. I know for me, personally, that the spoken word in the native accent really helps me with the correct pronunciation. The iFlash program is also very nice, polished and feature rich. My download includes a trial version of iFlash, but for continued use iFlash will need to be purchased from the developer.

My second item will be an art map of Samal Island that I’ve commissioned. It will come in a 12″ x 18″ size, on a 100# Gloss Text weight paper, suitable for framing or hanging on your wall as a poster. I’ll also be offering the print in a laminated version, for those looking for something a little more durable and don’t want to bother with framing. This should be available within a couple of weeks or so.

This is my first foray into online ecommerce, other than eBay, so bear with me if you should encounter quirks. I promise to take care of any issues, so please contact me to let me know about them. I’ve worked hard to get the shop functional, so I don’t anticipate alot of problems.

I must note, at least initially, the shop is only set up to accept orders shipping to the US. I may change that down the road, but for now contact me first and I’ll work out your international shipping with you. As downloaded products don’t ship, you should be able to order from the US, UK, Canada, Mexico and Philippines as your options in the billing area. That is also something that I will look at as I get this thing rolling.