Bisaya Lessons
Well I guess I’ve made my choice, for now, as I’m going to start Bisaya lessons soon. Bob Martin’s teacher, Bebe, has agreed to give me lessons online. There are a lot of details to work out, such as a good time (15 hours time difference), payment, software to use, etc., but I’m hopeful that it will work out fine. I use as reference the fact that my son takes chess lessons from a GM all the way across the country. Works very well for them. Isn’t the internet great (sometimes!)?
As anyone that’s been following my blog from the beginning knows my first post was about whether I should learn Bisaya or Tagalog. I never really got any feedback on that other than the original advice from Bob. I did continue to look into possible ways to learn Bisaya, as that was one of my concerns. The online lessons with a good teacher should allow me to see if I can even pick up either. As long as our plans stay the same, to live on Samal, I think I will be well served by learning Bisaya. If for some reason our plans were to change I still have plenty of time to change course.
The main challenge I see, other than the actual work in learning, is the chance to speak/practice with others. My wife speaks Bisaya, so that will have to do until I get a chance to get back to the area. With any luck I should be able to converse to some degree with the locals, assuming all goes well.
Good luck to you on the language lessons, Randy! I wish you all the best!
Hi Bob – thanks again for all your help on this. I’ve never attempted to learn another language before. I’m looking forward to the challenge
Sige, mag-umpisa na ka! Hope that was right, but it means – go ahead and start!
Have fun..
Hi Ellen – daghang salamat.
do you know randy how to speak in bisaya???
You could say that I’m working on it.
The Word BISAYA Confusion Answered
Waray, Hiligaynon, Cebuano, Kinaray-a, Aklanon, Capiznon, Bantoanon, Rombloanon, Cuyonon, Surigaonon, Butuanon, and Tausug ARE ALL BISAYA people and ALL are part of the BISAYA Language family.
The Biggest Confusion of most Cebuano speaking people in Cebu, Mindanao, and Dumaguete is that almost all of them think that Cebuanos are the only Bisaya people, and almost all of them think that Bisaya is the Cebuano language which is totally False. This is like hijacking Bisaya term away from other Bisaya people like the Hiligaynons, Karay-a, Aklanon, Waray, etc and depriving them of the Bisaya identity.
Who Are the Bisaya or Visayan People?
Bisaya is derived from the word Visayas.
So Visayas – s = Visaya changed V to B = Bisaya
Bisaya really means different Visayan people, who live in different parts of Visayas Islands, who speak different Visayan languages such as Cebuano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Aklanon, Capiznon, Kinaray-a, Bantoanon, Romblomanon, Cuyonon, Waray, Surigaonon, Butuanon, Tausog, etc.
Cebu is not the only island in Visayas therefore Cebuano is not the only Bisaya people in the islands and not the only Bisaya language. The people in Panay, Negros, Bohol, Leyte, and Samar are also Bisaya people and speak Bisaya languages because for the fact that they live in Visayas Islands also.
Who are the BISAYAN people? The Biggest Confusion of mostCebuano speaking people in Cebu, Mindanao,and Dumaguete is that almost all of them think that Cebuanos are the only Bisaya people, which is totally False. This is like hijacking Bisaya term away from other Bisaya people like the Hiligaynons,Karay-a,Aklanon,Waray,etc
Who Are the Bisaya or Visayan People?
Bisaya is derived from the word Visayas.
So Visayas – s = Visaya changed V to B = Bisaya
Bisaya really means different Visayan people, who live in different parts of Visayas Islands, who speak different Visayan languages such as Cebuano , Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Aklanon, Capiznon, Kinaray-a, Romblomanon, Cuyonon, Waray , Surigaonon, Butuanon, Tausog,etc.
Sources:
University of the Philippines Library Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Who Are the Bisaya People – hawaii.edu/cps/visayans.html
The Visayan Languages – wiki/Visayan_languages
The Visayans – wiki/Visayans
Visayan People – wiki/Category:Visayan_people
(Noted edited to combine multiple comments and remove multiple links)
Hi George – thanks for your comments (combined) and clarification.
All I can say is that right or wrong Bisaya or Bisayan is commonly used for the mixed language that is mostly Cebuano. They way people use the term may not be correct, but they will continue to do so and that is how I understand it, too.
To make an analogy, some years ago a a car dealer started to use the term “pre-owned” to refer to used cars, I suppose because they thought it sounded better. The term is incorrect as “pre” means before. As in “before” owned. The term has caught on, and now is used for everything. It is part of the language now, and any amount of right or wrong is not going to change it.
Note: Please don’t post links in the comments, unless it is really necessary, as I will remove them.
I am learning Cebuano, if there is any misunderstanding about that.