Proem

There is a saying which says "Beware what you wish for, It might be granted."

The Lubas Sa Dagang Bisaya Inc. (LUDABI) together with other similarly minded organizations have been advocating for the teaching and use of Sugboanon Bisaya in schools and colleges.

So far, the Municipality of Cordova, Cebu has been successful in using Sugboanon Bisaya as a language of instruction from Grade I to Grade 3.

In some Cebu colleges and universities the Sugboanon literature are already taught as a subject. However at this level only the reading materials are in Sugboanon but the teachers are still using English and colloquial Bisaya for lack of training in the language.

Now, suppose we will be given the go signal to use Sugboanon Bisaya, are we ready?

Will we be equal to the task? This is the reason why LUDABI is trying to make people appreciate their mother language.

Summer Camp

Last March 25-26, 2009 a student leaders' Summer Camp was held at Nalusoan Island, Cordova, Cebu. It was dubbed as "LUDABI Sa Mata Sa Mga Batan-on (LUDABI In The Eyes of The Youth)." It was done through the initiative of LUDABI National President Arleigh Sitoy.

College student leaders and teachers from seven colleges and universities in Cebu were represented in the Summer Camp. "Bisrock" singers were also among the participants.

The objective was to create a core group in schools that will serve as the prime movers in the use of Sugboanon Bisaya in campus journalism. The main facilitator was Mr. Nick Ampatin, a teacher of Sugboanon Literature and Journalism at Cebu Institute of Technology. The participants were mostly journalism students.

The "Bisrock" or Bisayan Rock Singers were also present in order to enhance their knowledge in the Sugboanon language.

My role was to lay down the predicate on what is proper Sugboanon Bisaya. I gave them the differences between Sugboanon and English especially in grammar. I emphasized to them that you could not use English grammar in Sugboanon Bisaya. The Bisayan grammar is most of the time opposite that of English.

In English, a word in isolation can be already distinguished whether it is a noun, pronoun, adjective, etc. In Sugboanon, you can only distinguish the word when it is used. For example, "bato = stone" is already distinguished as a noun in English. In Sugboanon, the word can be distinguished only when it is used. "Bató = stone" is a noun; "báto = throw stones" is a verb; "batoón = stony place" is an adjective, etc.

Sugboanon has many forms of the word bato, like nagbáto, magbáto, pagbáto, binatóan, bato-báto, kabatoán, nagpakabató, etc. I can give you more than two hundred forms of "bato," each with different meanings.

University of Bohol

This summer, the Graduate School of the University of Bohol will again offer the subject "Metalingual, Social, and Cultural Aspects of Sugboanon Bisaya." Students are welcomed to attend the class. Those who will take it as a subject in the Master's Degree will pay the regular fee. Those who will attend it for a "Certificate of Attendance" will play only one-half the price.

If you want to learn proper Sugboanon Bisaya, you are welcomed to attend the class. The more students in class, the better for Sugboanon Bisaya.