How to learn Visayan?

[jk09]

Hi,

I think it's time I try to tackle learning visayan (my wife's from cebu)
It seems impossible though. when I look up words the translations
are far from my guesses!

Can I get some advice on where to start? Word order and basic
sentence structure for example?

for example:

mingaw na man ko nimo oi = lonely that too I your

this means "I think your very lonely" ??

thanks for any guidance as I start to try to figure this language out

[keithAngel]

Hi im handing this over to Angie, my girlfriend, and have included a couple of links to other posts here on the Forum, where do you live?

There is some on line material , but what we found is that its mostly compiled by non -native speakers and it has been easier for Angie to start again rather than correct the errors she came across.

The first thing Ive had to do is relearn "Terms of English Grammar" as that is the medium used by her to explain Cebuano.

The reality here in Cebu is that regardless of the level of education up to and including the best local English teachers Visayan/Cebuano is not taught in the schools and everybody here learns as mostly an oral language from their parents as children without ever needing to understand the structure and rules of their "Mother tongue" this makes it hard to learn from a local who has no grasp of "Grammar" in any language.

The sentence structure of V/Ceb is vital to meaning and as there are no "Be" verbs or specific He/She (siya) these are inferred and one needs a context, this is the reason folk from the Visayas often mix up he/she in English including teachers.

We now have in excess of 25 beginner lessons that Angie has prepared and whilst for me I would prefer the immersion method of learning I now have a very big module of vocabulary and rules of grammar which mean I now understand quite a lot especially if I have the starting context and can read too, invaluable for knowing whats going on around you

http://filipinaroses.com/showthread.php?t=12031

http://filipinaroses.com/showthread.php?t=14072


HI Jk! Angie here. If you want to learn Cebuano, start with me. I am teaching Cebuano both here in Cebu and online via skype,paypal. Let me give you a sample.

"mingaw na man ko nimo oi"
The literal translation of this sentence is "I miss you now," but let me unlock each word in this sentence;

mingaw = (adjective) feeling forlorn, lonely, longing for someone or
something
= if used to describe a place, the meaning is; deserted, quiet
= (verb) to feel lonely because of the absence of a thing or a
person.
na = (adverb) now, already
man = has no equivalent meaning in English, it is just used to soften
the tone of a statement.
ko = short for "ako" which means "I"
nimo = short for "kanimo" which means "you" in the objective case
oi = this is used to attract someone's attention, can be translated
as "hey" in English but in this sentence, it is used to mean that
the speaker suddenly realized that she has missed you and used
it to intensify her statement.



________________________________

[keithAngel]

This is the most usefull and comprehensive on line resource we could find unfortunatly it only works from Ceb/Vis and is not indexed or seachable plus you realy need to know the "stem" of the word your looking for.

http://seapdatapapers.library.cornel...;idno=seap085a A-K

http://seapdatapapers.library.cornel...;idno=seap085b L-Z

[jk09]

Thanks guys, I'd like to contact you directly but my account won't allow me to send private messages. Can you give me your email so I can talk to Angie about tutoring?

thanks

[keithAngel]

Thanks guys, I'd like to contact you directly but my account won't allow me to send private messages. Can you give me your email so I can talk to Angie about tutoring?

thanks

Email address removed