Taking a shot at writing short story in Bisaya: unsa man jud?

Warik

Naa na pud ni si Arlene, nag pungko tungod sa akong lamesa. Ang Kurimaw. Kadlawong dako, nagpa seksi seksi na pud. Puok sa tanang puok ang shorts, naa pay pina backless backless.

“Hoy Arlene, wa ka tugnawi diha?”

Nag ngisi-ngisi lang intawon ang tigulang igat. Barilis ning akong baligya karon. Dili lab-as maong gi pula pulahan na lang intawon nako ug dugo sa baboy.

“Hoy Arlene, puwede ayaw lang alihi akong baligya?”

Niisbog sad gamay ang gurang. Kini jung mga warik, ayahay ra ug pungko sa daplin, mura ra ba’g gabayad ug buhis. Mao pay gamay kaayo ni akong pwesto.

“Unya gi balikan ka sa imong laki, Arlene?”

“niduaw man ko sa ilaha niaging semana.”

“Unya gi dal-an na sad nimo ug isda ang intero pamilya?”

Ningisi lang si Arlene. Sa akong huna huna: kini jung mga taga bukid, dal-an lang ug isda, kuratan na.

...........................................................................................................

I know, I know: spelling and grammar mistakes, I have those. It's a shame though that I have to commit them in the language that I speak and breathe daily.

I never once hide my difficulty in reading and writing in Bisaya. Give me a news article from SuperBalita and I'll steal 20 minutes more than my usual reading speed in English or Tagalog. Ask me to write something in Bisaya and i'll write it the way I write an SMS.

This is sad. I know that the deterioration of Bisaya as a language is also felt among my peers. I believe this is the reason why the National Commission for Culture and the Arts is trying its best to revive the interest and mastery of youth in the language.

If you ask me, I am very much interested in writing essays and short stories in Bisaya. Why, I am comfortable with the language and my neurons speak it, but ask me if I can write anything in Bisaya fluently, I cannot.

Above is my attempt to write a short story in my own language. The day I envisioned myself writing a Bisaya short story, I thought everything was ready.. the plot was brewed ready in my head until I realized I had written the plot summary in English. I said to myself, wait there's something wrong with how I'm starting the piece.

I tried to focus on my goal to simply continue writing. I reached 145 words then I stopped.

At this point, my confidence dwindles from the fact that I became conscious of my writing manner. The question I asked : Is this the right way to write in Bisaya? See, I wrote the story in the way I imagined the language being read here in Davao. In my area and among my peers, we inject English and Tagalog words so much into the original language (Cebuano Visayan) that it becomes "inauthentic" to fluent Bisaya speakers and critiques.

I asked myself, could I write a Bisaya story in the Davaowenyo way? Is this form of writing acceptable for critiques there in Cebu?

What I love about the country is the diversity and richness of our 100+ languages. I aim to preserve that. One of my goals in writing is to cement Filipino struggles and adversities into my works (for the world to see). If I can do that in my mother tongue (Davawenyo Bisaya), then I'd be pleased to follow that direction of my writing journey.

So please note: I am not done yet, the story above does not end here.