If you’re looking to learn Cebuano (also known as Bisaya) then you may be wondering if the popular language learning platform Duolingo has a Cebuano course.
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Does Duolingo Have A Cebuano/Bisaya Course?
Despite the importance and long history of the Cebuano language, Duolingo doesn’t currently have a Cebuano course.
Cebuano is a fascinating Austronesian language with a long and rich history. Today it is spoken by approximately 27.5 million people, mainly in the Philippines.
Many people who are looking to learn a new language use Duolingo, a fun language learning platform that features bite-size lessons on various languages.
Duolingo is known to be a fun, free and easy way to learn a new language.
Why Is Cebuano Not On Duolingo?
It’s hard to say exactly why Duolingo hasn’t yet produced a Cebuano course as Cebuano is a very widely spoken language with 27.5 million speakers.
Duolingo has produced courses on much smaller languages (in terms of number of speakers).
They have courses on small minority languages such as Hawaiian which only has 24,000 speakers total!
Additionally they have made a High Valyrian course of which there are no native speakers as this is a fictional language.
By this standard, it’s definitely not the number of speakers of the language that is a problem.
Less Popular Language
One reason why Duolingo may have not yet produced a Duolingo Cebuano course is that there isn’t enough demand.
Cebuano isn’t a popular language for native English speakers to learn. Relatively few people are interested in learning the language compared with other languages and Duolingo produces courses based on demand.
This is a shame because it’s certain that there is some demand for English speakers wanting to learn Cebuano (you wouldn’t be on this page if there wasn’t!).
Duolingo is currently working on other languages which they believe will be more popular with their users.
When Will Cebuano Be Available On Duolingo?
The Duolingo Incubator is a feature where you can see what languages Duolingo are currently working on producing a course for.
The Duolingo courses are created by volunteers. You can contribute to a course on the Duolingo Incubator page if you’re fluent in more than one language.
This page simply shows which courses are currently being produced so you can apply to help build a course if you want to.
Having checked the Duolingo Incubator, I can see that currently Cebuano isn’t a course they’re working on.
This means that Duolingo Cebuano isn’t going to be released any time soon as they’re not even working on producing a course.
Within the incubator, on their language list they do say ‘more languages will be available for teaching soon’ however it is unclear how long we may be waiting for more courses to be added.
Duolingo also doesn’t have a Tagalog course yet either – it’s arguable that a Tagalog course would come before a Cebuano course as Tagalog is the most widely spoken language in the Philippines.
How Do Duolingo Decide On Which Courses To Create?
Duolingo themselves state that they decide on new courses based on the Duolingo forums.
They suggest the best way to get them to add a new language is by visiting their forum section and searching for suggestions that have been made in the past.
You then should add an upvote or comment to these posts. The more upvotes the more likely Duolingo will take notice and build a course.
If you want to help then you can upvote this Duolingo forum post to show Duolingo that people want a Cebuano course.
Alternatives To Duolingo To Learn Cebuano
Whilst Duolingo is a fantastic resource for learning a new language, don’t let their lack of a Cebuano course stop you from learning the language if you want to.
There are plenty of fantastic courses out there for learning Cebuano – both free and paid.
Free Alternatives For Learning Cebuano
Memrise
Memrise is an online language learning app that uses fun games to help its users learn their chosen language.
They have tons of free Cebuano courses that will teach you vocabulary and phrases in Cebuano.
It’s really interactive and gradually introduces new words slowly so you have time to consolidate them all. There’s also plenty of opportunities to practice what you’ve learnt.
YouTube
YouTube is a fantastic resource for learning any language and the best part is that it’s absolutely free.
There are lots of great videos on YouTube that will teach you Cebuano. I’d recommend checking out the channel ‘Cebuano101’.
This channel has hundreds of videos on Cebuano that cover topics like grammar, phrases and vocabulary.
Check out one of their most popular videos below:
Paid Alternatives For Learning Cebuano
uTalk
The online platform uTalk offers a Cebuano course.
They focus on game-based learning and state that their course uses native speakers and features more than 2,500 everyday words.
The course will teach you a range of relevant Cebuano vocabulary and get you speaking the language straight away.
Cebuano Textbook
If you’re looking for a standard textbook to help you with Cebuano then the Handbook of Cebuano is one of the best out there.
It’s a great reference point and explains the language in clear, easy to understand terms. It covers tons of useful phrases, vocabulary and grammar points.
I’d also recommend getting an English – Cebuano dictionary to expand your vocabulary and look up new words.
Udemy Cebuano Course
You can also enrol onto a Cebuano Course with the website Udemy.
This course is aimed at beginners and covers all the basics of the language including pronouns, verbs, grammar, phrases and so much more.
Thanks for reading this post on whether Duolingo currently has a Cebuano course.
Even though Duolingo doesn’t currently have a Cebuano course, there are still lots of other ways that you can learn Cebuano.
Check our other Cebuano content here.
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