This is the discussion script for my previous slides uploaded here.

1. SLIDE 1 (Cover slide)
The title of this presentation is true. So with the sub-title. There
were numerous errors in the write-ups of almost all Cebuano
news programs on radio and television, as well as in print in
Cebu. Some of the errors are persistent until today. I had
prepared this presentation for the class three years ago and i am
expecting that the mistakes here have already been corrected by
the concerned editors.
In the original presentation, i have included actual audio
recording of the broadcasts where the errors were spotted.
Unfortunately, the audio files can not be played in the
presentation above due to technical limitation.
SLIDE 2 (Paghubad/No literal translation)
The prime rule when translating articles into Cebuano is to refrain
from translating the original words literally. My experience is to
get the idea or the message of the sentence and spin from there.
Make your own sentence out of the idea in the original phrase.
In the slide's example, i extracted a portion of the lead paragraph
of a sports article in SunStar SuperBalita published years ago. I
highlighted the word-- "Mopatid".
SLIDE 3
I knew exactly that the word refers to "kicks off" in original story
also published in SunStar Daily. The Cebuano writer in
SuperBalita literally translated "kicks off" into "Mopatid". It's
wrong. "Kick", in Cebuano is "patid". But "kicks off" means "to
start" as in to begin the race or event.
SLIDE 4

2. The correct translation should had been "Magsugod or Mosugod
karong Dominggo ang..."
SLIDE 5 (Paghubad/Relax the Cebuano rule for Numbers)
Numbers are already complicated in itself, at least in the
broadcast news. There are exact Cebuano words for the numbers
in English. However, Cebuanos are also used to speak numbers in
Spanish. For numbers One to Ten, the Cebuano words are
commonly spoken, alternately with the Spanish equivalent
whichever is pleasant to the ears.
Example: "Sais puntos ang nahimo ni..." is preferred than
saying "Unom ka puntos ang nahimo ni...".
SLIDE 6
However, Cebuano words for numbers above 10 are not favored
because of its complexity (composed of three words) and
Cebuanos preferred to say the numbers in English or Spanish.
Example: "Napulo'g usa can be easily said as "eleven" or "onse".
SLIDE 7
The same condition can be applied for bigger numbers beginning
from 20.
SLIDE 8
A 3-digit number can be written in Cebuano for 7 words. That's
wordy. In broadcast news, the more is not the merrier. The
standard number of words in broadcast is only 17 words per
paragraph, enough to be understood by a Grade 6 pupil. While
there are exact Cebuano words for numbers but most often, using
it in the news complicates the audience listening ability. Sound is
passing. The audience has a very limited span of time to grasp the

3. message in the broadcast. Why complicate things when it can be
delivered instantly?
SLIDE 9
Most often, Cebuanos speak the Spanish equivalent for big
numbers.
SLIDE 10
Numbers are more complicated when it is about the year and in
Cebuano. It will take time for the audience to know what year it is
when read in Cebuano. Again, relax the rule.
SLIDE 11
You can read it anyway in Spanish or in English. The rule in news
casting for numbers is when the numbers are written in digit
form, it must be read in English.
SLIDE 12 (Position/Designation first before name)
The same rule in English news writing applies when it comes to
names and ranks or positions of the news sources. The
designation and rank must come first before the name of the
person.
SLIDE 13
"...hepe sa kapolisan sa Dakbayan sa Sugbo--" refers to "Cebu
City Police Director". The name is then preceded with the rank--
"Sr. Supt."
SLIDE 14 (Abusing "ar". "er" as suffixes)
I listed down in this slide some English words that are often
suffixed with "ar" or "er" thinking it will make the words as
Cebuano words. There are few broadcasters who are still into this

4. abuse. Members of the Akademiyang Bisaya would definitely
disagree to this practice. Most of these English words have a
Cebuano equivalent. Check the next slide.
SLIDE 15
The Cebuano language is very abundant of words. Almost every
word in the English dictionary can be translated.
SLIDE 16 (Retain the English words)
I am making these words in the slide as exception to the rule. Not
all English words in the Cebuano News should be translated just
to make it appear it's a Cebuano. My personal stand is to retain
the English words in its original spelling and pronunciation IF the
so-called Cebuano translation awkwardly sounds (with hard
accent) like the original English word. (read the examples
ALOUD)
Reading "pirslab" and "obertaym" on-the-air makes one
broadcaster sounds awful if not amateurish. Why not read it as
"first love" and "overtime" anyway. Some Visayan writers don't
agree with me on this instance but i would strongly recommend
my adaptation for us to sound awesome.
SLIDE 17 (Collective Nouns don't need "mga")
I listed here some collective nouns that are already plural in
meaning but singular in form. Collective noun is one of the
oddities in the English language. It is also true in Cebuano. One
hint to identify a collective noun in Cebuano is to know what or
which group it refers to. Collective noun doesn't need the
quantifier "mga" preceding it.
Example: mga kapolisan (wrong), mga polis (right)--
Simply, ang kapolisan...

5. mga katawhan (wrong), mga tawo (right) --Simply, ang
katawhan...
SLIDE 18
Like i said that this presentation is about errors in the use of
Cebuano in the news, the lines in this slide is a quote from a
broadcast in one of the TV programs in Cebu. Omit "mga" and it's
good.
SLIDE 19
The 5Ws and 1H elements in the news lead have also its Cebuano
equivalent but unfortunately the latter are often times used in a
wrong way by some broadcasters.
SLIDE 20 (Inappropriate Use of Words)
The first example that is using "diin" is correct while the second
example shows "diin" is preceded by "kung". Let me clear, there
is no "kung" in Cebuano but it's "kon" or "kun". But again, "kung
diin" is not appropriate because you can simply say: ... diin
gisugdan kini sa pag-bendisyon... without the "kung".
The "kung diin" phrase among the young reporters on TV in Cebu
is an influence of the Tagalog's "kung saan", translated literally
(in English) as "if where".
SLIDE 21
In one of the seminars i attended, a veteran ABC broadcaster from
the U.S. specifically stated that words and phrases
like Meanwhile, While, In another news used as transitional
words in the beginning of a paragraph are meaningless and
should not be in the script.

6. He explained that "In another news" used to indicate that the
next news article is different from what it succeeded serves no
purpose since the audience knows exactly that the next article is
no longer related to the previous item.
The "Meanwhile" in the beginning of the paragraph, he said,
means nothing. It is being abused as a transition word. The
speaker suggested to change the level of the voice during
transition rather than uttering useless and meaningless words in
the news.
SLIDE 22
"While" has its purpose if used correctly. #1-it indicates an action
is taking place while another has occurred at the same time. #2-it
is used to compare between two subjects. It should not be used in
the beginning of the paragraph if it won't mean for the two
purposes mentioned above.
Example: Samtang... Gipatay sa anak ang iyang amahan didto
sa Quinto Limbo kagabii.
SLIDE 23 (Always use the V-S-O form)
We are told to write the news in active voice (subject-verb-object
format). The examples in this slide are news stories of the same
event presented on-air by two rival news programs in Cebu.
Which do you think is correct as far as the Cebuano sentence
structure is concerned?
SLIDE 24
When we write in English, the S-V-O format is a must.
SLIDE 25

7. When translated into Cebuano in the same S-V-O format, the
translated sentence becomes awkward. Why? Simply because the
Cebuano language doesn't work like the English language.
SLIDE 26
We always start our sentence with a verb not the subject. So the
format for the Cebuano sentence is Verb-Subject-Object (V-S-O).
Also, don't agree on the present practice by some news programs
where the verb of the sentence is at the end, like:
Killer sa usa sa ka polis nadakpan. (wrong)
Nadakpan ang killer sa usa ka polis. (right)
SLIDE 27
This a good example of a V-S-O formatted news item delivered in
one of the TV news programs in Cebu. READ ALOUD and feel the
intensity of the action words placed at the beginning of each
sentence.
SLIDE 28
This is an example of a passive sentence where the object becomes
the subject but is the one receiving the action.
SLIDE 29 (Age Doesn't Matter)
During the news gathering process, it is a must to obtain all the
personal details of the subjects involved in the story. But not all
details are necessary in the news. The age of the victim may not be
necessary in the story.
SLIDE 30
Editing out the age still makes the story the same in thought. Age
may be necessary in rape cases where you have to emphasize the
age gap between the suspect and the victim. A license plate of the

8. vehicles involved in collision may not be necessary in the story
unless the vehicle has eluded from the authorities and there is a
need to publicize its license plate.
SLIDE 31 (Nailhan na ang Suspetsado)
This has been the mistake of several broadcasters and even
writers in the print media.
SLIDE 32
A "suspetsado", means suspect in English which is defined by
Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "one who is suspected (as of a
crime)". It means someone is already identified and is believed
to have committed the crime. So, it is wrong to say-- Ang wa'
mailhing suspetsado... since a "suspetsado" is already an
identified person.
SLIDE 33
This paragraph of a news article is correct since it uses "lalake"
instead of "suspetsado" in the phrase "wa' mailhing mga
lalake"...
SLIDE 34
Here the suspects have names,except for the minor. You can use
any of these when the perpetrators of the crime is unknown: wa'
mailhing kawatan, wa' mailhing tulisan, wa' mailhing
snatchers.... etc.
SLIDE 35 (Don't translate everything!)
Like in numbers, you can relax the rule by not translating
everything. "Malversation of Public Funds" is a title of a case. It
can be retained in its original form.
SLIDE 36

9. However, you can opt to translate it.
SLIDE 37 (Ceblish)
There are times, our story is more pleasant and more
comprehensible if some English words are to be retained.
SLIDE 38
Especially, in Entertainment News when English words sound
cute.
SLIDE 39
Or you may still opt to translate it but retain the movie title.
SLIDE 40
Another common mistake among the present generation is the
inappropriate use of the word "KAY" in the middle of the
sentence. "Kay" is always joined with "tungod" to mean "because
of". The "Kay" after "pinulongan" can be omitted without affecting
the meaning of the sentence:
"... apan kulang ug mabaw pa diay kaayo kini tungod kay ang
atong naandan nga pinulongan nasagolan naman diay og mga
banyaga."
SLIDE 41
"Matod pa" makes your news vague and unreliable, if not
doubtful. Omit the "pa" to suggest credibility in the news.