There have been language and culture revitalization activities since February 2012. First, we invited people from SIL Phillipines to do an ethnoarts workshop. This workshop was designed to make people aware of the value of their culture and language.
The participants were younger people (13 – 24 years old, male and female). We invited adults who were masters in cooking Subanon dishes, weaving, dancing, and the verbal arts, such as poems, chanting, singing, and folk tales. The workshop lasted for four days. At the end, the participants were interviewed about their feelings towards the workshop and what they had learned.
In December 2012, there was a competition to create songs and poems in Subanon and to cook Subanon dishes. The participants were mainly children (6 – 12 years old).
In the future, the community should be made aware of their language and culture by making a community-based language and culture revitalization program. More resources need to be created for higher school grades as currently children are only taught in Subanon from pre-school to third grade. Proficiency tests now need to be developed in order to guide and measure students’ progress.