SAN FRANCISCO — From Esturya, makers of the first English-to Tagalog digital storybook, The Cowboy Inting and the Carabao Butud, now comes a Cebuano version.
Young and old alike now can read and learn one of the widely used languages in the Visayan region of the Philippines.
Set in the sugarcane-filled landscape of Negros Island, the story introduces Butud, a young carabao who gets the saddest news of his life one day when his best friend, a boy named Inting, says they can’t play together anymore: Inting is finally going to school.
The app takes the Diglot Weave approach – a technique in vocabulary learning where words from another language are gradually inserted into the English narrative.
The app features delightful illustrations by Dwight Gaston, a touch of Filipino music, audio narration and even a vocabulary list that can be reviewed any time.
Esturya is a collaborative project between two local companies, Akubo Software and 7th Films Production House.
“It’s our special projects unit,” said Robin Abello head of the series and founder of Akubo, “where we also do R&D and learn techniques that we use for our other products.”
Based on the idea of helping Filipino immigrants teach their children about Filipino culture, Esturya aims to bring facets of the Philippines from east to west, “one fun-filled app at a time.”
Besides Cebuano and Tagalog, Inting and Butud also comes in Ilonggo – now all available on the App Store.
The Esturya for Kids app on iTunes store