Circa 1930 C.K. Ogden wrote Basic English. His idea was to give anyone a second language with a relatively short learning curve. Ogden researched words frequency and argued that is possible to communicate sufficiently with a basic vocabulary of 850 words.
The author has found the list incomplete. Some essential words have been omitted and others are redundant for today's modern communication.
What are we going to do with such a small vocabulary? Well, you probably heard the term verbose many times, usually a sign of trouble in communication. You won't be writing narrative at high level, but you will achieve a level of a standard speaker. The concept can be applied to any language. The goal in this book is to learn 800 words in Cebuano Visayan in 40 hours.
Considering the fact that some linguist experts claim that 500 words are an absolute minimum, and unnecessary words are shades of meaning, we will use the 800 target. 500 words will be basic, 100 will be 'international', and the rest related to a general field--in our case travel or tourism.
To speed up memorization we'll stress the importance of word pairs and opposites, then we'll add new words to the context already learned. This system will give you an opportunity to absorb the material gradually.
Proven benefits.
The book has been formatted with a minimalist design to reduce 'visual crowding' in an effort to sustain attention and improve comprehension. Hopefully, with passion and determination, and a combination of tools, you will reach your target.
