This wonderful little word literally means “stone by stone.” In English, this roughly translates to “little by little” or “haltingly,” depending on context.
Nagatuón akó Ilónggo bató-bató.
I am learning Ilonggo little by little.
Nagbása ang bátà bató-bató.
The child read haltingly.
Hiligaynon Lessons by Cecile L. Motus: all the Hiligaynon basics in one (free) book
This Hiligaynon lesson book was written for the benefit of Peace Corps volunteers in the 1970s, but it’s still relevant and accurate today. The chapter on sentence focus is particularly illuminating and probably the best explanation of this tricky grammar point that I’ve seen. However, I found the “classroom hours” suggestion to be wildly over-the-top – I found that one hour was usually enough for each chapter. Get it on Google Books here.