The language

[Alan]

Hi again,

It's Alan - the newbie again. I think this question is directed to all us 'lads' who are lucky enough to have beautiful brides/girlfriends/fiancees from the Phils.
As a teacher, my specialisms are English, Maths and French - in fact, I am lucky enough to speak a bit of another 7 languages (no, I'm not mega-clever - in fact I'm b****y useless at everything else!.)
However, does anyone else think the same as me - ie. Tagalog and Cebuano I just CANNOT get my head around!! - apart from 'salamat' and 'sige' I am rather stumped. Am I on my own or does anyone else share my thoughts about these strange but beautiful tongues?

Alan

[bigtombowski]

im learning cebuano at the moment!
If u want a studdy buddy, send me a PM!



tom

[andypaul]

I tried learning but was like you thinking i was getting no where but im surprised how much spoken tagalog i know from listening to the missus chatting to back home, from trips out there etc. In fact now the missus and her mates here are not shocked that i join in from time to time when they speaking de tagalog.

[claire]

hahaha ahahaha,,,,, r not alone ,,,, my husband is also learning tagalog apart from, manok, aHAS, BABOY, UTOT!!!! HEHEHEHE.... everytime i heard him spoken(husband) i cant control from laughing,,,its just that its so funny when hes trying to spoke it correctly....
utot means fart! ahas means snakes, ako means you, just starst with simple things........just ask me if u need more cebuano language.....

[LadyJ]

Get Out - La-yas
Stink - Ma-ba-ho
Ugly - Pa-nget

[Mrs Daddy]

I tired to teach my hubby our language but he`s not really interested in fact when I teach him and ask him to repeat after me how to pronounce the words,his toungue knots togetherand silly but it hurts my tummy laughing at him and to you all guys who try to lear our language keep it up

[bigtombowski]

the main problem I encounter is this . . .


"NG"!

HOW IN THE HEAVENS are english people gonna say this right?

LOL

[Alan]

Tom,

You are right - how does one say 'ng?'

Alan

[bigtombowski]

with enormous difficulty

I try to do it by putting my tongue at the back of the roof of my mouth! lol!

make sense?

[silver13]

Hi again,

It's Alan - the newbie again. I think this question is directed to all us 'lads' who are lucky enough to have beautiful brides/girlfriends/fiancees from the Phils.
As a teacher, my specialisms are English, Maths and French - in fact, I am lucky enough to speak a bit of another 7 languages (no, I'm not mega-clever - in fact I'm b****y useless at everything else!.)
However, does anyone else think the same as me - ie. Tagalog and Cebuano I just CANNOT get my head around!! - apart from 'salamat' and 'sige' I am rather stumped. Am I on my own or does anyone else share my thoughts about these strange but beautiful tongues?

Alan

Hello Alan, some people can easily adapt other languages and others find it difficult, considering that you speak French i think learning Tagalog and Cebuano will not be difficult for you. Start from having an inner interest to learn then expose yourself to the people speaking Tagalog or Cebuano, listening is important and observe how they speak, it will be of great help if your wife talk to you in Tagalog or Cebuano from time to time.

Start learning from the basic, for proper pronounciation of the words, there are available software in the internet

My Fiance's Tagalog learning is not too bad, he wanted to learn Iloco or Ilocano but it's better to concentrate first in Tagalog learning to his advantage and also not to create confusion

Sige, Maraming Salamat at Magandang Araw o Gabi!

[aromulus]

I would love to be able to speak fluent(ish) Cebuano.
Sofar apart from the usual greetings stuff. I learnt a couple of things which are not really for print...

But it starts with " TULOG NATA ? "...

I know that within a year of my wife finally arriving, I will be able to hold some kind of simple conversation.
The Cebuano language is quite intriguing, and that's what I like about it.
Besides, call me nosey, but I want to know what other people say about the "White guy" sitting at the restaurant near them....

[Peanutz]

Hi again,

It's Alan - the newbie again. I think this question is directed to all us 'lads' who are lucky enough to have beautiful brides/girlfriends/fiancees from the Phils.
As a teacher, my specialisms are English, Maths and French - in fact, I am lucky enough to speak a bit of another 7 languages (no, I'm not mega-clever - in fact I'm b****y useless at everything else!.)
However, does anyone else think the same as me - ie. Tagalog and Cebuano I just CANNOT get my head around!! - apart from 'salamat' and 'sige' I am rather stumped. Am I on my own or does anyone else share my thoughts about these strange but beautiful tongues?

Alan

Tagalog-First lesson


I- Ako -Ako ay Filipina
You- Ikaw -Ikaw ay Ingles
He/She - Siya -Siya ay gago
We- Tayo- Tayo ay masaya
They- Sila- Sila ay mabait

[KeithD]

Anak Peanutz

[Alan]

Thanks to everybody for your input. You are all so very kind and helpful.

Alan

[nparvus1202]

If I am not mistaken, there are 172 local dialects spoken in the entire archipelago, more or less 50 are widely spoken. The largest is Cebuano, then Tagalog or Pilipino and then Ilokano. Although Tagalog can be understood almost in every 7,108 islands, (7,107 during high tides). But you will notice that in every dialect, there is a trace of Spanish words.

[Peanutz]

Thanks to everybody for your input. You are all so very kind and helpful.

Alan

I would like to share this link for everyone who need to learn our tagalog language and those non-tagalog speaker.

With the permission of the Admin.


http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Tagalog_mainpage.htm

[Peanutz]

Anak Peanutz

Tatay Keith

[dave65]

I tried to learn a few tagalog basics (greeting etc ) the first time i went over then wondered why i couldnt understand jasmine family
took me a while to realise they were speaking waray waray
so now she is trying to teach me enough waray to at least get the basiics of whats going on
we are determined that when our baby is born it will be able to speak english ,waray and tagalog thats got to be easier than learning later on

[Ping]

visayan or cebuano language is easy to learn. some of the words or term is in spanish. like for example the counting , some parts of the house and also the body, and also the kitchen utensils.oh some of the swearing and name of place.so if you know the spanish language you learn it easily.

[bigtombowski]

visayan or cebuano language is easy to learn. some of the words or term is in spanish. like for example the counting , some parts of the house and also the body, and also the kitchen utensils.oh some of the swearing and name of place.so if you know the spanish language you learn it easily.

my bisaya teacher hasn't taught me any swearwords . . .
any chance of learning some from someone knowlegeable in those things here??? *ping* LOL!

tom

[IainBusby]

Tagalog-First lesson


I- Ako -Ako ay Filipina
You- Ikaw -Ikaw ay Ingles
He/She Siya - Siya ay gago
We- Tayo- Tayo ay masaya
They- Sila- Sila ay mabait

What is this thing with him/her and he/she when filipinos speak English and they always seem get it the wrong way round?
Iain.

[bigtombowski]

u think that's bad, try talking to a chinese person!

[Alan]

Yes Iain - I also noticed that he/she business. Hanna does that quite a lot.

Once again, thank you everybody for your help with this thread. Much appreciated.

P.S. Cuando soy en Cebú yo hable español y encuentre que la gente puede entenderme un poco.

[Peanutz]

What is this thing with him/her and he/she when filipinos speak English and they always seem get it the wrong way round?

Iain.

Personal Pronouns

Person/number
1st Person Ako (I)- Singular Plural- Kami (we- exclusive)
Plural-Tayo (we-inclusive)
2nd Person Ikaw/ka (you)- Singular Plural- Kayo (you all)
3rd Person Siya (he/she) - Singular Plural -Sila (they)

If you have time to check the link I posted earlier in this thread, you will find it helpful to learn tagalog language. Cheers

[IainBusby]

Personal Pronouns

Person/number
1st Person Ako (I)- Singular Plural- Kami (we- exclusive)
Plural-Tayo (we-inclusive)
2nd Person Ikaw/ka (you)- Singular Plural- Kayo (you all)
3rd Person Siya (he/she) - Singular Plural -Sila (they)

If you have time to check the link I posted earlier in this thread, you will find it helpful to learn tagalog language. Cheers

3rd Person Siya (he/she)

So there is only one word for both he and she??? That might explain it!!!

[Peanutz]

So there is only one word for both he and she??? That might explain it!!!

Lol yes Ian, in tagalog if I refer to someone who is she/he I need to indicate the name if it is a feminine or masculine or a thing, for example;

Siya ay mabait- (he-she is kind)

So, Siya is not indicated here if feminine or masculine but look at this another example;

Ang kapatid ko na lalake ay mas matanda sa akin, siya ay mabait na kapatid. (My brother is older than me, he is a kind brother (translated literally).

Siya here is understood as a masculine he refers to brother kapatid ko na lalake

Ang kapatid ko na babae ay mas matanda sa akin, siya ay mabait na kapatid. (My sister is older than me, she is a kind sister)

Siya here is understood as a feminine she refers to sister kapatid ko na babae.

So in verbal or written conversation you can use it feminine or masculine once you understand if the subject is feminine or masculine.

[Liliput39]

I tired to teach my hubby our language but he`s not really interested in fact when I teach him and ask him to repeat after me how to pronounce the words,his toungue knots togetherand silly but it hurts my tummy laughing at him and to you all guys who try to lear our language keep it up

I know how you feel, these are the only words my husband can say - "Ayo, ablihi ko?" and balut!! When I asked him any question in either cebuano or tagalog, he always answers me with a time (as in watch) - doH! So, there I thought I give up!!!!!!!!

[Liliput39]

the main problem I encounter is this . . .


"NG"!

HOW IN THE HEAVENS are english people gonna say this right?

LOL

Hi Tom, you know the word 'hung'- just change the h to n and it is 'nung' (ng) that is how you say it. The trick with our words is you just say it how you read it - simple as that (i think)

[Liliput39]

Tatay Keith

not Lolo??

[bigtombowski]

haha! gaga Lil!