The Filipina And English

[scott h]

Thanks Mr. Whip. Somehow you managed to subvert what was meant to be a light hearted topic about the communication challenges (if any) between husbands and wives into a debate about the linguistic capabilities of different countries. Surely you have had language challenges with one of the 400??? :cheersty:

[BrettGC]

Thanks Mr. Whip. Somehow you managed to subvert what was meant to be a light hearted topic about the communication challenges (if any) between husbands and wives into a debate about the linguistic capabilities of different countries. Surely you have had language challenges with one of the 400??? :cheersty:

 

Scott, I've stopped feeding or taking the Troll bait.  

Edited May 30, 2014 by BrettGC

[Jake]

Thanks Mr. Whip. Somehow you managed to subvert what was meant to be a light hearted topic about the communication challenges (if any) between husbands and wives into a debate about the linguistic capabilities of different countries. Surely you have had language challenges with one of the 400??? :cheersty:

Damn it Scott, you puckin' owe me a new keyboard!  That was my very first cup of coffee too!

This is your OP and you came back with a 400 round magazine for your M-60.....all head shot

bulls eye!

 

And for that I'm promoting you to Sergeant Major of US Army, paygrade E-10.  You walk softly

but carry a big ass stick!

 

Respectfully -- Jake

Edited May 30, 2014 by Jake
Are we having fun yet........

[Jake]

 

In the Philippines, the assumption is you can speak more than one language. I

not every Filipino can speak more than one language. For example i have a friend who works as a prosecutor in mostly Manila, and whose first language is Cebuano. While the language of the law in the Philippines is supposed to be English, in practice it isn't and Filipino languages are always used much more in court than English is, with Tagalog being the main one. Even in courts in Cebu and other provincial cities where she has done trials, and where Cebuano will be spoken in court, she has never attended any court session anywhere in the Philippines, where Tagalog has not been spoken at some point as well.

 

sometimes, just sometimes, not all that often, they have a witness in a Manila trial whose Tagalog is not good enough for them to give evidence in court. They can basically only speak their local dialect fluently. So they have to get an interpreter in, for them.

 

the Philippines is a proper multi-lingual country, but it is not unique even in the ASEAN region. Malaysia is just like it, even to the point where English has a very similar role in the linguistical set up. But with Malay, not English, being the main lingua franca, like Tagalog is, in the Philippines.

 

This is the opening statement from post 13:

I would never criticise Filipinos about their ability at languages, including English.

 

And this is the opening statement above from the post 20:

not every Filipino can speak more than one language.

 

Miss Teacher.....I dun't understand this enlesh, plese hep me so I can tak to my

wipe Judy properllliilily.

Edited May 30, 2014 by Jake
spil chek

[the_whipster]

 Somehow you managed to subvert what was meant to be a light hearted topic about the communication challenges (if any) between husbands and wives into a debate about the linguistic capabilities of different countries.

downright false. The first person to say anything about the 'linguistic capabilities of different countries', is jon1 in reply #4.

 

 

 

 

In the Philippines, the assumption is you can speak more than one language. I

not every Filipino can speak more than one language. For example i have a friend who works as a prosecutor in mostly Manila, and whose first language is Cebuano. While the language of the law in the Philippines is supposed to be English, in practice it isn't and Filipino languages are always used much more in court than English is, with Tagalog being the main one. Even in courts in Cebu and other provincial cities where she has done trials, and where Cebuano will be spoken in court, she has never attended any court session anywhere in the Philippines, where Tagalog has not been spoken at some point as well.

 

sometimes, just sometimes, not all that often, they have a witness in a Manila trial whose Tagalog is not good enough for them to give evidence in court. They can basically only speak their local dialect fluently. So they have to get an interpreter in, for them.

 

the Philippines is a proper multi-lingual country, but it is not unique even in the ASEAN region. Malaysia is just like it, even to the point where English has a very similar role in the linguistical set up. But with Malay, not English, being the main lingua franca, like Tagalog is, in the Philippines.

 

This is the opening statement from post 13:

I would never criticise Filipinos about their ability at languages, including English.

 

And this is the opening statement above from the post 20:

not every Filipino can speak more than one language.

 

 

so what. How is that criticising anybody. Again you are making the mistake of thinking that an observation is a criticism when it is not a criticism at all. It is just an observation. Not all Filipinos can speak more than one language, FACT. However it is very few of them, certainly compared to most nationalities, also FACT. Care to explain exactly how that is a criticism, as if I was bidding to criticise Filipinos in general when I actually went out of my way to compliment them on their usually good linguistic abilities?

[Jake]

 

 Somehow you managed to subvert what was meant to be a light hearted topic about the communication challenges (if any) between husbands and wives into a debate about the linguistic capabilities of different countries.

downright false. The first person to say anything about the 'linguistic capabilities of different countries', is jon1 in reply #4.

 

 

 

 

In the Philippines, the assumption is you can speak more than one language. I

not every Filipino can speak more than one language. For example i have a friend who works as a prosecutor in mostly Manila, and whose first language is Cebuano. While the language of the law in the Philippines is supposed to be English, in practice it isn't and Filipino languages are always used much more in court than English is, with Tagalog being the main one. Even in courts in Cebu and other provincial cities where she has done trials, and where Cebuano will be spoken in court, she has never attended any court session anywhere in the Philippines, where Tagalog has not been spoken at some point as well.

 

sometimes, just sometimes, not all that often, they have a witness in a Manila trial whose Tagalog is not good enough for them to give evidence in court. They can basically only speak their local dialect fluently. So they have to get an interpreter in, for them.

 

the Philippines is a proper multi-lingual country, but it is not unique even in the ASEAN region. Malaysia is just like it, even to the point where English has a very similar role in the linguistical set up. But with Malay, not English, being the main lingua franca, like Tagalog is, in the Philippines.

 

This is the opening statement from post 13:

I would never criticise Filipinos about their ability at languages, including English.

 

And this is the opening statement above from the post 20:

not every Filipino can speak more than one language.

 

 

so what. How is that criticising anybody. Again you are making the mistake of thinking that an observation is a criticism when it is not a criticism at all. It is just an observation. Not all Filipinos can speak more than one language, FACT. However it is very few of them, certainly compared to most nationalities, also FACT. Care to explain exactly how that is a criticism, as if I was bidding to criticise Filipinos in general when I actually went out of my way to compliment them on their usually good linguistic abilities?

 

OK, whatever.........

[JJReyes]

Language and how it is translated into another one is a very interesting topic. In Filipino, the gender is neutral. When speaking in English many Filipinos interchange genders as in "he/she, his/her." Don't take offense if your wife or her family refers to you as "She."

 

In Arabic, words are direct and specific. There was a student from Saudi Arabia who wanted to join us for dinner at a restaurant. He was on the second floor landing of the dorm and we were on the ground floor. We shouted, "Hurry up!" His retort, "What do you mean, 'Hurry up!' I am up and you are down." We should have said, "Hurry down!" so it would translate correctly into Arabic. 

 

We were at a Japanese American trade conference and the American speaker said, "If we work hard together, there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for everyone." All the Americans in the audience laughed. The interpreter looked stunned, but she went ahead with the translation. All the Japanese in the audience laughed. My wife who is bilingual started laughing like crazy. Rather that dealing with a phrase that was impossible to translate, the interpreter said in Japanese, "Everyone please laugh. The American just told a joke."  Exchanges of smiles and polite bowing. The speaker was happy.

Edited May 30, 2014 by JJReyes

[Americano]

 

The French linguists claimed that their troops would encounter difficulty

 

Yeah, I read that report JJ....the French wanted "R" for ROMEO changed to RETREAT :)

 

 

Haha, that's real funny.  And, the Italians wanted the "S" for SIERRA changed to SURRENDER.

 

A few years ago I called my attorney's office and said, "Is Mr. Mativo in his office this afternoon?  The receptionist said, "For a while."  So I thought Mr. Mativo would be in his office for a while.  The problem is the Receptionist didn't answer my question, he just spoke a common reply he was taught and is used by many who answer the phone for a business. To Filipinos this may seem normal but its not proper communication in most English speaking countries. The proper reply should be, can you wait a while?

 

My wife speaks English very well so we usually don't have any communication problems. For the first 2 or 3 years we were together she would sometimes start a sentence with, "in all fairness" I couldn't figure out what that phrase means most of the time so she finally stop saying it.

[BluesDude]

My wife and I have been together for nearly thirty years now and we still have occasional language misunderstandings. A couple of weeks ago my wife told me our daughter had bought a couple of parrots. I couldn't understand why Anna would want two noisy birds. Imagine my surprise when the next time we visited and Anna showed me her two furry little "ferrets".

[JJReyes]

Don't forget. When a Filipino says, "I will try." There's no chance in hell it will get done. "I will try." is a polite way to say, "No."