How Does Conversation Work With Your Filipina Wife/gf?

[MikeB]

Wife is very slow to learn, mainly because she speaks mostly Bisaya in her job as an elementary school teacher.

Public school? What grade do they start teaching English?

[Jack Peterson]

 Wife is very slow to learn, mainly because she speaks mostly Bisaya in her job as an elementary school teacher.  She has the grammar and wordage ok, but her experience speaking English is almost zero.  Which is nice.  In the province, if a girl is fluent in English, it's very easy to figure out how she learned it.

 

This I find Strange. According to my SIL who is sitting opposite me as I write this. ( Elementary Teacher) One of the Requirements of the DepEd in Negros is Elementary Grade English Tutorabilty.   From Grade 5 this is Mandatory for the Kids, certainly in Dumaguete.

Disagree slightly with your Comment on where a province girl learns English, I will Admit in the mountains or Deep province maybe but the generalization seems a little degrading to both Foreigner and the Girl in Question. Especially if she marries a Foreigner who's English is not his Native tongue. Each to their own as they say but.................... :thumbsup:

[lonewolf]

We converse in English in our home.  Wife is very slow to learn, mainly because she speaks mostly Bisaya in her job as an elementary school teacher.  She has the grammar and wordage ok, but her experience speaking English is almost zero.  Which is nice.  In the province, if a girl is fluent in English, it's very easy to figure out how she learned it.

I realized my fiancé could read and write English better than she could speak it, and realized why it was that way when two of her friends at lunch said English words so hard to pronounce . I thought about it a minute and realized that they didn t know how the break words down into syiiables and sound out the syliables then string them together, I showed them what I meant and their English improved very much. and here I m trying to teach them and I can t spell syllables

[Jack Peterson]

I showed them what I meant and their English improved very much. and here I m trying to teach them and I can t spell syllables

 

The majority of British here would not agree with what I will say next!

One and probably the only one Good thing about American English is that it is spelt ( Spelled) as it is said and for me, you trying to teach  some one this can be a good thing in  itself.  THEATRE for the Brit = THEATER for the US  a little simpler for the newcomer to English

 

English is just NOT the easiest of languages to learn from Scratch for so many reasons but if you can keep it simple then it can be done. I do agree with teaching them to split the syllables and I am sure this has made a big difference to their Learning. Well done and I hope your continued Tuition will pay dividends.

 

JP :tiphat:

[Methersgate]

 

Lovely, K is definitely the "dish of the day" and grand daughter looks like one for the future, the widow lady would make a good choice but three teenage kids? hmmmm that would take some doing.

 

 

 

The beauty of the family is reckoned to be Connie - middle of upper row. But she is married and seriously religious.

 

Rosalie's three kids are models of good behaviour - she is a teacher lady - but to be honest she was very happily married and since her husband died five years ago she has not shown the slightest interest in marrying again - pity because she would make a wonderful wife. Fluent English of course!

 

Politically and socially, K like me is a liberal - we once chalked up 5 hours 30 minutes on Skype at the end of which time the World had been Comprehensively Put To Rights! ;)  

 

Edited December 13, 2014 by Methersgate

[Methersgate]

 

I showed them what I meant and their English improved very much. and here I m trying to teach them and I can t spell syllables

 

The majority of British here would not agree with what I will say next!

One and probably the only one Good thing about American English is that it is spelt ( Spelled) as it is said and for me, you trying to teach  some one this can be a good thing in  itself.  THEATRE for the Brit = THEATER for the US  a little simpler for the newcomer to English

 

English is just NOT the easiest of languages to learn from Scratch for so many reasons but if you can keep it simple then it can be done. I do agree with teaching them to split the syllables and I am sure this has made a big difference to their Learning. Well done and I hope your continued Tuition will pay dividends.

 

JP :tiphat:

 

To be honest, Jack, I had never thought about it - but you are quite right.

 

[Thomas]

We converse in English in our home.  Wife is very slow to learn, mainly because she speaks mostly Bisaya in her job as an elementary school teacher.  She has the grammar and wordage ok, but her experience speaking English is almost zero.  Which is nice.  In the province, if a girl is fluent in English, it's very easy to figure out how she learned it.

??  I GUESS what you mean, but they can have learned from working in tourist industry OTHER than bars. And they can have been good students in school too...  :) 

In general I find Filipins GOOD at languages (in different from mathematics and geography.) Most Filipins can speak 3 - 4 languages (depending of if Tagalog is their first language or not)  (rather) fluent, although many of them pronounce English bad, 

 

How good are you with English as your first language at your 3rd or 4th language   - if you have any? ...  :)

 

 

We converse in English in our home.  Wife is very slow to learn, mainly because she speaks mostly Bisaya in her job as an elementary school teacher.  She has the grammar and wordage ok, but her experience speaking English is almost zero.  Which is nice.  In the province, if a girl is fluent in English, it's very easy to figure out how she learned it.

I realized my fiancé could read and write English better than she could speak it, and realized why it was that way when two of her friends at lunch said English words so hard to pronounce . I thought about it a minute and realized that they didn t know how the break words down into syiiables and sound out the syliables then string them together, I showed them what I meant and their English improved very much. and here I m trying to teach them and I can t spell syllables

I believe Filipins can have such problem depending of Emglish pronounce SOME of the letters wrong  :)

 

Filipins and Swedes (and e g Germans among many) are used to pronounce the letters same/similar, which is rather much different from English. That assist me when I need to try to "decode" what some Filipins try to say - or write English as they BELIEVE it's spelled after how it's pronounced - depending of if they have learned English from texts or from hearing.

[Curley]

 

 

Lovely, K is definitely the "dish of the day" and grand daughter looks like one for the future, the widow lady would make a good choice but three teenage kids? hmmmm that would take some doing.

 

 

 

The beauty of the family is reckoned to be Connie - middle of upper row. But she is married and seriously religious.

 

Rosalie's three kids are models of good behaviour - she is a teacher lady - but to be honest she was very happily married and since her husband died five years ago she has not shown the slightest interest in marrying again - pity because she would make a wonderful wife. Fluent English of course!

 

Politically and socially, K like me is a liberal - we once chalked up 5 hours 30 minutes on Skype at the end of which time the World had been Comprehensively Put To Rights! ;)  

 

 

 

I envy you, not just the beauty but more for the communication, the lack of educated conversation and closed minds are two of the things that really put me off the Phils

[Methersgate]

Larry45, on 13 Dec 2014 - 06:53 AM, said: We converse in English in our home. Wife is very slow to learn, mainly because she speaks mostly Bisaya in her job as an elementary school teacher. She has the grammar and wordage ok, but her experience speaking English is almost zero. Which is nice. In the province, if a girl is fluent in English, it's very easy to figure out how she learned it.

 

Picky, picky! ;)

 

My ex wife's late grandfather spoke grammatically precise, well modulated, American English.  He had been a fisherman all his working life, but was also an Elder of the Iglesia no Cristo. It was a pleasure to talk with him. He had learned his English at school, in the colonial era. One does not hear such English spoken in the Philippines now.

 

Edited December 13, 2014 by Methersgate

[Curley]

From which part of the Phils are K and family?