Somedays I sit and Wonder

[Jack Peterson]

Other days I just Sit!

 Talking on another Topic about learning some of the Language, there are days when I think is it really worth the effort and still get it wrong. On Friday after we had been most of the Day at the Hospital we decided to go to Robinsons Mall on the Other side of the City to pay the Internet and get a couple of things. We came across an Old Friend of Ours Having Snacks. Anyway we joined him for a little while and as he was paying his Bill, he held a conversation in Bisaya with the Waiter who keep saying EH? what Sir, sorry I don't understand you, so Back to English! When the Change was brought out My Friend said to the Lad oh! keep the Red one ( Note) Yes sir thank you BUt that one is Orange ( 20 peso) a Red one is 50 and there is not one there so should I keep this orange one, well My wife and I just smiled and thought What is the use of Paying to learn Bisaya  when the staff here have a better command of English that they do of Bisaya 

 It's Ok for common words for us but I seriously doubt any of us at our age is going to learn enough to have  meaningful conversation 

 Just a Thought.

 Jack

 Morning All 

[Tommy T.]

Hi Jack.

I think you make a good point. Like your friend, I do try to learn some of the language. I think that's appropriate seeing as I am a guest in this country. But I find it very difficult - old age, I think?

English is an official language here - I hate to rely on it, but most times I feel I have no choice. I try to make up for that by apologizing to locals that I cannot speak their language.

Visayan is a very complicated language - even according to my partner. She resorts to English many times when speaking to friends because it is very precise using comprehensive words... Example from Fiji...There is no word for airplane in the Ba (official) language. So they say "flying boat" in their language (I forgot the words). Foreigners, like me, are called palagi which translates to "sky bursters!" I have no idea how they got to that....

[Jack Peterson]

2 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

English is an official language here - I hate to rely on it, but most times I feel I have no choice. I try to make up for that by apologizing to locals that I cannot speak their language.

 In one and that is why all Courts, Schools, Official Forms are all in English, The Local will understand totally what you say about our inability to speak any of the Languages here. Goodness they don't speak it properly themselves and of course they know it and many will apologize to you for this. It will go on and on I am sure BUt.............................................

 Just as a one off, My wifes colleague had a 3 day Suspension without pay and privilege for not Speaking English to a Client recently 

 Each to our own but 

[Tommy T.]

That is interesting.

Another fact - again from my partner - is that she and so many others do not understand many local dialects. Like in other island countries, it seems that almost every little village or settlement may have its own dialect only understood by the people there. That is why there are the official languages of Tagalog and English. I read a while back in a history book about the Philippines that the earlier official language was Visayan before the capital was moved to Manila? Can you verify that for me?

[Jack Peterson]

Just now, Tommy T. said:

I read a while back in a history book about the Philippines that the earlier official language was Visayan before the capital was moved to Manila? Can you verify that for me?

Cebu was certainly the old Capitol But the Language is CEBUANO. Visya ( Bisaya) is a Dialect of it mainly in the Visayas Region although Linguists say different;*******

Is Cebuano a language or dialect?

Some linguists have classified Cebuano as a dialect of a Visayan or Bisayan language, along with the Iligaynon and Waray languages, to which it is closely related. Cebuano is only one of the estimated 70 to 75 indigenous languages that can be found throughout the islands of the Philippines.

[Tommy T.]

Thanks for the clarification. My partner speaks 7 languages (or dialects) including English, Tagalog, Visayan, Dabaoweno(?)... I honestly don't know how anyone could do that without getting tongue-tied always.

[Jack Peterson]

1 minute ago, Tommy T. said:

Thanks for the clarification. My partner speaks 7 languages (or dialects) including English, Tagalog, Visayan, Dabaoweno(?)... I honestly don't know how anyone could do that without getting tongue-tied always.

My Point exactly, Yet they would have us learn?  The One My wife don't speak is Ilonggo, so we don't go to Bacolod often 

[Tommy T.]

I don't know if mine speaks Ilonggo. She is a high school teacher and teaches in Tagalog yet DepEd communicates only in English. And I don't mean to criticize, but sometimes it is a bit challenging to understand even that. But my hat's off to anyone who can speak and understand more than one language and especially English - possibly one of the more difficult languages to master?

[Old55]

1 hour ago, Jack Peterson said:

Other days I just Sit!

 Talking on another Topic about learning some of the Language, there are days when I think is it really worth the effort and still get it wrong. On Friday after we had been most of the Day at the Hospital we decided to go to Robinsons Mall on the Other side of the City to pay the Internet and get a couple of things. We came across an Old Friend of Ours Having Snacks. Anyway we joined him for a little while and as he was paying his Bill, he held a conversation in Bisaya with the Waiter who keep saying EH? what Sir, sorry I don't understand you, so Back to English! When the Change was brought out My Friend said to the Lad oh! keep the Red one ( Note) Yes sir thank you BUt that one is Orange ( 20 peso) a Red one is 50 and there is not one there so should I keep this orange one, well My wife and I just smiled and thought What is the use of Paying to learn Bisaya  when the staff here have a better command of English that they do of Bisaya 

 It's Ok for common words for us but I seriously doubt any of us at our age is going to learn enough to have  meaningful conversation 

 Just a Thought.

 Jack

 Morning All 

Could your friends inability to be understood speaking Bisaya be due to the fact he spoke it with an English accent? 

[Jack Peterson]

10 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

I don't know if mine speaks Ilonggo.

 A Little bit of Modern History ( History now, as it has been Killed off

 A few years ago about 5 I think The then President ( Aquino) decided that Negros should be a 1 (one region Island) to be Called NIR ( Negros Island Region. However, there was the Language Barrier. The North, OCCIDENTAL spoke ilonggo, the South, ORIENTAL spoke Bisaya. They decided to have the Capitol 1/2 way up BUT you guessed it, Problems arose because a Common Language could not be found, Tagalog is not Spoken much on Negros either end and certainly not enough for a Capitol to be founded.

 Business would suffer, Rules and Regulations would suffer even more than they are now So the Present President (  Duterte) decreed NO GO back to Square one. So where we have  the US and the UK  2 countries  united by 1 Language (English) We have here 1 Island Divided by 2 Languages and to my wifes thoughts, and oh so many more, leave well alone and for once Manila have listened 

 BTW my SIL also teaches Grade 7 and don't speak Tagalog or Ilonggo, Requirements for Teachers I guess vary from Region to region