Ano ito ? What (is) this ?

[manofthecoldland]

From time to time I pull up a language practice video lesson to break the boredom and make a feeble effort to improve myself. I usually work on bits of Tagalog while here only when we have a lengthy brown out because I am not as highly motivated or structured as I once was.... using my old text, 'Basic Tagalog for Foreigners and Non-Tagalogs',  1993,  by Paraluman S. Aspillera .  235 pages, it  cost me $6.50 in 2004.

I do it because I like to surprise my wife and falsely impress the occasional locals from time to time with my meager vocabulary and phrase stock. Its not our local language here on Panay, but its easier for me to stick to just one of the majority languages that is still generally understood here and where ever I travel in-country. 

18 years ago when I met my wife, we spent our time on Luzon and Mindoro where Tagalog was used and her maternal relatives spoke it, so I started with that. Most printed language learning focused on that. So I went that route. Now a days, there are language learning materials and on-line videos for most of the other PI languages and dialects available for anyone interested. I limit my local Ilongo/Hiligaynon to a few dozen words and phrases, since its confusing for me to keep them separated.

When I am feeling inclined, I pull up any of the multitude of YTube vids to review things for as long as I can maintain interest..... which isn't very long anymore. Most are lengthy and highly detailed; however yesterday I stumbled across a very brief  lesson period set of a Tagalog intro series which I found enjoyable. Only 20 subscribers after 3 months. Brief, simple, well captioned and like able. 

If you view it, let us know if you like it;  Or any other vid channels you like to use if working on any of the local languages. I'm always looking to learn a bit of anything new while passing away the long hours of these lock- down days.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH3N7OXvQxPRoOC4MPDWQ8g/videos

Entitled: "Magtagalog tayo".     

 

 

[GeoffH]

Thanks for the link, I have been struggling with Bisaya (I was surprised to read that it's actually considered a language with a difficulty as high as traditional chinese).

I looked at Tagalog and it seemed to be structured more... reasonably (and it's regarded as not as difficult a language to learn) so I've been thinking about learning some basic Tagalog instead.

I will have a look at some of the videos and let you know what I think.

Edited September 7, 2020 by GeoffH

[jimeve]

13 hours ago, GeoffH said:

Thanks for the link, I have been struggling with Bisaya (I was surprised to read that it's actually considered a language with a difficulty as high as traditional chinese).

I looked at Tagalog and it seemed to be structured more... reasonably (and it's regarded as not as difficult a language to learn) so I've been thinking about learning some basic Tagalog instead.

I will have a look at some of the videos and let you know what I think.

I'm the same with Bisaya, took me 19 years to 'why' in Bisaya. ngano man

[GeoffH]

12 minutes ago, jimeve said:

I'm the same with Bisaya, took me 19 years to 'why' in Bisaya. ngano man

huh... I hadn't come across that one (and it's useful!).

that is a good example of why the language is difficult for English speakers.

[manofthecoldland]

The thing I use most of all with my wife, are the one word interrogatives, since they are brief and easier  to say then the long normal English sentences I lay on her when I am trying to understand something.... and she picks up on what I want to know immediately.

e.g. 

Bakit ?    Why ?

Sino ?     Who ?

Ano ?     What ?

Kailan ?   When ?

Nasaan/Saan ?   Where ?

Paano ?   How ?

Magkano ?   How much ?

Alin ?  Which ?

Ilan ?   How many ?

Kanino ?  Whose ?

   When in the dark, I fire off one of those and then sit back for the information flow, ready to interject another when needed for clarity. Works OK for me.

[roddavis]

19 hours ago, GeoffH said:

Thanks for the link, I have been struggling with Bisaya (I was surprised to read that it's actually considered a language with a difficulty as high as traditional chinese).

I looked at Tagalog and it seemed to be structured more... reasonably (and it's regarded as not as difficult a language to learn) so I've been thinking about learning some basic Tagalog instead.

I will have a look at some of the videos and let you know what I think.

I have found the same problem. The Bisaya spoken here is not structured enough like Tagalog.+ I have tried some but was disappointed. I know Spanish, some german, Italian and of course spoken English. I gave up when I went to the adjacent province speaking bisayan, and the locals looked at me like I was from the moon! My bisayan was from a different province, and therefore foreign to the locals there. So unstructured and different in many areas, that is the way of Bisayans!  

[Tommy T.]

12 hours ago, roddavis said:

I have found the same problem. The Bisaya spoken here is not structured enough like Tagalog.+ I have tried some but was disappointed. I know Spanish, some german, Italian and of course spoken English. I gave up when I went to the adjacent province speaking bisayan, and the locals looked at me like I was from the moon! My bisayan was from a different province, and therefore foreign to the locals there. So unstructured and different in many areas, that is the way of Bisayans!  

L has confirmed what I already suspected. Every village and enclave here speaks a different dialect. And this is the way for so many island nations I have visited. In Fiji, if you travel from one settlement to another - perhaps only 1 km or 2 apart - they cannot converse well unless using the common "Ba," or official Fijian language....

L understands and speaks about 7 different languages and dialects, yet she can barely understand someone who comes from a village only 2 km from where she was born and raised...

[manofthecoldland]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

L has confirmed what I already suspected. Every village and enclave here speaks a different dialect. And this is the way for so many island nations I have visited. In Fiji, if you travel from one settlement to another - perhaps only 1 km or 2 apart - they cannot converse well unless using the common "Ba," or official Fijian language....

L understands and speaks about 7 different languages and dialects, yet she can barely understand someone who comes from a village only 2 km from where she was born and raised...

Other than simple greetings to the afternoon bingo women who play at the sari-sari outside my home, I don't use the local language.  They all seem to understand Pilipino/Tagalog well enough since they watch TV soaps and movies, so its easier for me to just stick to that. Good thing that most of our wives and GFs are multi-lingual and can function in this polyglot nation. 

Since I am seldom without my expert translator at my side, it makes little sense at this stage of my life and in my particular situation, to invest time in learning the local language/dialect beyond a few simple polite phrases. National Pilipino and Basic (simplified) English seem to get the job done fairly well unless you are in really remote rural areas where neither are regularly used or understood. With TV, radio and universal education occurring, I would think it rare for an ex-pat to be in places where you would have a total inability to communicate for basic needs.

That said, I do think it worth the time and effort to learn some very basic Pilipino words, phrases and know a little bit of how the grammar works. The grammatical word order is different from Englsh, so you can't always just substitute Tagalog words into your English sentence structure... but doing that is  better than nothing, since many can decipher what you are trying to say.

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, manofthecoldland said:

I do think it worth the time and effort to learn some very basic Pilipino words, phrases and know a little bit of how the grammar works. The grammatical word order is different from Englsh, so you can't always just substitute Tagalog words into your English sentence structure... but doing that is  better than nothing, since many can decipher what you are trying to say.

L teaches me the "bad" words and phrases... She is naughtier than me about that!

But, yes, you are absolutely correct that some phrases and words are very helpful and the locals really appreciate that I make the effort to learn some of their language. Whenever I have a conversation with the workers at our new home, or with the contractors or others, I usually begin with an apology that I do not speak their language. After all, I am a guest in their country, so the more I can speak their language(s), the better things might be?

Think of it this way... if you are in USA or Canada, you expect anyone working or visiting there to speak at least a bit of English, right?

[hk blues]

14 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Think of it this way... if you are in USA or Canada, you expect anyone working or visiting there to speak at least a bit of English, right?

Even in the UK we would Tom...