Languages---Which One is More Useful, Tagalog or Visayan?

[AB2000 416]

 

 

I find that surprising ! Where in the visayas are you from ? Did you grow up there- or in Cebu ?

 

Hiligaynon and Waray-Waray are also visayan languages. Unless they have taken time to learn cebuano (or visa versa), or were raised in border areas where both are commonly spoken, then they won't understand much of each other.

 

I have learned some (ha, a little) Cebuano and Waray, and see similarities in the structure and some words, but they are different enough to be different languages.

Edited October 4, 2011 by AB2000

[ArieBombarie 365]

there are quite some regional differences since it is not official tought in schools it works as local dialects, none of these communities will pay any attention to the standarisation that is done, my wife speaks warray but she can not make sense out of cebuano, Bisayan elite will still put some money and effort in it to once get it established as a national or regional language I guess and with 20 mil and growing that makes sense and is maybe needed, it is not a great thing if kids grow up with a language that is not standarised and have to start school on two languages not spoken at home.

[freespirit 14]

hehe personally, I think Cebuano is more useful as I refuse to speak Tagalog... LOL

something that my boyfriend constantly tease me about..

 

on the serious note, it depends where you want to live.

If you want to stay in Cebu or any other region in the Visayas, then it is better that you learn Cebuano.

[SkyMan 21,315]

hehe personally, I think Cebuano is more useful as I refuse to speak Tagalog... LOL

 

Good for you!!

[ArieBombarie 365]

Good for you!!

most valid reason in this whole convo that was

[almino3 0]

 

 

I have witnessed a cashier use a calculator to add 8 + 4. I could not believe it. What do they actually teach them in those schools

 

 

It's not just the school to blame... Another half of it is the student who is not interested in learning.

[almino3 0]

My wife speaks both but has told me that Tagalog should be the first choice as it is the national language and Bisaya should be learned later.

 

It really depends where do you want to live... If you want to live around Metro Manila area then you should learn tagalog but if you go down Visayas area (Cebu,Leyte) and Mindanao area... then the visayan language should be more appropriate... It's not like everyone in the phlippines can speak tagalog... same as not everyone in china speaks mandarin...

[almino3 0]

 

If English is used most of the time in school, Why do most of the kids in my wifes neighborhood not know how to speak any English, Maybe 1 or 2 words. Just wondering

 

To answer your question sir. They are still kids and they need more years to master English. It's not easy to learn another language. I was taught English\Filipino\Mandarin\Amoy and Spanish. It took me until high school to be semi-fluent. Americans here in the US can't even spell English words correctly... I can't believe they have to use Google to check on the correct spelling on a very simple word. Probably you have a better education system in Canada compared in the US.

[almino3 0]

 

Headshot,

 

You seem to always know what you are talking about when it comes to school in the Philippines. I guess that is because your wife was a school teacher. I often wonder where some people get there information about the schools in the Philippines when they make a statement like, English is not used or taught in schools. As you said, most classes are taught in English and most books are in English.

 

By the way, most statements I make concerning school come from speaking to high school graduates, a school teacher on my street, and from 2 students living on the 1st floor below me. I don't use my imagination as it seems some do.

 

I don't know which one is correct Pilipino or Filipino, maybe it doesn't really matter anyway, but today I received my first new 20 pesos bill. On the bottom left corner in small print it says, FILIPINO AS THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE 1935

 

He gained those knowledge by first-hand experience... Just a guess...

[AB2000 416]

One thing that has not been mentioned (or perhaps I have missed it), despite the fact that English is apparently used more in schools than Tagalog, you forgot about one other thing:

 

TV.

[Jim Sibbick 1,037]

I have been carrying out my own private survey of about 20 people I met over the last week.

 

Just to clarify who I asked, they had to be able to understand the questions so obviously they had a good grasp of English. They all have Bisaya as first language and came from Bohol, Cebu and Leyte.

 

The questions I asked

 

Do all your Filipino friends and relatives speak Tagalog. The answer in 100% of responses was No!. However, it is generally thought that kids can speak it because they learn it in school. This I discovered personally was not the case travelling with my girlfriend's family during the last week. There was a 14yo boy from Leyte who had no idea how to speak Tagalog and there was a 9 year old who struggled to understand when he was watching Tagalog TV programmes. There was a Tagalog show similar to Sesame street on the TV this morning. His mother made him watch that so he could improve his Tagalog.

 

If an Amerikano can speak Tagalog and Bisaya, which language would you prefer them to speak with you? Tagalog, English or Bisaya?. The only person who straight out said he was happy with Tagalog was our tour driver on Bohol. He said it was his job to speak Tagalog. Nobody else wanted to speak to a foreigner in Tagalog. One woman said if he can speak good Bisaya, she would prefer Bisaya but if he was not good at speaking Bisaya, he should just speak English. Most said they would prefer Bisaya. Some said they would like English so they can practice their English.

 

 

Regards: Jim