Unmentioned Annoyances of Being Able to Speak Filipino Languages

[Paul 55,116]

Let's stay on topic, people. ON TOPIC.

 

 

If they are going to only live in one area then maybe. I still say learning Tagalog is more universal and practical. They understand it wherever you go here for the most part so you won't be limiting yourself to any single region. 

 

I have heard this argument quite often, over the years. 

 

Anyway, I will argue this until the day I die - more people speak and understand Cebuano / Bisaya, than do Tagalog. Those same people would prefer to speak Cebuano / Bisaya, than they would Tagalog. So, if you live in an area where the majority of people speak Cebuano, then learn Cebuano. If you live in an area where the majority of the people speak Tagalog, learn Tagalog. People who live in Cebu do NOT speak Tagalog, because they choose not to. For some they have actually forgotten a fair amount of their Tagalog since high school / college. For others, they simply do not like speaking it. 

For those of you on the ground in the Philippines, specifically in Cebu, if you don't believe me, then do it yourself. Ask Filipinos that you come in contact with a single question. "If you have a choice ONLY between speaking Tagalog or English, which would you choose?" Over my many years in the Philippines, The vast, vast majority of Filipinos I have come in contact with, would MUCH rather speak their own local language, rather than Tagalog. They feel more comfortable doing so. 

[rainymike 4,376]

At my age, learning another language has little return. I get by with English.

 

When I look at my kids, this is what I see. Even the two year old gets by with a hodge podge of Cebuano which my partner speaks at home, English which I speak at home, and Tagalog which the older kids are learning in school and get on the television. Choosing one or the other makes little sense to them, all are part of their world. That's good in my opinion.

 

There is some elitism around what you speak, but that's less so with the crowd I'm associated with. I'm judged less by what comes out of my mouth and more in terms of what I do. I do apologize for being an ignorant slob for not speaking the language, but no one puts me down for it. On the other hand, no one elevates me for mostly speaking just English.

 

I go to PTA meetings on occasion. For the most part, I don't have a problem figuring out what's happening. It's not hard to figure the major things out. Yeah, sometimes people giggle at me. I don't think that's so unusual. I kinda giggle back. And most certainly, the mothers talk behind my back. Is fine ... I don't mind being the center of their attention ... lol.

 

But at the end of the day, its the context that matters. I'm there for my kids. The kids are there for me. That goes above language and everyday human pettiness. Good enough for me.

[tambok 320]

Brother, now I REALLY have a hard time believing this. Let me tell you a little story, something that happened to me, prior to my moving to the Philippines in the early 2,000s. 

 

I agree. Many Tagalogs mock Visayans in Manila. Many Kapampangans do the same. But all of our stories are anecdotal. None prove anything unless we conduct surveys with a standard deviation sampling thousands of people to determine general tendencies, percentages, etc. I was refering to my experience with Tagalogs and Kapampangan vis-a-vis a Western person, not a Visayan.

Edited January 13, 2014 by tambok

[thebob 18,260]

 

 

I still say learning Tagalog is more universal and practical. They understand it wherever you go here for the most part so you won't be limiting yourself to any single region. 

 

They understand English almost anywhere you go here. Cebuano is what you need in the Visayas.

[SkyMan 26,993]

 

 

batig nawng ( spelling may vary) and she was laughing for a full ten minutes before I could get the Nawng part right and it only took that bloody long as I could not get her to say it broken down to BA TIG NAW NG so I could learn how to pronounce it correctly as she was laughing that hard. Frustrating as it was when i hear a word I do not know I want to learn it and how to say it correctly.

I want to get a sticker that says "Batig Nawong!!" to put on my right side mirror for the jerks that turn the mirror out so they can ogle themselves.

[dHb 244]

I cannot speak either Cebuano or Tagalog but I can understand conversations in Cebuano. It used to be pretty amusing as my late father-in-law couldn't speak English yet we would talk for hours - him in Cebuano, me in English. I do know the naughty words in Cebuano though!

[ozboy 6,594]

What I cannot figure out is why they need to talk at such high decibals, if my wife is chatting outside it sounds like an argument...n the kids.....face to face they yell....maybe its goes with the need to be noisy here lol

[Headshot 29,850]

What I cannot figure out is why they need to talk at such high decibals, if my wife is chatting outside it sounds like an argument...n the kids.....face to face they yell....maybe its goes with the need to be noisy here lol

 

But...if they think you raised your voice to them...hang onto your ass. Kanos are not allowed to raise their voices...even if they have a hearing impairment and didn't even know they were doing it.

 

[Paul 55,116]

If you guys think Filipinos are loud when they talk, you have not been around Thais or Khmers while they were on the phone talking! My God! They are some of the loudest people I have ever heard, while on the phone.  

 

I am glad that, when they speak English to me, they are not so loud. 

 

Of course, that is the only language that they will speak, when addressing me. Cebuano was much, MUCH easier to learn, than Thai or Khmer (pronounced Kam-eye). 

[Monsoon 28,943]

If you guys think Filipinos are loud when they talk, you have not been around Thais or Khmers while they were on the phone talking! My God! They are some of the loudest people I have ever heard, while on the phone.  

 

 

Chinese are also horrible for this. Invariably whenever I'm traveling one will find his way near me and start shouting on the phone. Very annoying.

[hchoate 446]

What I cannot figure out is why they need to talk at such high decibals

 

if they think you raised your voice to them...hang onto your ass. Kanos are not allowed to raise their voices

 

Ten years in, this one still invokes huge tension: she's outraged that I raised my voice, I patiently explain she 'yells' more than I do (pot-kettle, goose-gander, glass houses, etc.) - to no avail. And our kids are just the same. Similar dual standard with insulting comments (like laughing at verbal mistakes, as above). I think it reflects feelings of inferiority.

 

As for language, seems like speaking Tagalog and understanding Cebuano (or whatever dialect) would be the best. Me they just call 'Mr. Bean'.

Edited January 14, 2014 by hchoate

[Monsoon 28,943]

They understand English almost anywhere you go here. Cebuano is what you need in the Visayas.

 

Oh they understand Tagalog as well. What do you think all those silly tele novellas and ridiculous game shows they all watch are speaking??

Edited January 14, 2014 by Monsoon

[jtmwatchbiz 31,455]

Oh they understand Tagalog as well. What do you think all those silly tele novellas and ridiculous game shows they all watch are speaking??

 

 

could be...but my wife and her friends thought whatever you were speaking in el gecko was pig latin

[Paul 55,116]

Oh they understand Tagalog as well. What do you think all those silly tele novellas and ridiculous game shows they all watch are speaking??

 

That is true. But, while watching those shows, they are communicating in Cebuano.