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Help! I can say more things than I understand!

Language Learning / by

In a country like the Philippines where many languages are spoken, there are often interesting issues in relation to language.  Often times, when we are talking with a Filipino, we will learn that they have some experience in spending time in a different region.  For example, you are talking with Carlo and he mentions that he spent a few years living in Ilocos Norte.  When I hear some thing like that, I always ask, “So, Carlo, can you speak Ilocano then?”  It is just something that is of interest to me.  The most usual response that would come from Carlo is “I can understand Ilocan pretty well, but I can’t speak it.”

Well, doesn’t it seem that if you can understand a language, you would also be able to speak it as well?  I mean, you must know what the words mean, or else you would not be able to understand it.  If you know what the words mean, you should be able to say the words yourself, and thus speak the language.

What I suspect, many times, is that the person can actually speak the language, perhaps not perfectly, and is actually embarrassed to speak it, fearing that others may laugh at him because he makes small errors in pronunciation or grammar.  I know the feeling myself, as I used to be that way about speaking Cebuano.  Also, I know that many Filipinos are “embarrassed” to speak English because they fear that their skills are not good enough.

My problem is just the opposite, though.  When it comes to Cebuano (Bisaya), I can say more things than I can understand!

Bob, that doesn’t make sense!  How can you speak more than what you can understand?

Well, it’s actually true.  Let me try to explain.

Think about it, using English as an example.  If you have a certain piece of information that you want to convey to others, there are lots of different ways you can say it.

Bob might say:

Steve has a blue car.

Richard might say:

Steve’s automobile is sky blue.

Jim might say:

Steve owns a vehicle which is light blue.

Basically, each statement means the same thing, but each is just said in a different way.  My problem in Cebuano is that sometimes I will say something to somebody, and they will reply in a way that I can’t understand.  Maybe they will use a word that I don’t have in my vocabulary yet.  Perhaps they will use a different grammatical way of saying it, something which I have yet to learn.  There are two problems which can be quite common:

  1. They speak in a very slang way, shortening words by half, or
  2. They simply speak too fast for my brain to be able to process it.

So, as I said, I can speak more than I can understand.  You see, of course, if I have information that I want to convey to somebody, I can easily say it in the way that I know to say it.  I many not know the other ways to say the same thing (like the sky blue automobile, or the light blue vehicle, I just know that Steve has a blue car).  Of course, this is normal when learning a new language, you have to start at some level and gain more confidence, better vocabulary and such as time goes by.  I started studying nearly 3 years ago, and I can say pretty much anything I want or need to say.  It’s the understanding that can be a problem from time to time.

Still, though, if such a problem arises, where I don’t understand what somebody is telling me, it usually is easy to resolve.  I will ask “unsa na?” (what is that?) and they will rephrase.  Or, I’ll just say “dili ko kasabot” (I don’t understand) and they will say it again, or maybe even switch to English to respond to me.  So, it will all work out in the end.

Learning a language is an adventure, and a fun adventure.  I suspect that I will always be learning more of the language.  That only makes sense.  After all, even in English, I still learn new words from time to time, things that I didn’t know, or a  new word that has crept into the language.  Same will be the case with Cebuano, although to a greater extent!

Ayo ayo.

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Comments

  1. Learning Tagalog & Bisayan is a real challenge for me, Bob. I attended a private school in Canada & learned to speak french, starting in grade 2 & spanish, which I began in grade 8. In Taiwan, I learned to be conversational in mandarin within a few months – necessity is the mother of speed learning a language – But, try as I might, my tongue doesn’t seem to know where it is supposed to be with some sounds, when speaking Bisayan. One difference that I have found is that people in Taiwan were very helpful & encouraging when I spoke mandarin, whereas, when I use my Bisayan, Filipinos are more likely to laugh their asses off at my pathetic attempts! I recognize that the amusement is without malice, but it does tend to dissuade one from making further attempts. Of course, my wife laughs the most. As my wife’s family is originally from the Dalaguete/Argao area, even though she was born & raised in Davao, my wife does not speak much of the local dialect.

    You should give yourself a big pat on the back, Bob, as I appreciate the challenges with learning these languages. As I used to play a few Filipino songs on guitar – “Estudiante Blues”, as an example – I fully concur with your statement about speaking more than I understand.

    • Hi Bob, does it follow too that you read better more than you are able to understand spoken visayan? In my case, I can read more than basic spanish sentences. But the moment I talk to a native speaker who speaks fast, I hardly catch the full sentence. & I took formal lessons in Spanish in school & Instituto Cervantes. Nothing beats total immersion. Given a chance, I hope I can briefly live in a Spanish-speaking country.

      @Mike, “Estudiante Blues”…I had to recall that tune. That’s our Pinoy rock. You don’t understand what the song says? If you don’t, may I know what you think the song tries to say based from how you perceive the beat, tempo of the song.

      • Hi roy – When it comes to reading and writing in Cebuano, I am miles ahead of the spoken word! I like to converse on Facebook in Cebuano, and I really don’t have any trouble reading or writing, unless I have to look up a word that I am not familiar with!

      • Thanks, Roy!
        Actually, I’m a Freddy Aguilar fan & had my wife translate the words when I was first learning to play it. I’m just too lazy to get her to write it down for me again! lol But, there are other Tagalog songs that I have long-forgotten the meaning of the words to.

    • Hi Mike – Yes, sometimes people laugh when I speak Bisaya, but it is not as often as before. However, I don’t think they are really laughing AT me… they are just laughing because it us unusual to them, and fun, to hear a foreigner speak their native tongue. At first, it would bother me, and that is why I would be shy to speak bisaya out loud to strangers. It doesn’t bother me anymore if they laugh, though, and I speak bisaya a lot now, and without reservation. Keep trying!

  2. Bob;
    I fully concur with you, that you can speak more than you understand. When I arrived in Puerto Rico, the Navy sent us to a one week class to help understand the local culture. While there the young man taught us all to say in Spanish, “Donde esta de la Mercado? (Where is the market?) Okay, I’ll ask someone that question, the answer could be any of 100 responses, or with hands in their pocket they could just point with their lips. So you are correct, and it will happen with all languages.
    And Steve’s car is cool, Buick Riveria?

    • Hello Paul, if my spinster high school teacher taught us that question, she would go: ¿Donde esta EL mercado? You know in spanish, a market is supposed to be masculino. 🙂
      Peace Paul!

      • I never saw many men at the market in Puerto Rico, and its masculino? Now a car was “Caro” and house was Casa, as in women at home, man in car. but market? See, then teacher really messed me up.

    • Hi Paul – Ha ha… I took Spanish class while in Junior High and High School, but never really got very fluent with it. They point with their lips in Puerto Rico too?

      • Yes Bob;
        Most of Spain and the Spanish speaking Caribbean, Central and South America do it. But not very much in Mexico, that I remember seeing. All pointed with their lips, I started doing it out of habit. I thought the guy was flirting with me the first time it was done to me.

  3. Yep, that sure is how it goes! Even now, sometimes I am in over my head when people take off. But especially when learning! As long as I am talking, I know what we are talking about! 🙂 Another helpful phase is, “Palihog otroha, ug hinaya, lang, ha?” Please repeat it, and slowly, okay?

    • Hi AmericanLola – Nice to hear from you, it’s been a while! I hope you are doing well. Your saying is a good one to keep in mind. I did not know the word “otroha” until you shared it. I do know that I can understand a lot more now than a couple of years ago, though, so I know it will only get better with time and more practice!

      • Hi AmericanLola and Bob,

        I used “Dili ko kasabot” alot on the last trip. I have a long way to go before I grasp the language. Salamat kaayo American Lola. I will be using “Palihog otroha, ug hinaya, lang ha” alot. At lease Jho is correcting me more when I am at home.

        Great article Bob.

  4. Language…. what a difference it can make to life. Congratulations to those of you who make the effort to learn the language of the country you choose to make home. I am a native English speaker who chose to move to Belgium a few years ago. Belgium is a linguistically divided nation. Flemish (Dutch) is largely spoken in the north of the country (Flanders) and French is largely spoken in the south of the country (Wallonia). To complicate matters, the capital of Belgium, Brussels, (where I live) lies completely in the Flemish part of the country, yet is officially bi-lingual. In Brussels 80% of people are French speakers and 20% Dutch speakers. It all makes for a very interesting situation. Go a couple of kilometers outside Brussels and you may find yourself in a Dutch speaking area and the locals will not be happy if you speak French to them. Sometimes English is the safest option, but if in Wallonia you really must speak the basics of French. It makes life exciting in this small, but culturally diverse nation. I guess the decision to learn Cebuano or Tagalog throws up the same challenges in the Philippines Is it better to learn the common language spoken by the majority of the population or the language common to your own area, even if the local language is unlikely to be understood in many other areas of the Philippines?

    • Hi Peter – Cebuano is both the most widely spoken language in the Philippines and also the language common in my area! Most people don’t realize that Cebuano is the most widely spoken language in the Philippines, but according to Census officials, it is. Cebuano is the most commonly spoken language by about 7 Million more people than Tagalog.

      For me the choice of languages was easy. I rarely travel to areas where Tagalog is the primary language. In my 10 years here in the Philippines, I’ve been to Manila only twice. So, Cebuano was the way to go for me.

      • Bob – Cebuano can sometimes be an advantage when riding a taxi in Manila. We’ve ridden in more than one cab where the driver was Cebuano. It helps that Rose is from an area like Gensan where you are immersed in multiple languages from a young age.

        Cebuano may edge out Tagalog in terms of the number of home speakers, but I am sure that significantly more total people are capable of speaking or at least understanding Tagalog. Tagalog is the national language, it is taught in school, if you go to college in Manila you will most likely become fluent in Tagalog, and the popular movies and TV shows are predominantly in Tagalog. However, if you are in a non-Tagalog area, taxi drivers, trike drives, shop keepers, etc may not have studied too hard, so to speak.

        You may want to focus on the language common in the area where you are planning to live. However, a dilemma arises if the language in your home does not match the language spoken on the street. Then you’ve got an interesting choice. Do you focus on the language that helps you get around town, or the language which allows you to join in conversations at home? If you’re here long enough, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to learn multiple languages – just which do you focus on first?

        Peter, there’s been some news recently of the Flemish separatists – how strong /prevalent is the idea of secession?

        • Hi Gary – I am talking about people’s first language. The language they speak around the dinner table. Not languages taught to them in schools.

          • I agree Bob, it really only makes sense to learn the language of the place that you will be living or spending time. I would never have to learn Tagalog living in Cebu, but it’s just a fun thing for me to do. I don’t ever expect to be able to get too far with it because Bisaya will be much more helpful to me, so that’s where most of my effort goes.

          • I think we agree on the major points, but this topic is not an easy one.

            I understand we’re talking about the language spoken at the dinner table, but if you are a Cebuano and go to college in Manila, or work at any professional level in Manila, Tagalog is no longer just a language learned in school.

            I also agree that it’s advantageous to learn the language of your locale, however it’s not always that cut and dry. If you’re in Cebu, the answer is probably obvious. Or like in Bob’s case, the language of the street and of his family is the same – Bisaya. But, like in my case, the majority of the language of the street is Bisaya, but my circle of friends tend to have conversations in Tagalog (if they grew up here, they’re probably fluent in Bisaya).

            I’ve asked a number of Generals which language they would recommend. Those who have spent any considerable time in Manila overwhelmingly tell me Tagalog. Those who have predominantly never lived outside the area, typically say Bisaya.

            • Hi Gary – I totally agree with the advice in your last paragraph. For those who spend time in Manila to any degree, better to learn Tagalog. For me, I have lived in the Philippines for 10 years plus, and I have been to Manila twice in that time. I think I’ve spent about 5 days in Manila in 10 years, so the answer is clear for me. For you, or for others, there are other considerations, and I have no problem with that.

        • Hi Gary, When we are in Manila it’s true that many of the taxi drivers we encounter are from Cebu! My husband is always relieved to come across a fellow Cebuano, but also most glad that he won’t have to excersise his limited Tagalog speaking skills!

          I think what foreigners miss when they make the effort to learn Tagalog and especially Bisaya is is that native speakers are impressed and flattered and happy that you are making an effort to learn these rather obscure languages. It’s not like Spanish, that could serve you in many parts of the world, and so is more adventageous to learn. They know that you are learning to speak so that you will be able to communicate with them alone in their place. That’s why none of us should sell ourselves short on any attempts to learn even a little of the local language.

  5. Well it certainly doesn’t help me any with the speed that my wife converses with her friends in Cebuano. I wouldn’t get most of it anyway, but I swear she speaks faster than any human I’ve ever met.

    It’s true even with Bebe though. If she’s writes in down, I usually get it pretty quickly. Speaking, I need to have her repeat it once or twice.

    I’m hoping to get my lessons started back up in a couple of weeks. Will be like starting over in some respects.

    • Hi Randy – I rarely have any problem with understanding Bebe, because she usually tries to use words that she knows I understand. Sometimes, though, she throws in a word that I am not supposed to know, which can tell her two things…. first, maybe I already know the word without her having taught me… second, how do I react when I hear a word that I don’t know. Often, just based on the topic being discussed, you can figure out what the word likely means, or do I ask her to explain what she is talking about. It’s all part of learning.

      • Randy,

        I had a good laugh when we were in Cebu with two other American-Filipina couples. The filipina friend had no problem understanding her boyfriend since he was from the south and spoke slow. She had trouble understanding my english since I talked fast.

  6. Hi Bob,
    I was talking to my wife about this very subject just this morning. I plan on retiring in about 10 years to Bukidnon. I don’t want our children to be at a dissadvantage when speakinf Bisaya. Of course my wife is fluent, but just how much will our children pick-up from that. I am looking for childrens books written in Bisayan

    • Hi Hudson – Children pick up the language very quickly. When we moved here, we had 3 kids, ages 8, 3 and an infant. Our two older kids learned to speak Bisaya in a month or so (enough to get by). I would say in under a year they were fluent. Now, if your kids are, say, teens when you move here, learning might be more difficult for them, I can’t say for sure. But, if they are under 10, I would say that it will be very simple, and just a matter of living here and mixing with other kids.

      Finding books in Bisaya is not easy. Especially childrens books. You can find magazines and comic books in Bisaya. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a childrens book, though.

  7. I am so looking forward to learning the language. Sometimes, for a laugh, I use google translate, and send emails in tagalog to my wife when she is at work. You have to try it sometime to see just how rediculously it translates phrases.

    I really admire your determination there Bob. I have asked Vangie and her family to help teach me, but for some reason they only want to teach me silly things…for example I asked the farm manager what colour his pubic hair was once.

    Once, when working in Saudi, I asked one of the Filipino guys to teach me how to tell another staff member they were “a pain in the ass”. Masakit ang iyong pwet, he taught me to say. Later, I find out that this means I told him he has a sore ass!!!!

    Proper lessons Bob, it seems the only way to go.

    Jim

    • Hi Jim – I have used the different translators like Google and others for translations on other languages, and it truly is comical sometimes!

      Because (I assume) Vangie is not a language teacher, I doubt that she could ever teach you the language. I do not mean that against Vangie, I assure you. Feyma could not teach me the language either. It requires somebody who knows how to teach a language. Learning a bunch of words and phrases is not how you learn a language. Knowing thousands of words is great, but you still don’t know how to form a sentence. With a good language teacher, though, learning is not too hard, you can do it!

  8. Hi Bob, I agree that learning the local languge can be fun, but sometimes can be puzzling or frustrating too. I think that there are many issues at play also that might affect the way one learns or speaks the language. In Cebu, as you’ve mentioned in the past– Cebuano is spoken purely and without the mixing of the many Tagalog words that you find in Mindano’s Bisaya. For me that would add to my confusion. That being said, depending on where you live be it in the city or province, location might make a difference in whether the language is spoken more formally or more slang., faster or slower. Even in different towns in Cebu you’ll get a variation on these language issues. Different variations on Bisaya change if you’re in different Visayan Islands like Samar or Bohol or Illoillo. This will come into play in any region of the Philippines that you might be dealing with.
    At first, I had a language training through Peace Corps that involved lot of the written word along with speaking. When I got to my placement though, I found that the language in this town was spoken very shortened and in slang way so alot of what I had focused on kind of went out the window. This kind of gave me the poor excuse to be lazier on the grammar, but I think it freed me up to focus more on vocabulary and pronounciation. I’m not fluent by a long shot as my husband and I still divide our time between Cebu and the US for now, and for many years we were away living in the US and speaking English exclusively, so my Bisaya got rusty. In the past few years though, I’ve gotten better I think. Because the people in my town already know that I can speak and understand pretty well, they’re always relieved to speak in Bisaya to me, so that forces me to listen as intently as I can so that when it’s my turn to answer, I’ll try to make the clearest response. Another issue though, is my hard, nasal New England accent that although I’m proud of, always comes through in my speech which can’t be helped. So maybe I’m saying that I understand more of what is being said, but the way that I get my point across isn’t always perfect, but pretty understandable and acceptable.

    I understand what our Carlos means about understanding but not speaking a certain language though,when it comes to my trying to learn Tagalog. I have no formal training with Tagalog ,but have listened intently to all Tagalog shows, movies and dramas on television and surprisigly have picked up a lot of the language comprehension that way. I also have an old Beginning Tagalog language book that helps me make more sense of it. It seems to me that Tagalog makes more sense gramatically than Bisaya, so for me so it seems easier to pick up. Because I have no practice in speaking Tagalog though, I’m stuck at just some comprehension… On the other hand the pronounciation of Tagalog is softer and would be more difficult for me to pronounce I think, as Bisaya’s louder, harsher accent makes it easier to speak for me…

    I hope this long-winded, convoluted explanation of my situation is of some insight or interest to you Bob or others…. Learning the local language is on-going, slow and not always easy, but the satisfaction one can get on any level of mastery is well worth the effort I think.

    • Hi Queenie – Like you, I am not fluent, but I do pretty well. You are right that here in Mindanao, especially in the Davao and GenSan regions, the language is really halo-halo with a mix of Tagalog and Cebuano (and Ilonggo in GenSan too). When somebody mixes in Tagalog, though, even if I can understand it, I tell them “Dili ko kasabot ug Tagalog… Bisaya lang ko.” and they kind of get a little surprise when I say that. It’s fun for me, though! 😉

      I understand what you are talking about when you say “being forced to listen intently”. I find that sometimes, if I really concentrate intently for a few hours on listening very carefully, I am almost exhausted mentally. I concentrate so hard that I end up with a headache after a few hours! Ha ha….

      When it comes to pronunciation, I think I am pretty good now, at least many Bisaya speakers tell me that I can pronounce the words well. One lady, a while back, had a long conversation with me. After an hour or so, I asked her how my Bisaya was, and I was surprised when she told me that I had no accent at all! But, she also told me that I am “slang” though! 😉 You win some and lose some!

      Of course your comment is of interest to me, Queenie! It’s always nice to compare notes with a fellow speaker of Cebuano! 😀

        • Ha ha.. yes, “nosebleed” is a common saying here… but I am talking about a real headache, not just a rhetorical thing. If you concentrate hard for a couple hours or more, you really do come down with a headache… at least I do. 😉

    • Hi Queeniebee, at least that confirms what I thought all along. That cebuano dialect is louder & harsher. I used to “board” w/ Cebuanos and they used to scare me whenever they were having discussions. I think they thought I had no sense of humor. But I don’t observe the same thing w/ Davoeńos speaking their own “brand” of visayan.

      By the way, does the fact that tagalog conversations are often mixed w/ english help you understand them more? Does this happen in bisayan too?

      • The more “ish”, the better for me 🙂

        I’d be interested to know how much English is mixed in Cebu. My (Southern Mindanao) observations are that Davaoenos can typically speak better English than Generals, but Tagalogs mix more English than Bisayans.

      • Hi Roy, The Cebuano dialect does come across and louder and I guess” harsher” is the word, but also has an easy going, gregarious and sometimes sing-song sound too. It also involves a lot more lip work, and facial expressions play a big part in a person getting their point across.
        Sure, I guess some English mixed with Tagalog does help somewhat, but then you have to remember the “ho” and “po” which Bisaya doesn’t have to contend with.

        To answer yours and Gary’s question about how much English is mixed in Cebu: I think that Cebuanos are purests to the core, and that includes very little if any English mixed in with their Bisaya. They love their Bisaya, and even if they can speak some English, they will always speak speak Cebuano any chance they get.

    • It’s interesting Queenie what you’re saying about the pronunciation of the languages. While I have nowhere near anything approaching comprehension level, in general, the sound of Tagalog is much more pleasing to my ear than Cebuano – at least the Cebuano spoken here in Gensan.

      • Wow Gary, that’s a vote for tagalog! 🙂
        For a tagalog, true, Cebuano is the hardest to decipher among major dialects. Case in point: “pinaningkaningkamutan”, what is that? I have no problem following DVO visayan..a lot of “beh”. What I find almost musical to my ears is Ilonggo, or Kinaray-a. Kapangpangan in the Luzon island is also harsh, for me.

        Yes, that lack of “po” & “ho”, we find that sort of rude. Of course, we know that they don’t have those words.

  9. Headaches? Oh yeah… Especially at a party or social gathering I’m really forced to listen because, when you least expect it, somebody will ask you what you thought of their joke, or what your opinion is on that subject etc. Listening intently though, is really the best advice that I can give anyone trying to learn the language, be it formally or on their own. You’ll be surprised how much you might be able to absorb just by osmosis. It’s not always easy though as you too Bob, can attest…

  10. I hope to continue my lessons once I get my mind wrapped around the time difference here. Can’t seem to stay awake in the afternoon yet. We’re getting wifi set up at Jaycee’s sister’s house so we can Skype. I’ll waiting for Bebe’s to get bake to me–I’d like to visit you when I come to Davao for lesson.
    Salamat

  11. Hi Bob – I’m with Carlo! Most of the time, my tongue just doesn’t seem to work right – can’t wrap it around some of those words. I can usually spell them, but Carlo and I are tongue-tied!
    😆

  12. It’s really difficult trying to learn a language as an adult. And we will always have accent. People tease me that I have a bisayan accent when speaking Tagalog, but my wife is not amused because she is pure Tagalog and she wonders why…..as if I have a long haired Cebuano translator somewhere! :-0

    • Hi Miguk – I used to think that learning a language as an adult was difficult. I found, though, that it is actually quite easy to do if you have the right teacher. That is what makes all the difference.

  13. OK, Bob, stop holding out now. Where is that Buick Riviera, have you got that hidden away under your barbque grill? hahahah. Really just wondering if you shot that here in Philippines, or in the states. And, yes, Ian, that is a 65 Riviera. Those hideaway headlamps were a real pain to keep working. While I have seen the remains of a few American cars advertized for sale, I have never seen a Buick here.

  14. Hello Bob,
    When it comes to speaking Tagalog I’m in the same boat as Paul and Carlo “The Tongue Tied Club”. As far as understanding it I can catch a few words here and there, but to understand a full sentence or idea forget it. They speak so fast that I feel like their honor students and I’m in Special Ed. The only fun part I have is when the wife Point with her lips or gives me an incomple sentence. Then let the guessing game begin. 🙂

    • Hi Bruce – With a little practice, your tongue will become a bit more “untwisted” and you will be pronouncing those words with a lot fewer problems!

  15. Bob, your kids will REALLY be able to speak “behind your back” right in front of you. Not only the generational thing, but also the “auto is sky-blue” thing. Oh well, I guess the generational thing is enough if kids really want to speak code (lol).

    • That’s one of the reasons I started learning Cebuano, Gary! I want to understand what my family says. Right now, I may only know how to say that Steve has a blue car, but it won’t be long until I’ll be able to say that his automobile is sky blue! 😉

  16. I fully understand “the can understand but don’t speak” logic. There is truth to that since I am the same as are many Filipinos.

    I can understand when my mom converses in Bicolano, but there is no way I can speak it. Same goes with really deep Bisaya (similar to spoken in catholic mass). I’ve also been told numerous times from friends from Cotabato City, who speak mainly Tagalog, that they can understand Bisaya though they don’t speak it.

    I’m probably the same in other dialects.

    I think it’s best to see it as Filipino dialects w/ intertwined similarities instead of distinctly unique languages.

    Lots of borrowed words involved and the sentence structures are the same,. Clearly, It’s still not Chinese v. Italian. Maybe if approached in European logic, an Italian may understand much of Spanish and maybe French, but speaking it is another matter.

    • Hi Macky – I hear you! I am just experiencing the opposite problem right now. Not being fluent in any Filipino language (I prefer not to call them dialects, because most of them technically are not), I don’t understand any of them! I can speak more bisaya than I can understand though! 😉

  17. Hi Bob:
    First of all thank you for this informative awesome website. Awhile back, I’ve discovered your website through musings here and there on Google about the Philippines and I was glad to see or read a gold mine of discoveries and actually read someone like yours and others’ experiences living in or about the Philippines. So, from time to time I would come here and read your post or others writing about the Philippines which where I am originally from. I was born in one of the barangays in New Washington, Aklan in Panay Island. The town New Washington I believed was named after George Washington, the first president of the U.S. The town New Washington was also the birthplace of Cardinal Jaime Sin. As for the barangay where I was born I’m going to make it nameless for now.

    Anyhow, about the languages! I could read a whole text in Spanish with no problem but of course I have no understanding the “reading” of it. As long as they’re written in alphabets like ours I would have no problem reading sentences and phrases such as these but then I have a couple of Mexican friends on lunchbreaks laughing with me for trying. (I do speak and understand a very little Spanish). Again, any of the world’s languages as long as they’re written in our alphabet I read those for fun, but understanding it is totally another matter.

    Since Aklanons are Bisayans, we speak Bisayan too, and in Aklanon of course. The older I got, I noticed that a lot of Aklanon words are so closely related to Tagalog. It’s just my observation. Ilongo from Iloilo I barely could understand but “enough to get by.” The same thing goes with Cebuano, just enough of it I could understand but not to speak. But the ones in Luzon like the Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, etc…I have a zero understanding or speaking these languages. My brother claims he knew some Ilocanos or Kapampangans because he said, “I worked with them for many years.”

    In some parts of Visayas like Leyte, Samar, Bicol (is that part Visayas?), Bohol, Masbate, Zamboanga (is that part Mindanao?), I know these places have their own languages or dialects. And throughout the years I would met them or worked with them with fellow Filipinos here in the United States.

    During my travels on vacation, I had met Filipinos in such countries like England, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, Holland. These are folks found from all corners of the Philippines, from Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao. And to see or to meet another Filipino in another country is such a pure delight, a wide-eyed experience for me! We would be exchanging pleasantries whether first in English or in Tagalog or vice versa, it depends. And they’re very helpful or knowledgeable of things local of that country.

    A friend of mine finally realized and said these: “Whenever you are in another country look for a Filipino for questions and asked them because they know their locales plus they speak English and they speak the language of their ‘adoptive country’ as well.” True! (One time in Holland a Filipina who speaks Dutch to her coworkers asked me to come to her house in Tagalog and she’s from Leyte so I could eat some dinuguan, chicken adobo, and “inihaw na isda” she cooked with her Dutch husband).

    After all the said pleasantries when meeting fellow Filipinos, there is that usual moment somehow that comes about asking one of the other in Tagalog, “Saan ka sa atin?” (Where are you in ours? “Ours” meaning, country). If he or she from Aklan, why bother asking in Tagalog when you could speak your dialect with each other and it’s a notch better when you could have a bit of a longer visit, etc…

    Thank God for the “national” Tagalog we were able to communicate when the time needs it because I wouldn’t know spat speaking Ilocano or Bicolano when one I just met someone from Ilocos Norte or from Bicol, etc. It certainly and surely defies confusion on moments like these. That goes for every corner of the Philippines.

    I love Tagalog. I don’t know whose idea it was that Tagalog should become the national language of the Philippines back then but it was an excellent idea, I think. Pilipino (based on Tagalog) is required subject in elementary schools, high schools, and and even in colleges. I know I’m from Visayas in the Philippines who knows and speaks the Aklanon dialect but whenever I hear a fellow Filipino strictly speaks Tagalog around the vicinity I knew then that I belong.

    Thank you!

    • Hi Aklan Heat, Isn’t Aklanon called “The language of the Birds?” I remember during my Peace Corps language training listening to Aklanon being taught to some volunteers, and imagining that it would be difficult to pronounce and learn. Interesting insights you have there…

      • Hi Queeniebee:

        You asked, “Isn’t Aklanon called ‘The language of the Birds?’ Of course not! That’s probably someone quipping frustrations while learning to grasp dictions and tones and rote memorization for learning new languages such as Aklanon. I too struggled with American English up to this very present day of time.

        Yes, sure the language of the birds are those for the birds only that only birds understand. Have you “actually” gone to Aklan, Panay Island and spend time in Kalibo (famous for their January Ati-Atihan festival and the gateway for Boracay)? Have you been to Boracay Island? Listen to them speak the dialect Aklanon and form your own “calling” of this language or dialect. Who would know?

        I’m just curious, was your Peace Corps language training done in the U.S. or in the Philippines? And how many languages did you have to learn besides Tagalog (assuming Tagalog was your first language in learning if you come to the Philippines on a Peace Corps mission)?

        Thank you! Salamat!

        • I”m so sorry Aklan Heat, I meant no offence to your language, and I’m sorry that you interpreted my question that way. I thought that I had remembered in training the language being described as such by the Aklanon instructor. I only remember it being kind of melodic–unique sounds and pronounciations that were new and unknown to me, but not unpleasant. At the time I happened to be sitting in briefly to a lesson that two of my fellow volunteers who were going to be placed in Kalibo were studying. I did not mean to offend at all. I’ve never had the chance to visit your area, but I’m sure it’s nice.
          My language training was in the Philippines at the Former Boy Scout Jamboree Camp in Los Banos, Laguna. I was trained in Bisaya, because my placement was going to be in Cebu. It’s only recently that I’ve tried to pick up some Tagalog language comprehension on my own as a hobby.
          I take a great interest in Philippine languages and try to make a good effort in learning Cebuano, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction. I wouldn’t think of disrespecting any of the languages..

          • Hello Aklan Heat, I would hazard a guess that perhaps the phrase “The Language of the Birds” was the crude translated phrase ( “huni ng ibon”) given to Queeniebee by her language instructor. I’ve heard among fellow filipinos use the phrase “huni ng ibon” (which as I pointed out must have been translated as “language of the birds) when they describe a language that is totally alien to them. It’s the equivalent of “it sounds greek to me or it sounds chinese to me”. That said, it did not mean to disrespect a partcular language. The sound of the birds is pleasant so I think it’s a pleasant way to describe a foreign language.
            BTW, is aklanon the same as kinaray-a? A dear friend whom I lost touch spoke ilonggo would point it out to me that she’s switching to kinaray-a whenever she talked with another kinaray-a speaker.

  18. hello bob,

    i really like your article, its true learning language is very difficult, interesting and boring sometimes that it result into confusion head ache and nosebleed hahahahha.
    I grew up in the province of davao del sur which some part of the province speak Davaoeno, though i cant speak except for the bad words, but im able to understand some of their words.

    Im able to speak 3major languages, Bisaya, tagalog and english, but generally speaking we still learners hahahahahh, yes were able to communicate fluently using both languages but the problem is the pronunciation and intonation of the sentence its quit difficult. Bisaya is mixed with cebuano, tagalog and english, while cebuaona is purely and the intonation is different , tagalog and english aswell.

    What makes me nosebleed is learning and speaking Japanese, ive been here in Japan for almost 3years,i learned japanese for a 3months before coming here. In fact i can write read and talk but not good,, just average. What makes me hard to understand japanese is that they have 3 major ways of speaking, colloquial, respectful, and humble. Same with writing, they have hiragana ,kanji for japanese words, and katakana for foreign words, its very hard to learn, the problem also is that they speak very fast and the sound is very difficult to understand. And the worst thing is the more i study Japanese the more my english became poor..hahahahahah. Sentence pattern is very different.

    I enjoyed learning languages and it makes my mind worked and learned.
    As i observed right now learning different kinds of languages it makes me confused. Maybe If you gonna stay here in japan for more years its okay, but if im going to stay outside Japan its quite difficult coz some of the Japanese words and expression is better to use than other languages. hahahahha,

    bob do you believed that “The biggest room in our life is learning”

    God bless you,
    Felix

    • Hi Felix – Nice to hear your thoughts, and I agree with your statement about the “biggest room in life”. Learning is an important thing, whether it is language or anything else, it helps keep your mind young!

  19. Hi Bob:

    I’m in the process of learning Tagalog using Rosetta Stone. Although I’m learning, it’s not easy teaching an old dog new tricks and even harder to teach one to speak Tagalog. I really want to learn though and will continue to study.

    I lived in the Philippines for five years back in the 1980’s. I met my asawa there and we’ve been married for over twenty years now. We both feel more at home there in the Philippines than we do here in the states. We have six years until we can retire to our property in a place called Pundaquit, Zambales on the island of Luzon.

    I feel that my life will be so much more full if I can speak the language and applaud the others here who have done so or are making attempts to do so. Hopefully this old dog will be able to learn the language.

    Jeff

  20. Hola Roy,
    it looks like that Instituto Cervantes done a good job with you,congratulations ¡¡¡
    deed you go to the old building or the new one which chares the garden with the spanich club?

    I supose you know that there is an Instituto Cervantes in Chicago too.I am sure you have planty of oportunities to speak spanish ,there is about 3.000.000 poeple who speaks Spanish in metro chicago, dont be shy (tounge tired) as the english say, and make full use of it.
    have a nice day.

    • Hola Antonio, oh yes, me encanta Instituto Cervantes! I love the smell of its corridors, the brightly-lit rooms, and their libraries that do not look like libraries. I went to Manila’s 1st Instituto, the one in corner L. Guinto & Estrada. A big part of enjoying learning Spanish is me coming to class and see that building which is a magnificent example of Art Deco. There’s a sense of drama when I use its grand staircase. The receptionist was a character herself; she smoked while she answered my queries!
      But I’m familiar to Casino Español, Instituto’s neighbor. I grew up in that area, had dined there even if I was not a member and learned cooking paella there. I was friendly to the cucineros there. Yes, I’ve been to the Chicago Instituto here and of course I love it too. There are about only 4 Istitutos here in the US and I’m glad that Chicago has one. Funny thing when I applied for a library card, the librarian said I was already in the system. As it turned out my Manila membership which was in the mid 90s, I think, was still active.
      Oh si hay muchos hispano hablantes aqui. I just moved to a neighborhood that’s heavily latino. The only time I can speak Spanish is when I’m a store & the help doesn’t speak english and he tells me this so I speak Spanish.
      Are you excited for the match of SPA vs POR?

  21. I find Cebuano is often a “text” language as people shorten everything. So although you have stated 3 different sentences for the same thing it could be in Cebuano “Steve’s,blue,car”. As they will shorten it as much as possible. Cebuano is known for being a lazy language. Same as often I find my wife pointing with her lips if I ask where something is. Which nope doesn’t mean its over there by the computer but in the other room. Even when you say where? my wife would respond “over there” yet at the same time its as vague as the first answer. Same as the eyebrows generally when I am out I am into the habit of just raising eyebrows as a “hello” gets round the language barrier and guards and general people wandering around appreciate you taking the time out to say “hello”.

    • American, and I assume other English is also shortened by the younger crowd these days too. I am sure a lot of other languages are too. Cebuano, spoken in it’s pure form by a person who is middle aged or older is not shorted to the point that it is like texting. It is a beautiful language.

  22. Hi Bob,

    This is funny. In Tuguegarao, someone took me to an “Inasal” restaurant, kamayan. First, I was surprised to see chicken inasal in Tug since the dish is Ilonggo. This place had 4 signs posted none in English. I only understood the Tagalog, the others were: Ilokano, Ibanag and Itawes. Itawes? Where did that come from? No one really knows, some say a derivative of Ibanag, some a Cordillera language. A word or two may be common to all but they were what they say in linguistics, mutually unintelligible.

    Itawes is predominant language in Tuguegarao, and I’ve never even heard of it. Most people I think would speak “pidgin” (of any combination.) The nicest word I heard in Itawes is: Thank You – Mabbalo which reminds me of Hawaiian – Mahalo, nowhere near Salamat (which is Arabic derivative.) In Ivatan, thank you is – Dios Mamahes.

    Mabbalo.

    Alex

  23. Ola Roy, oh…I am going to watch the game,but I am not very fond of football or any exports for that matter,only watch the games in special ocasions.my favorite sport is swiming I swim every day in the mediterranean sea bevore lunch time.

    I love the neiberhood of Instituto cervantes,my favorite places in Manila are Intramuros,Ermita and Malate.THES PLACES ARE THE REAL MANILA for me atleast.

    PD.I have simpaty for the Portugese too,have alot of freinds and guests of Portugal.

    have a nice day.