Do you already live in the Philippines? If not, are you really planning to live here? If the answer is yes to either question, then I have a tip for you. Learn the language. Yes, I’ve written about this many times, and yes, I am writing about it again. In my opinion, this is one of the best things that you can do to improve the lifestyle that you will have when you live here. Being able to easily communicate with the local people will make you life easier, less isolated, and just more fun, in my opinion. My opinion is based on the fact that I lived here for for more than 7 years wihtout knowing the language. I started studying with a language teacher at that point, and I can see and fee the difference in the life that I live today compared to before I started learning.
So, if you are not a regular reader, I am sure that you are thinking that I started studying Tagalog. Sorry, if you think that, you are incorrect. Actually, I am learning how to speak Bisaya (also known as Cebuano, although there are other varients of Bisaya too). Bisaya is the most common language spoken in the Visayas region and also in Mindanao, where I live. There are two national languages of the Philippines, English and Pilipino (based on Tagalog). Tagalog is mostly spoken widely on the island of Luzon, and I don’t go up there often (it’s been almost 5 years!), so I chose to study Bisaya, so that I can communicate with the local people where I live. Now, whether you choose Tagalog, Bisaya, or any of the 80+ languages spoken in the Philippines, that’s up to you. In today’s article, though, I want to give you a little tip on an easy way to learn some words that will come in handy for you.
One of the first things you can do, no matter where you live, is to start learning some vocabulary! Learn the names of things that are all around you in your daily life! Actually, I’m going to tell you a way to make this a very simple thing to do! Get some index cards, or small pieces of paper, and write down the names of things around your house. Write down the Bisaya (or whatever language you want or need to learn) for door (pultahan) and tape this paper to the door in your house. Write down lamesa and put it on your table. Write down telebisyon and put it on the TV set. Do this for all of the things around your house. Every day, as you walk around the house, pay attention to all the little signs that you have taped up all over the place! Before you know it, you will start remembering these new words!
One thing that you need to be careful of is the proper pronunciation of the words. If you are married to somebody from the Philippines, ask them to clearly tell you how to pronounce the words, or find somebody else at work, or somewhere else who can help you with that.
Just a year or two after we moved to the Philippines, I started doing this, and I did learn a lot of words this way. As I said earlier in this article, I did not learn how to speak the language until much later, but learning some words helped me a lot too. And, later, when I seriously started learning to speak the language, having some basis in vocabulary proved to be very helpful to me.
Of course, learning words and learning to speak a language or totally different. You must do one in order to do the other, though. Knowing words alone will not enable you to make phrases and sentances properly, but then again, if you don’t know the words you certainly can’t speak at all, can you?
Good luck to you, and give it your best to learn the language! You won’t ever regret it!
Maayong Buntag Bob
You forgot to mention how much the filipinos like to here some one learning there language. I just know a little Cebuano but even the little I know helped me gain respect for Filipinos. Also I feel we should at least try to learn there language out of respect. I feel people who move to the US should learn English and I know my wife has done a very good job of learning all the slang in the US. So when I move to the Philippines I would learn the local language. Then I can also stop searching for taxi drivers that speak English.
Proper pronunciation is important..my first trip I asked a american friend of mine who had been in the RP for a year how to say "thank-you"..he said its Salamat..well the next day i start using it…but I messed up the pronunciation and was saying salamas …no wonde the cute girls at Jolibee were turning red and laughing !!
Hi Bob, tanks for the tips, I think the index card idea around the house is an excellent thing to do. 2 years a go when I had visited PI for the 1st time, I was learning Tagalog – just simple polite words, Salamt Po, Walang Anuman, Mahal Kita, Talaga, etc. Well earlier this year when I met Jessica and started courting her, I referred to her in what I thought was an affectionate way, "Mahal"… little did I know I was calling her "expensive" LOL which she is not. Just a quick education on the difference between Bisyan words and Tagalog. Now that I am trying to learn more and more Bisayn words, I really am replacing my tendency to comment in Tagalog with Bisyan words. I even now have to stop and think about the Tagalog. I hope the Bisayn words become 2nd nature, I have dedicated myself to learning one new word a day but sometimes fall short if I find I am forgetting it easily. I now move onto a new word once the previous words are embedded into memory…
I learned Baboy and kuya , so far I'm batting a thousand …Phil n Jess
Hi Bob,
That was a funny comment for Phil. 😆
I can imagine if he accidentally calls his kuya, baboy, and the baboy, kuya. 😆
Bob, I agree totally that even a simple grasp of your local language will make all the difference for you. Larry also made a good point that your humble attempts to speak will really make a difference in how you are respected and treated. Not to mention being in on all the action of what's going on around you! In my experience with visayan language instruction though, the teacher often got caught up in teaching grammar and formal sentence structure. In reality many will find that at least in the visayas regions, especially in the province, grammar goes out the window and sentences and words are really shortened anyway, so often the stilted formal visayan that one might learn can't really be understood. I myself have done best with the old Berlitz style of listening listening listening and parroting what you hear. I think that also if your desire to learn is high, the language comes easier. Also ,if you live abroad, try becoming a TFC subscriber. The movies and daily dramas and Wowowee are a great way to practice your language. In the Philippines TV is good teacher too. Also,in country, you might be able to find some children or an elderly person who will help you through your goofy attempts to speak. When I was first learning, I would go to the local neighborhood school librarian for an hour every day. I'd write down sentences and phrases that I wanted to learn in cebuano and he would translate for me so that I could learn what I wanted that way. I hope that any or some of these ideas work for you.
P.S I've been teaching myself Tagalog for fun lately and this : Tagalog-English English-Tagalog Dictionary by Carl R. Galvez Rubino has been a big help for me. He also wrote an Ilocano dictionary and grammar book if anyone is interested to get one of these.
Hi, My wife and I are planning on going to live in Davao towards the end of next year and I think you are spot on Bob with this post. I have learn't quite a lot of bisayan words and phrases just by asking my wife. When we go there on holidays I pick up even more as I listen a lot to My in-laws conversations and ask them questions. I totally agree with you that learning the local language is a very important part of the move if you are staying long term. Hope to see you in March Bob when we there on Holidays, cheers.
Bob: I've started with Tagalog, since we are living in Manila, but ultimately, I want to learn Ybanag, which will be more useful in the province ( I get the impression that most people there do not use Tagalog much after they leave school.) Rebecca's nephew just started Tagalog in school, and, Boy, is he fighting it!
As to my language ability with Tagalog, two things are making it more difficult:
1. I speak some Spanish, and with the large number of common words, I sometimes try and use a Spanish word by habit (I thought the Spanish knowledge would make it easier…. WRONG!!!)
2. Most Filipinos in Manila know at least some English, and if I try Tagalog, they just speak English to me…. which makes it more difficult to learn. Now that it appears we have a son (Becky will pick him up Wednesday, we think), maybe if I try to learn with him as he learns (We want to make certain he is fluent in English and Ybanag… The school will handle Tagalog) Worth a try!
Hi Bob,
That trick of labelling things in the house does work. Before coming over here to Austria I did the same thing as I knew not one word of German. There are two methods – make the words large so you can see them from across a room, or make them small so you have to think before reading the words, and then you can go up to the item and check if you were right. Hope that makes sense.
Excellent advice Bob, and as always here on LIP some very good comments too. The labeling truick must work well, I saw some very exspensive lanaguage courses in the UN headquarters gift shop in New York City and this was a prime function of all of them ,,, Postit notes work great.
One thing that would also help people like me who have to sit around and puzzle over the formal structure of a language … I can't rattle off an answer if asked if a word I just used in English is a participle or an adverb or whatever … is a simpkle Spanish book. There are dozens and dozens of Spanish words used in both Bisaya and Tagalog … mercado, lamesa, coache, etc. and much of the sentence structure more closley follows the Subject verb order rules Spanish rather than English … when I tell my 3 yo nephew that my stomach is huge because it's made of steel he already knows that in English you say "That's only fat" while in Tagalog you say the words as "fat only is that".
By the way, I am not sure there is a difference between mahal in Bisaya and Tagalog. Mahal always means a lot, much, great price or vakue I think.
When people say 'my mahal' they are using shorthand for "mahal kita", my "great love". Mahal by itself most always means expensive … like many English words too, it's not the word meaning that changes, it's the context.
If you go in the palengke and say 'sobra mahal' in response to the vendor's first price quote, I bet they 'get' it there in Davao just as easily as they do in Manila, even if there is a more precise Bisayan way to say "too much" as well.
Bob
I couldn't agree more with you, but here is my problem:
My wife is from Davao she speaks Bisaya,Tagalog and a little" Wari "what ever that is. What ever friend she has visiting us at our house is the language I will hear on that day.
We are not sure where we will be living when we move to RP so I hesitate to really try and learn too much of any one language. We are leaning to living in Cavite of Tagaytay area as of now, but who knows we could end up Squatting in you backyard on Samal.
So here I am a Tagalog/Bisaya speaking Carabao/Mutt. I can swear with the best of them and even mispronounce words that get me in trouble!
Any suggestions? Im leaning to the lazy learn nothing well approach.
Fortunately during my visits I was with friends that I had little difficulty communicating in American English, at least for the most part although whenever I went somewhere I always had a friend with me. I bought a couple of basic tagalog books but other than occasional use of the English / Tagalog conversion dictionary, I never got too far with them. I chose tagalog over Bisaya because I thought it was supposed to be one of the " national " languages in addition to English. The areas I visited as you know, Bisaya seems to be the prevalant language and I guess English would come in second.
That card idea you mentioned sounds great. There are two ways in which I learned just a " few " words and how to speak them were learning to mimick one of the minute and a half Jollibee Jingles that is in English & Tagalog, and the other method I used was in watching several IRC chat channels that are prevelant in the use of Bisaya. Looking for words that are constantly repeated indicated to me those must be commonly used words or expressions ( after separating real words from chat room lingo LOL ) I figured if I could eventually define and learn to speak the top 25 words I saw repeated often I'd do ok, as I was just trying to learn enough to be polite.
When my Filipino friends conversed amoungst themselves in their own language, of course I had no idea what they were talking about and as usual with an unknown language it sounded very fast to me, but then again I did not have the original intention of instantly becomming fluent in Tagalog or Bisaya.
Well, those are the two methods I used to at least learn enough to be polite as a visitor. Learning to sing that Jollibee 1.5 minut jingle did come in handy however as I met the Jollibee Mascott in a CDO Shopping Mall and right in front of a crowd of spectators, I started singing that Jingle to the mascott and he danced to my singing. Some of my friends in CDO couldn't believe I was able to do that and it was a lot of fun for me.
Hee Hee You guys are so cool .. My wife sent me about 100 different words to learn Bisaya . So I tried to learn them ..But iI had one problem . I didn't know the pronunciation of the words . so when I called her on the phone to talk to her .. I spoke some bisaya to her ..hee hee it took 5 minutes before she stopped laughing but the next time i typed some Bisaya words on yahoo messenger she blew up on me she got very mad and was very upset ..???? So I say .. honey what is the matter ?? It seems that the word that I typed had a meaning of evil in one of the languages that she knew so she was upset about it cause we were talking about our wedding arrangement …..So like Bob is doing I will learn the language from a professional teacher ,not my wife ..After my wife learned what I did wrong she thought it was funny but for 20 minutes or more she acted like a wild bearcat .. But one thing I learned so far is that Philippine women are very jealous of their men ..hee hee I learned that lesson quick ??.. So here I am coming in October to learn the ways of the Filipinos….Phil N Jess
Funny. ‘Mahal’ means exactly the same in Bahasa Indonesia – expensive. I wonder if there are other similarities…
Hi Bob
Further to everyone`s comments about " Mahal", it still means love in Tagalog, for example Mahal Kita means I love you, so OK to use "mahal" in Davao or Manila, for expensive and love!
All the best
Malcolm
Bob,
I agree completely with your thoughts on learning the local language. Speaking the language, and hearing the language can be 2 separate problems. If you speak a few words, and then listen to the reply, you may not fully understand what is being said to you. I know a few words in Tagalog, but if someone speaks to me in Tagalog, I would never know what they are saying.
If I can promote my 2 websites that may help your readers, I would appreciate it.
For those wishing to learn Waray: http://waraylessons.netfirms.com/
Here you will find 23 lessons of Waray, plus many other resources.
For those interested in a forum style Philippine language site: http://waray.byethost12.com/forum/index.php
I also am a big fan of the free program "jMemorize". It is a mini Rosetta Stone type program. I know you sell the Bisaya & Tagalog language flash cards. Your readers can get Waray flashcards for free that follow the lessons from my first website.
I can't help but wonder if learning one of the many Phillipine languages (not to mention regional dialects) is really the first step a westerner should take. I would think a better investment would be to gain an understanding of Filipino culture. For newcomers, selecting where we choose to reside is a major decision. If you learn Bisay and end up setlling down in Cebu or the Manila area, it would be a wasted effort. Understanding the nuances of Filipino culture would serve you regardless of where you live.
Hi Nomad
There are other examples, for instance I believe "lalake" in Tagalog and Bisaya is the same word and meaning, ( Man), in Indonesian
Cheers
Malcolm
Hi Bob
No, even in The Visayas it`s OK to use `Mahal` for love or a term of endearment.
Did you know that some words in Bisaya have a totally different meaning in Tagalog? For example…Aso in Bisaya means smoke, whereas in Tagalog it means Dog!
Malcolm
Kamusta ka Bob,
Yes, I am already "slowly" learning bisaya, with some help from Rose too. Rose while we are talking will throw in a sentence in bisaya and I will copy it to my computer.
It is hard to find books on bisaya here in USA, but I have found a few free sources on internet here…that can be saved to your computer, and also printed.
And I do think it is important to learn, even if I was going to live in the USA only with my Rose, I would still want to learn.
I do think I will learn a lot more when I get there though, because I don't know too many people here in USA from the visayas area here in West Palm. And learning the correct pronunciation is key in learning this language.
But I like the idea of index cards..only thing is convincing Nereida(my room mate) to let me "clutter" the house with them..lol.
Also, I am preparing my first visit to Philippines in April of this year, and I am so excited. Will be spending about two weeks there, flying into Cebu and then over to Maasin City by boat.
I do know a lot of Spanish, and I do think knowing this, it does help me a bit in learning the way the filipinos structure there sentences..because Spanish structured in that way as well….at least some of it is.
Ok, take care now, at daghang salamat
Danny
Hey Bob,
Your exactly right about the structure of the sentences, is what gets me confused. But I know I will get it down :). Especially with the help of Rose, and then when I can, I hope to find a professional tutor there in Maasin I hope.
I understand there are few there that provide lessons, and teach at the local college there in Maasin as well.
Salalmat,
Danny
Here where I live the 2 GKK chaplains are Bob and Boy… together they are Baboy… sorry it's their joke not mine. I have been picking up little things here and there and I notice that even when I get back to the states I find myself using bisaya words mixed into my english…. drives my family and friends crazy.
Good post Bob. I know that I can learn Tagalog from the course of Rosetta Stone, even some libraries one can learn some Tagalog. Any other suggestions?
As for myself, I would love to be fluent in Tagalog and Bisayan before I move there. I pick-up some words from my friends but think it is difficult to find anything stateside teaching Bisayan.
Hello Guys "Kataw-anan man mo oy" …you learning our dialect and me learning from dialect of my husband which is not English.Lisud man kaayo (very hard )especially pronouciation sometimes I cried nobody understand cause of my grammar . So what my husband solution he send me in the school and now I could speak to them of same Dialect."Hayyy Buhay" ! Goodluck sa inyo tanan for learning Philippines Dialect…