One World- Different Nationalities

[Gerald Glatt]

The Philippines has as many people not speaking English as Florida, or England. Dang foreigners

[John Mogusar]

If anyone is interested in learning Filipino (Tagalog), Rosetta Stone is definitely the way to go.

 

They have a three-level program that is extremely visual and a superb live online tutor program (included for...nine months I think? Fairly cheap after that if you need to continue).

 

It's much better than a high school or college class, as far as conversational language goes. It gives you a lot of latitude to set the pace of the learning and automatically sets up periodic reviews of various sections you have already studied.

 

While the price seems expensive, it is coming down. They also have frequent HUGE sales  if you sign up for their online newsletter. I bought mine at ... $600 I think? I think the current price is $500 and they just ended one of their sales at $350.

Edited November 8, 2014 by John Mogusar

[John Mogusar]

The Philippines has as many people not speaking English as Florida, or England. Dang foreigners

 

When I was in the Philippines, I hung out with a small group of foreigners outside of Cebu City. As explained above, it was more that I "had to" hang out with them from time to time.

 

Anyway, one guy that showed up infrequently was from France. He was fine to hang out with, but spoke English with a thick accent that was EXTREMELY difficult to understand.

 

One day, I learned why he was so hard to understand...He explained that he moved to the Philippines many years ago to open a furniture export business. Upon arrival, he knew no English and no Filipino...only French. He was taught to speak English by Filipinos...

Edited November 8, 2014 by John Mogusar

[Larry45]

Communication problems are amplified when there is an apparent income discrepancy.  I was sitting in an eatery yesterday watching the worker bend nails into a wooden beam in preparation for blocking it all with cement.  I did a similar job last week and it didn't go well.  So I'm just watching and learned a lot, but my bisaya wasn't good enough for the worker  or he just hated me none the less.  My Filipino friends told him we are not laughing at him, but he choose to just hate me.  I'm a very beginner carpenter having built only a few small tables and my dining table.  I was making fun of myself that all my jobs look like that...bent nails and broken promises.  Hopefully he understands I wasn't laughing at him, but just learning from him.  Hard to communicate sometimes.

[Kuya John]

Hopefully he understands I wasn't laughing at him, but just learning from him. Hard to communicate sometimes.

 

From my own experience, It's differcult to tell the difference unless you make an approach first.

A handshake and a smile is a good start, then if neither of you can understand each other, at least you can use facial expressions and point towards things , works for me, oh and an offer of a cold beer goes along way too! :cheersty:

Edited November 9, 2014 by Kuya John

[Hey Steve]

I had taken the time to learn some Bisaya/Cebuano through a course a friend of mine gave me and used it for opening a simple conversation while on an extended stay in her home town at both the wet market and mall there. They (filipinos) really appreciate the effort I show to do this. I then blend into English and acknowledge their good attempt to converse back in English since it's an "opportunity" for them to practice it being they use it very seldom among their own in day to day conversation. It's such a good ice breaker for me and I'm glad I took the time to learn. My wife keeps me sharp by challenging me with questions in Bisaya. A little bit of effort goes a long way in my own experience.

[UnCheckedOther]

Whenever we visit the Philippines or whenever I speak with other Filipinos, the problem is more cultural than linguistic. I often get asked questions that are too TMI/personal/none of people I just met's business, such as income or if my bag is "orig" or a knockoff (dafuq?). I've also had an interesting airport conversation wherein a woman sharing with me some ahem, bowel problems she's been having. Having travelled and lived in other countries, I can say that Turks come a close second in this openness :)

Sometimes, though, I do encounter some language problems. Although I am fluent in Bisaya, Tagalog, and Waray, my American accent shows through, especially in the latter two. Sometimes people try to speak to me in English, thinking it'd be easier for me yo understand. Unfortunately, this has the opposite effect. I respect people who try to do this, though, as it is a testament of their hospitality. And then there are some people who speak Taglish or Bislish because they think it's "sosyal" or makes them sound intelligent. My eyes are in default rolling mode when my cousins speak. "Like, ohmygawd grabe, I wanted to suroy-suroy gahapon pero as in, so grabe the traffic gikan sa Talamban because of the baha" and "Yuck kadiri to death! So daghan the basura sa trash can sa Jollibee. How can they expect me to labay my own basura when I don't want to hikap the overflowing germs?" are a couple of gems that they wrote to me on FB. Oi vey. I blame Kris Aquino for this linguistic nightmare :(

[Kuya John]

American Dad + Cebuana Mom = Fried fish and waffles for breakfast

Like your post and Love the sense of Humour 10/10 :541: