Learning and Teaching Tagalog/Filipino/Pilipino

[Ano 0]

American spouses, are you trying to learn to speak Tagalog? Does your spouse encourage you, are they indifferent, or is there a plot to keep their language secret?

Filipina/o spouses, do you teach your spouse Tagalog, think it is not important to learn, think your American spouse does not have the ability to learn it, or are you part of the conspiracy to keep them in the dark?

By learning the language, I don't mean, Mahal Kita, Maganda Umaga, Salamat Po………I mean to be able to have a conversation and read and write at a reasonable level.

Just wondering, I have met more than a few Fil-Am couples (ie, Filipino Christmas Parties, by chance, through work)…. And have yet to meet one American who is fluent in Tagalog.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

hehehe...here's some controversy for you - I'd rather focus on learning Bisaya than Tagolog...Bisaya should have been the national language of the PI. B) My wife grew up speaking Bisaya and only speaks Tagolog to non-Bisayan Filipinos. Even my 7 yr. old stepson only knows Bisaya, not Tagolog.

Bisaya for the win, Uy!

......

The Visayans or (Visayan languages, Filipino: Bisaya) are the largest ethnolinguistic group of Philippines. They primarily live in the Visayas and northeastern Mindanao but others have migrated elsewhere in the Philippines, including Manila.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisaya

Edited August 3, 2008 by Jabberwocky

[spidergirl 0]

I can speak Bisaya, Hiligaynon and Tagalog but i don't want my husband to learn them we can understand each other in English , so why bother to teach him my language

Edited August 3, 2008 by spidergirl

[macutelit 0]

I can speak Bisaya, Hiligaynon and Tagalog but i don't want my husband to learn them we can understand each other in English , so why bother to teach him my language

[DARUMA07 25]

Ruchie speaks Waray Waray and Tagalog.... I always wanted to learn a 2nd language, but it seems like it hasn't been a priority to teach me that yet!

[warwick8 0]

Hubby has been trying to learn tagalog ever since we met. He has several self help language books like the Pimsleur Approach book and CDs to aid him in his learning and I laugh every time I listen to it because they teach the very polite tagalog phrases like "Malamig ang simoy ng hangin ngayon araw" instead of just saying "lamig ngayon, noh?" I, on the other hand, teach him phrases like " baboosh" for bye-bye, "ganda ng asawa ko"!! hahahaha

one of these days, I am certain, he will speak tagalog better than me. The classic Tagalog, at least.

[Sheriff Uling 3]

My wife is really helpful during my self study, but is not as helpful as I would like any other time. I will be fluent in Tagalog, but just not as fast as I would like. If anyone wants to help tutor me and give me helpful insight, I truly welcome it. I need to work on building my vocabulary, conjugating verbs, and constructing sentences.

QUESTION TO THE USCs: Does your wife really try to teach you Tagalog?

My wife will automatically speak Tagalog to other Filipinos, but not with me (not unless I engage her first - for the most part). She says it's because she wants to work on her English, which I don't understand because her English skills are just as good as mine. What she may not get is the slang and idioms simply because she's not originally from the States.

Anyway... Cheers!!!

Sheriff Uling

Edited August 4, 2008 by Sheriff Uling

[Ano 0]

QUESTION TO THE USCs: Does your wife really try to teach you Tagalog?

My wife really doesn't teach me, she will correct me and giggle, but I learn more from "The Rosette Stone" computer program and "Before You Know It" mp3 file.

Personally, I think them Pinays are keeping their language a secret.

But now I know to look when she goes "psssst", and to get what she is pointing her lips at!

[DARUMA07 25]

My wife is really helpful during my self study, but is not as helpful as I would like any other time. I will be fluent in Tagalog, but just not as fast as I would like. If anyone wants to help tutor me and give me helpful insight, I truly welcome it. I need to work on building my vocabulary, conjugating verbs, and constructing sentences.

QUESTION TO THE USCs: Does your wife really try to teach you Tagalog?

My wife will automatically speak Tagalog to other Filipinos, but not with me (not unless I engage her first - for the most part). She says it's because she wants to work on her English, which I don't understand because her English skills are just as good as mine. What she may not get is the slang and idioms simply because she's not originally from the States.

Anyway... Cheers!!!

Sheriff Uling

My wife doesn't want me to know Tagalog or Waray Waray..

QUESTION TO THE USCs: Does your wife really try to teach you Tagalog?

My wife really doesn't teach me, she will correct me and giggle, but I learn more from "The Rosette Stone" computer program and "Before You Know It" mp3 file.

Personally, I think them Pinays are keeping their language a secret.

But now I know to look when she goes "psssst", and to get what she is pointing her lips at!

Yes, they do want to keep it a secret! I don't understand a single word when she is mad at me.. All I know that it doesn't sound good!

[Psoas10 17]

My wife tries to teach me some Tagalog. But she is ilocano, so she speaks that the most with her family and friends here. Also at work I learn and speak some Tagalog and Ilocano, since 90% of my coworkers are Filipino. I mean it is weird that me, who is the USC has to learn a their language, to fit in better here in Hawaii?!. But I guess when almost half the population here is Filipino, that is the norm here.

[Sheriff Uling 3]

My wife is really helpful during my self study, but is not as helpful as I would like any other time. I will be fluent in Tagalog, but just not as fast as I would like. If anyone wants to help tutor me and give me helpful insight, I truly welcome it. I need to work on building my vocabulary, conjugating verbs, and constructing sentences.

QUESTION TO THE USCs: Does your wife really try to teach you Tagalog?

My wife will automatically speak Tagalog to other Filipinos, but not with me (not unless I engage her first - for the most part). She says it's because she wants to work on her English, which I don't understand because her English skills are just as good as mine. What she may not get is the slang and idioms simply because she's not originally from the States.

Anyway... Cheers!!!

Sheriff Uling

Language is the area where I see the most with the cultural barrier. As I stated in my earlier post, my wife will automatically speak Tagalog to other Filipinos, which of course includes those she does not know. So since I'm not Filipino, she doesn't deliberately go out of her way to help me with Tagalog when there are prime opportunities to help me grow and learn the language. It seems that others are experiencing the same thing... Hmmm... That's very curious!

Cheers!!!

Sheriff Uling

[beejay 123]

hehehe...here's some controversy for you - I'd rather focus on learning Bisaya than Tagolog...Bisaya should have been the national language of the PI. B) My wife grew up speaking Bisaya and only speaks Tagolog to non-Bisayan Filipinos. Even my 7 yr. old stepson only knows Bisaya, not Tagolog.

Bisaya for the win, Uy!

[edp333 9]

Hubby has been trying to learn tagalog ever since we met. He has several self help language books like the Pimsleur Approach book and CDs to aid him in his learning and I laugh every time I listen to it because they teach the very polite tagalog phrases like "Malamig ang simoy ng hangin ngayon araw" instead of just saying "lamig ngayon, noh?" I, on the other hand, teach him phrases like " baboosh" for bye-bye, "ganda ng asawa ko"!! hahahaha

one of these days, I am certain, he will speak tagalog better than me. The classic Tagalog, at least.

Hello DocJazzie; how is life in the US?

My asawa teaches me a few words now and then. The in-laws seem more involved in teaching me tagalog though.

I try not to cause too many nosebleeds with my English.

[jeeleebee 0]

My husband is interested in learning Tagalog and I did get him a couple language cds and a dictionary from Amazon.com and such before we even get married but he didnt learn anything from that lol

I would like to teach him in a more structured way so can you share your experience with Rosetta Stone? He thinks it might be worth getting...and what about that mp3 file you mentioned?

It's just hard to teach someone Tagalog by assimilation when you're the only one who speaks it in your house He's picked up some words and phrases here and there like "Sabi mo...!" and "Ayoko!" (both spoken in an annoyed tone haha)

Anyhow, that Psst! + point with the lips comment had me laughing...I really didnt realize I do it quite a bit until my husband said something about it a couple months ago (it's hilarious when he does it too)...Oh well, it's a Filipino thing

QUESTION TO THE USCs: Does your wife really try to teach you Tagalog?

My wife really doesn't teach me, she will correct me and giggle, but I learn more from "The Rosette Stone" computer program and "Before You Know It" mp3 file.

Personally, I think them Pinays are keeping their language a secret.

But now I know to look when she goes "psssst", and to get what she is pointing her lips at!

[Ano 0]

Sorry it took me so long to reply, I am not on her that much, just when I take the computer from my asawa seeing see is on here ALL the time!!!

The Rosette Stone is mostly a vocabulary builder, it shows for pictures and you go over the words identifying them pictures to the word. It isn't really worth the money, but I got it for no cost from a "Pirate" at the "Bay" if you know anything about torrent sites.

The BYKI program, is mostly a vocabulary builder also, it has a computer program with cards that flip with sound files, I mostly use the MP files downloaded on to my ipod, I hook it up to external speakers and play it at one of my jobs, it really annoys my co-workers, but I am the supervisor. They also have picked up some words too. The best way is to try and speak it have my wife correct me, I also pick up her words, Talaga, Utot, Namani, etc…

Another good way is to read and have the tagalog speaker correct your pronunciation.

Also, The Book "Tagalog for Non-Tagalog Speakers" gives some insight into the grammar of Tagalog.

Youtube is also good, maximo has a number of videos, also cool is Aray Ko with Julia, and some really funny girl whose video is "random Tagalog and swear words".

KayleSpeak and Viloria have podcast you can download for free also.

Hope these help, and don't keep your language a secret.

PS. Verb Tenses, forgetaboutit, best to learn these in phrases, this is the hardest part of the language.

Some of the best links:

http://www.tagaloglang.com/

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Tagalog_mainpage.htm

http://www.101languages.net/tagalog/

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4CF0937D6DC2ADA7

others:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YKwyJACPQ

and for laughs (don't play in front of asawa):

But, what do I know?