Philippine languages

Philippine languages are many and varied ones. I dont even wish to get into the diversity of language or dialects to be honest. Let’s just agree that the language you may need to be good in, may not be Tagalog.

I’m living in the central VIsayas region and more specifically on the island of Cebu. Here the prominent language is Bisaya, or sometimes it can be referred to as Cebuano. Here the Bisaya does have differences from the Bisaya spoken in the Mindanao region. At least that is what my wife says. I was watching a language learning video and when the words and specifically the verbs were on the video she said, that isn’t right. We dont say it like that, we say it like xxx.

So much for trying to learn something just to have another alternative thrown out there. It is kind of like the nature of the Philippines. They say do this and you will be finished, only to find out there is another step to do that will take another few months. Then another, oh and another. Then you have to go to a different office and finish that process too. Same for language learning, unless you are studying Tagalog there will be difficulties in getting materials and sucinct answers to language questions.

Television

You guessed it. Most of the television is in Tagalog. I cant even think of a time I heard Bisaya on TV.

In shows and the news they will say a few words in English. I can’t honestly say why or when it will be used. A few emphasis words spoken in English and then the rest is in Tagalog. This goes for news, drama shows, game shows, well you name it, a few english words and then Tagalog.

Learn Tagalog

Learn Tagalog? Well maybe that is a good path. Those in the Central Visayas will understand Tagalog, but maybe you wont understand them when they speak. Are there learning materials in Tagalog, yes. Are there shows to watch in Tagalog, yes again. Ther are even apps to use for Tagalog. Language apps for Bisaya, nope.

Learning a language

Learning a language hasn’t always been so hard for me. I know English and have a fairly good retention of Polish and German. With some refresher study I could get back into Czech, Slovak, and Serbian again. And, while it would be harder to refresh myself, I used to speak Arabic as well, though I haven’t in 35 years.

Learning language has never been hard for me until Bisaya. I don’t know why. Maybe it is the langauge mimicking the culture and where finite rules and information dont exist here.

Maybe I am going to have to go back to some of my old ways and get memorization going to form the foundational language I need and would use during the week. Thne in time I can just add more vocabulary and broaden my usage into more topics.

Either that or just give up and use my phone when everyone else is speaking Bisaya.