Job Discussion Forums

[auckies]

Well, is there? Even i am a foreigner i speak filipino language well so i would like to make friends with them there. So i want to ask somebody who lives there in big city or small town if yo usee filipinos In general public or in schools????

[Celeste]

Here in F ukuoka I do know a couple of PTA mothers wha are from the Philippines

[shmooj]

Auckies you're sure posting a lot of "interesting" topics. Hmmmmmm.

Would you care to tell us what language from those blessed isles it is you speak? Surely that would be important information if we are going to attempt to answer this query seriously.

[Lynn]

[Gordon]

Auckies, what are you up to? You can`t be a teacher.

[auckies]

My last girlfriend at home was filipino so i learned the language over the 2 year relationship. Thanks for answering my question people. I will try and strike up a conversation with some and see how it goes. THANKS

[shmooj]

Okay... but which language was it? THere are a quite a few and among any particular group of Filipinos you find here, you might find that they don't actually speak the same language as your girlfriend did. If you can tell us the language, those who know Filipinos here, like myself, could better advise you on your chances of getting to know them using the language you know.

[auckies]

There are different dialects but they all speak there national language of tagalog.

[lajzar]

[shmooj]

Errr... Indonesia... Philippines... lajzar?

"There are a round 11 million native speakers of Tagalog, but some 40 million now speak Pilipino [the national langauge of the Philippines... a standardized form of Tagalog]." Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language.

Considering the population of the Philippines is over 81 million, that leaves around 50% of Filipinos who would not speak Pilipino or Tagalog.

Come on aukies...

[Lynn]

Most of my philipino friends speak Ilicano.

[lajzar]

[Tiger Beer]

Tagalog is the official language of the Philippines.. and ALL Filipinos know Tagalog.

If you are in the Visayas.. they will speak Visayan or Cebuano. Baguio is Ilocano. Iloilo and some other in that region its Ilongo. Many other differnet cities have their own language or dialect as well. However, if you turn on TV or buy the newspapers they will be in Tagalog. (Often times newspapers are in English as well). So almost anyone who isn't a regular Tagalog speaker will always speak and still know it. It is the national language. Also, the national language was made Tagalog so everyone must study it so that they can all communicate with each other and create some kind of mutual language for all the people of the nation to understand. It would be quite strange to meet a Filipino who couldn't speak their own national language.

Think of it like this.. I'll use US terms as I know the US. Spanish-speaking people in the US will be speaking Spanish to each other often times.. but as soon as they meet and start talking to a non-Spanish speaking person, they quickly change to English. Exact same concept. So that means that in Cebu, as soon as they realize you aren't a native Visayan, they'll quickly change to Tagalog or possibly English depending on what they interpret you might know best.

Also, its true there are many many many languages in the Philippines.. but the other thing is that many of them are similar. My ex-girlfrined of several years is a native Ilongo speaker who also knows Cebuano and Tagalog. Depending on who is she is around, she'll speak whichever language. She prefers Ilongo with her close cousin, she'll speak Cebuano with her Visayan friends and she'll speak in Tagalog with her Manila friends. Filipinos are quite amazing with languages.. and while whatever region they are from they'll probably speak that one with other locals.. they also know quite a few other languages including English as well.

My girlfrined taught me some basic Tagalog, Cebuano, and Ilongo. They all have SO many similarities. Many of the words are the same.. but they seem to change different words or phrases in place of others. The only way I can explain is that it would be like comparing Italian and Spanish. A lot of words are the same and some aren't. If you know Spanish however, then you'll probably understand a lot of the Italian when spoken to you as well. Same in the Philippines.

Regardless of all of this however.. everyone in the Philippines is educated in Tagalog and English in school. Tagalog is the national language, and I'd be quite shocked if you could find Filipinos (particularly traveling abroad) who aren't aware or don't know their own national language. I've never heard of such a thing, and I've spent A LOT of time with A LOT of Filipinos. They also all have a similar sound (as far as I know or at least the few that I was somewhat exposed to).. in that, there isn't massive pronounciation differences from one Filipino language to the next. Its more like you just have a different choice of words and such. All of the major Filipino languages also have a lot of Spanish words in them.. some more than others.. for example Cebuano seems to have more than Tagalog. That being said, a sentence in any of the major Filipino languages looks extremely similar structure-wise, and phonetic similarities as well.

Basically, the main point being that it would be really really weird to meet a Filipino person who was completely unaware and couldn't speak the national language of Tagalog. Perhaps if they are illiterate or uneducated. I guess its possible, but unlikely, particular if they had the money or made the effort to move to Japan or elsewhere.

[Smooth Operator]

Having been to the Philippines a few times I can testify that Tiger Beer, despite being from Singapore, is bang on the money regarding the Philippines and her languages...

As for the original question, yes many women come to work in bars and clubs. I see quite a few Filipinas, especially on Sundays, but don't see many Filipinos....

[J-Pop]

Tiger Beer,
I want to compliment you on a nicely written, informative, post.
Good job!