nakow! Ms. Connie this reminds me of a classmate in college.Our teacher who is a lawyer, asked us to introduce ourselves one by one in our own dialect, then there is this 1 lady who introduces herself in English. Our teacher asked her, where she hails from?. She answered back from California.Our teacher asked her if she was born & raised there. She said no, just 6 months. We all had a big laugh. Our teacher’s exact words are “sobra ra ka ka-ambisyosa” (masyado kang ambisyosa)!

Connie, that’s good that you and Speedy chose to have both your daughters speak tagalog at home.

Now that I’m here on vacation in the Philippines, I’m getting so much flack about not speaking tagalog or bicol (I’m staying in Naga City). I don’t really care to speak tagalog but I am very interested in expanding my comprehension of understanding it. I’ve been watching a lot of tagalog tv.

Funny you mention that blogger from Canada and his constant comparisons between Canada/Philippines. While I might make some while here, I certainly try not to think that “US is always better!” Comparing the 2 countries is like apples & oranges. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. The Canadian blogger sounds like a braggert.

Daming ganyan dito sa Canada. Nung sophomore ako sa U of M may na-meet akong Filipino na tatlo o apat na taon na ata dito sa Canada, tapos hindi na marunong magtagalog. Sarap batukan (brutal na ‘to, pero eto yung unang pumapasok sa isip ko, haha). XD

This reminds me of an incident that happened to me and my husband in the US. We were in a “semi-high-end-boutique” (looking but no touching) and there was an obviously Pinoy guy browsing somewhere near my husband. He was trying to sound “american” kahit bakli-bakli naman inglis nya. My husband decided to play his game and came out with his most american affected twang. Ok na sana eh. Kaya lang umentra ang Kongkong with “PSSST..Halika na, baka magsara na yung museum eh kailangan ko pang piktyuran yung buto ng dinosaur para kay Gaby!!” Syempre, si Mr. Wannabe-Americano lumingon. Syempre ako naman, “Uy Pinoy ka?” He responded with a very short “Yuh!” sabay talikod. Hello, I didn’t get it. Eh ano kung Pinoy sya?!?

Ricgurl, Angela & Kongkong:

In college I had classmates like that. The ones who went on a student exchange program in the US for their senior year in high school. Aba, after one year, in freshman college, lintek ang mga twang. Worse, bali-bali na (kunwari) mag-Filipino. It was so tempting to say that they just went on the exchange program to get exempted from taking the UPCAT kasi hindi sila papasa hahahaha

nikita, nakow, you should see the exchanges in the old blog (in sassylawyer.com). Nasty, amusing, unnerving… One of these days, I’ll import the old entries.

I wish you would import the old entries!

I hate affectations but sometimes its encouraged by your parents. It’s up to one to grow up and get over one’s self and start actually THINKING.

When I was 19 I visited Philippines and sabi ng Mama ko mag Ingles daw ako exclusively dun. Tanong ko bakit? Yun daw and expectations nila. I was ok with it because among my peers in the U.S. English was used exclusively and I WAS more comfortable expressing myself in it.

When I went back a few years ago, being more mature, I tried to speak Tagalog there…errr, it was not met with anything but a confused look, as if to say, shouldn’t you be speaking English? And Woody, who had excitedly learned a bit of Tagalog and who tried to use it during the visit, was kinda discouraged to use what he’d learned. Parang hindi nila na-appreciate na this foreigner ay marunong mag-Tagalog. I was miffed that they were not sufficiently charmed! hmmp!

Woody thought it was odd, because when he speaks Spanish with Mexicans and other spanish-speaking people they are so delighted that he can converse with them, even with errors in his speech; delighted that he’s trying.

Ok, that’s my 2 cents, err my $2?

pinayhekmi, two words to the reaction you received: colonial mentality. Re old entries: I’ve been mustering enough guts. 3,000+ entries, I’m scared — baka mag-hang yung server ko.

Great column Con - To be fair though, there are Pinoys who speak English as a first language and struggle with Tagalog, but who do not have colonial mentality; its just how they were brought up. My half-brothers based in LA are like that. I also know a family based in Boston - they speak fluent Tagalog. They speak English with a Filipino accent - and they’re fine, fine people. My conclusion: its not always the accent, its really the attitude.

You should import those old entries! LOL! Would love to see them!

Reading the other comments here, it reminded me of the time when I was last in the Philippines. These girls were calling for my male cousin and he was annoyed with them. Each time they called the house, they always spoke in english as if to impress everyone.

So, to get back at them for annoying the whole family (his sisters haaaaated them because they were so snobbish at school), he had me answer the phone. Hahah, it was probably the only time my American accent came in handy as it completely confused the girls when they asked for him and I demanded to know what they wanted.

Hi Sam.

Re “My conclusion: its not always the accent, its really the attitude.”

I agree. Although in many cases, the accent is a projection of the attitude. Alam mo na, mga OA. Nikita in comment #9 illustrates it perfectly. hehehe

Nikita, one of these days, I will import them. Daunting, daunting task. Iniisip ko pa lang, nangla-lambot na ‘ko. hehehe

Oui, je parle anglais avec le “twang” de Regine Velasquez.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I know alam mo na to… but my US-born/raised 6-year old boy is still the only Tagalog-speaking Pinoy in my state. Fluently yan ha! And he still only eats Pinoy food. Hindi pa rin nya gusto si McDonald

It’s been a constant challenge because English is all he ever hears in school for 7 hours a day, there are only a handful of Pinoys down here, and we don’t have Pinoy channels on tv so his only source of Tagalog is very limited. Still, he is fluent. He could be speaking to a classmate in English but the second he turns to me, he reverts to Tagalog. Most times, he’ll even tell his friends or classmates the Tagalog equivalent of a word. I am so proud.

Incidentally, my dad’s family is from old money. In fact, there are subdivisions with street names named after them. They’ve built a school. And a town recreation hall. They’ve been paying the water and electricity bill of a church, an elementary, and a high school somewhere in Pasig for decades. They provide 10 full scholarships and 50 textbook scholarships yearly. I could go on. What do they call their parents, my Lolo and Lola — TATAY and NANAY.

(Connie, I did not include my name because my dad’s family would kill me if they found out I mentioned their philanthropic activities. They have lived in anonymity and would like to stay that way. In any case, I know you’ll figure out who I am.)

you-know-who-I-am,

Got that. You were the only one who thought I made sense when I wrote that thing in my food blog about parents who take the path of least resistance in allowing their kids to be unreasonably difficult with food.

Your father passed away last year, didn’t he?

“Re “My conclusion: its not always the accent, its really the attitude.””

I would say, the upbringing, too. Depende sa age, e. Lalo kung bata, the parents exercised their preferences on how to rear the child. Kasama na dyan yung mga language preferences nila. Pero naman, kung medyo nakakapag-isip na, tapos kita mong nagpapaka-TH (trying hard), ibang usapan na yun.

With regard to Mommy/Daddy vs. Mama/Papa vs. Nanay/Tatay, speaking for myself, my kids call us Mommy/Daddy kasi dun na ako nasanay. I don’t know how my parents opted to go with that, pero kumbaga, na-carry on ko na until I had kids na Mommy/Daddy. But, true story, may mga pinsan nga ako who used to call their parents Mama/Papa. “Used to” kasi nung feeling nila mayaman na sila, tinuruan ng Auntie ko na Mommy/Daddy na daw sila. If I have anything to say about it, e kasi naman, yung Auntie ko na yun, numero uno atang social climber. Ironically, kahit anong sabi nya na mayaman na sila, pag may balikbayan na may uwing pasalubong, siya yung nasa unahan ng pila na parang gustong mamakyaw.

Hi, C.
My siblings and I call our parents mommy and daddy or ma and da or mutti and dada. It never really occured to me that it was a conscious decision for my parents to have us call them that, although my dad used to call his parents nanay and tatay. We didn’t think anything of it.

My husband and I are now thinking of starting a family and our kids probably won’t call us mommy or daddy, but mum and pa as they do here. But this entry made me think (though it wasn’t the point of the blog at all haha) that I would like for my kids to call me mommy as “mummy” at this point sounds too “horror movie” for me haha

Also, I agree with Sam about the upbringing.

Filipino was not my first language; it was Hiligaynon and we spoke that and English at home. I learned Filipino by reading through kids books my mom bought for us and practiced it on yearly summer vacations in Manila. Later on, of course we would learn it at school.

Of the three, my Filipino is probably the weakest because when I was very young and still learning it, native Tagalog speakers would laugh whenever I would mispronounce words or use them improperly. They still do. But I keep trying hehe.

People here often ask me if I am american and tell me I speak with an american accent. It always irritates me because I’ve grown up speaking this way and I’ve always spoken this way. Just as I’ve always had an ilonggo accent when I speak Hiligaynon or had a Tagalog accent when speaking Filipino. It just all goes with how the language was learned in the first place (who teaches them and who they interact with in that language).

But when I say “I’ve always spoken English this way” I always get dubious looks LOL from Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike. I get it, I know that many different Filipinos speak English or even a third language with their first language accent or whatever accent they were taught in. But to me, it really doesn’t matter, I’ve learned to take the accent at face value =)

After reading this post, I realized that I can definitely relate in this topic. Me and my sister calls our parents mommy and daddy, while my other cousins calls their parents nanay and tatay, and my other cousin calls her parents mama and papa. While my lolo and lola are called mama/papa without the accent on the first syllables by my tito and tita! hehehe. Now living in Toronto, we’ve been here for 12 yrs, and yes I do speak tagalog (fluently) at home, although I sort of wished when we first came here that I’ll develop that ‘twang” or that “accent” as if I was born here! Now that I’m a mother of a 5 yr old, she calls us mommy/daddy or sometimes mom/dad she’ll even call me “nanay” sometimes, just me and not call her dad “tatay”. Ang sarap pakingan, kasi she has that accent, so ang cute tapos tagalog yung salita! My parents are living with us, and they prefer to talk to her in tagalog, mainly because she will never forget to speak english anyway, and I have no problem with that! My daughter calls them lolo and lola and she understands and speaks tagalog, just don’t speak to her too fast or she’ll make you repeat yourself! I talk to her in tagalog and english. We have tfc at home, so whenever I’m watching soaps she understand it! Funny thing was, when me and my husband (who came to Canada when he was 9 yrs old) were just dating, he doesn’t speak tagalog, he can understand though, sakin na lang sya natututong mag-tagalog! We may be citizens but we’re still Filipino, so it is my choice to let my daughter learn and speak tagalog. The first time we went back home she was about 3 then, the kids her age were talking to her in tagalog, but she couldn’t fully understand what they were saying then, I heard her say “ano” a couple of times to the other kids, at 3 yrs old, she can understand little bits and Im sure she tried her best to understand and make sense what the other kids were telling her!

Sa totoo lang, lets say sa asian grocery (doon madaming Pilipino), kapag may nagtanong sakin in tagalog, sagot ko tagalog den, unang una, naintindihan ko naman sila and marunong naman akong magtagalog, so bakit mag english-english pa, ang daddy ko naiinis kapag ganun, maarte daw, lalo na may mga edad!

But going back to mommy/daddy vs.nanay/tatay/ vs.mama/papa (with or without the accent), in my opinion, mas “sosyal pakinggan” ang mommy/daddy kesa mama/papa (with the accent), don’t u think? Sa tv ko lang natutunan na ang mama/papa (with accent) eh pang mayaman pala, kasi never naman sinabi ng parents ko samin na hindi sila pwedeng tawagin mama/papa or nanay/tatay ang dapat naming itawag sa kanila. Pero kapag tinawag akong “nanay” ng 5 yr old ko, kilig po ako!

Between the two of us, my wife and I speak our dialect. But in front of our 3 year old daughter it’s tag-lish, like – “Don’t run baka ka madapa!”. We have our reasons. We don’t want her to feel she’s left out when we’re among our Filipino friends. Also she’s going to attend nursery this coming school year. Its students come from different nationality so the lingua franca is English. The funny thing is she speaks English with a “twang”. We’re wondering where she got the accent and we found out later. The tutors are Disney and CN.

In my house, it’s the same way but going the opposite direction (not sure if that makes sense. lol!). My daughters tell me all the time that they wish I had taught them the language. They are now trying to pick up a few phrases of tagalog or ilocano here and there.

But when they can’t think of the right filipino word straight off, they resort to saying it in English but with a Pinoy accent. haha!