⌛ Stress-free Paradise: Dumaguete

Hi,

I'm from the UK. I lived in Dumaguete from 2001-2003. Went there to volunteer with LCP... fell in love with the people, the laidback way of live and maybe even ang makasulti. I got married to a Filipina. We go back when we can for holiday with our little bugoy and we're looking foward to a holiday there later this year.

 

Welcome to the forum John, wife and your little "bugoy". Funny and amusing to read bugoy in your post. Well, you're married to a (filipina) visaya. It's nice to know you fell in love with the Dumagueteneos that's why you married a Dumaguetenea. Right? Good for you for learning the dialect. Keep on learning. My husband doesn't want to learn the filipino language or visayan dialect. His tongue twists if he tries. I just make fun of him, but he doesn't mind it. Welcome welcome John!

 

Hi Swany,

Thanks for the warm welcome. I can understand and speak a fair bit of conversational visayan but when people speak fast, I get lost. With my wife, I still try to speak with her in visayan, only our little one ignores us when we speak visayan. I love the language we are hoping to retire in Dumaguete - although it will be 30 years from now.

 

Welcome John .Good you seem enthusiastic to learn the language ,at least with couple of words maybe more . I think Cebuano is easier to learn.We knew few expats out there who speaks fluent cebuano with the right accent, sounding like a local ,can't gossip behind their backs ,lols.Unfortunately ,my husband has real hard time with learning the language while in Dgte,when everybody speak to him in english ,which didn't help.Does your bugoy speak bit of Cebuano?I have two here,sadly I have my shortcomings of not teaching them the language ,though it's not too late yet. But speaking ceb in the household is a battle to remember too,when you have to think in english most of the time. Good thing,you like Dumaguete .

 

Hi, it's good to have found a website for my favourite place. I can't really write a lot of Cebuano but I can speak a fair bit and when people don't understand my Cebuano I can use a little English. I started to learn Cebuano when I was volunteering because I some of the youth there couldn't understand my Surrey accent and I spoke to fast. I tried talking more slowly with an American accent and they understood me fine.... that's when I knew it was time to start learning. Within 3 months I learnt most of what I know now and have just built on that. My shortcomings are that I usually only know one way of saying things and I can't learn any words that are used less than once a week. We too have not managed to teach our Bugoy.

 

hello john, welcome to the forum. I have the same problem with my Bolton accent, and talking with an American accent helped, kinda spoke reaaale slowww.
Jim :D

 

Thanks Jim, glad to be here. Did you get anywhere with the language? I tried Tagalog, but it's too hard, I only leanrt patay (dead) and pusil (gun) watching the news... no disrespect to Phils as it's the same here, only knives on the news.

 

John I can only say a few words in cebuano, but it's the same as Spanish as time,date, counting etc, which i can speak a little. thou my wife prompts me to learn cebuano will keep trying.
Jim

 

I find the numbers a bit tricky as there's Cebuano numbers too, I thought I was being clever one day where I was volunteering by answering four (upat) to a question, I said "upa" and there was laughter followed by a tricky silence.

 

Hi john,
Well come to the forum!!!!!
Good to know that you like Duma,its a lovely place to be, me and my husband well move there in a couple of months time. Keep practicing the cebuano so one day when you retire there you have no probs about the language. tell your wife dont forget to teach your bugoy cebuano dialect, i did regret it mine, my two girls dont speak my cebuano if i try talking they just laugh at me and asking what im talking about... which is sad...for me.