Dumaguete Info Search


BISAYA, OR NOT TO BISAYA?

Discussion in 'Expat Section' started by Crane op, Dec 22, 2020.

  1. Crane op

    Crane op DI New Member

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    I don't know.
    Just wondering how many of you old Geezers have actually learned enough of the local lingo to effectively get by. Was it hard, did it hurt, how did you do it, is there anyone local that gives lessons you would recommend?. I keep getting a blank stare from my Missus when I ask where should I begin, Tagalog or Bisayas, is it like the difference between Aussie and Kiwi, or Canadian and Yank? The rule is that a language is both spoken as well as written (Tagalog), a dialect is just a spoken language, so I'm not exactly sure where Bisayas fits in.
     
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  2. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I guess the one you would want to learn would depend on where you plan on living and what you plan to achieve by doing so.

    Bisaya is the most common first language. You will hear this in day to day life in more cities than you will any other language/dialect.

    Filipino would be the most widely understood language and what you would hear from politicians and in the media. You probably won't hear this much outside of the NCR (usually only when people from different regions are interacting with each other).

    English is good enough to get on with life. I don't really want to learn, I prefer to live in blissful ignorance of what others are saying about me as much as possible (just judging from what my SOs have told me people were saying).

    If you have ever learned a second language you may have an easier time with it. If you haven't, good luck with that.
     
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  3. Jack Peterson

    Jack Peterson DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Air Force

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    Bisaya is a dialect of Cebuano ( which is I believe the 2nd most spoken Language after Tagalog) So tells me my SIL who teaches Both Languages. :pompus:
     
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  4. djfinn6230

    djfinn6230 DI Senior Member

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    English is sufficient here but I think after 4 years or so, if a person has a Filipina wife and you get involved with the local people somewhat, you really cannot help but pick up a fundamental understanding of the Cebuano-Visayan language just by immersion. Since I never took formal training I really have never detected much difference if any between Cebuano and Bisaya except for the way you say a few of the same words; for example “wala” vs “wa”. In Siquijor they tend to use less Cebu slang and they are more loud and expressive when speaking than Dumaguetnos. If you ask me, there is no difference but I only speak street bisaya/Cebuano in a limited sense. There are also Tagalog expressions thrown in. You can go ahead and use the words and grammar that you do pick and when you get stuck on vocabulary just use the English word. Nobody will care; they do the same thing. When I came here a relative told me it would take about 4years to pick it up; I have been here 3-1/2. It is nice to understand what people are saying even if you are not really fluent. I can say that the more you learn, the easier it is to learn more.


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    Crane op

    Crane op DI New Member

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    I don't know.
    Id like to know what the cheeky buggers are saying:sneaky:
     
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  6. OP
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    Crane op

    Crane op DI New Member

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    I don't know.
    I suppose learning Tagalog would best, apparently after that all the other languages/dialects/slangs/become quite simple.
     
  7. Jack Peterson

    Jack Peterson DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Air Force

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    That my friend depends on where you will live or are Living, Not that may in Negros that speak Tagalog and up north ilonggo is the Language, They mostly all speak and write some English that is why all Forms are in English and the Business Language is English. All the years I have been here, I have never found a Local that even spoke their own language well enough to teach it, so I gave up :cigar:
     
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  8. OP
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    Crane op

    Crane op DI New Member

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    I don't know.
    Seems like a linguistic slop pot, eye of toad , tounge of newt, throw it all in and Wala!!, You picked an interesting word there, Cebuano-Wa Bisaya-Wala and Tagalog-Wala. Wala baki dire, (Bisaya for no toads here haha)
     
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  9. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Usually about how handsome I am or asking each other about what they think the situation is like in my pants. :rolleyes: They talk a lot of smack about my gf and how she must be a gold digger being with a foreigner, how she is hogging equipment in the gym (they seem to feel that free weights are for men only because they don't say sh*t when I'm in the rack for 20-30 minutes), some talk about the clothes my gf wears, some flirt with her right in front of me.

    Of course, I've been here for quite some time and can make sense of a lot of it with the key words I know, body language and tone. If sitting down with a group of Filipinos I can listen in and occasionally contribute to the conversation (in English, of course). However, I ignore most of it and don't step in or say anything, especially on the negative stuff, for several reasons; I could be interpreting it wrong, I don't want to escalate the situation, I don't want them to know just how much I understand and to let them keep on digging, I probably won't ever see them again (or remember that I saw them in the first place)...but mostly because I don't know these people or care about their opinions and have been trying really hard to get my gf to brush off these baseless criticisms from complete strangers. They just don't matter. But that is easy for me to say when I can't fully understand 90% of what is being said around me or how it is being said. I'm sure if I heard many of those things being said in English right in front of me I might not take it nearly as well as she does.
     
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  10. jim787

    jim787 DI Senior Member

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    Rye has captured the major issues in learning the local language. It's my understanding, from various sources, that when speaking Tagalog/Filipino in a Tagalog area, the accent of a native Visayan-speaker is disrespected. "You speak well for a Cebuana," my friend was told in the NCR. And, "He [a Silliman professor] speaks the best Tagalog of any of us." That's my excuse for not learning Tagalog here. As for Visayan/Cebuano, it's not a language of education. Not supposed to use it above Grade Four, though many do. Why have I not learned it? I might answer, "It's hard to learn and then you can't say very much." I get some laughs from that.
     
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