⌛ Philippine Travel Tip: Understanding Filipino

If you’re planning on traveling and you’re about to set foot on Philippine soil, you don’t have to worry so much – indeed, you don’t have to worry at all – about language barriers because almost all native Filipinos are able to converse in English.

If you want to know what it feels like to be a part of Philippine life and culture then understanding Filipino is a must. There’s nothing more that Filipinos love than foreigners trying to speak their very own language because it shows them how much you appreciate their country. And so if you’re set on your Philippine travel, here are a few tips on how the language works.

The official language of the Philippines was previously called Tagalog but was changed to Filipino to represent and encompass everyone in the country. Filipino is a language rich with influences from other countries – the United States, Indonesia, China, Japan and Spain among others. If you’re from any of those countries, chances are you’d be encountering a word from your very own language during your stay in the Philippines.

When traveling to the Philippines and learning Filipino, you’d do good to remember that stress and accent are quite important. Take this situation, for instance. An American once expressed his amazement at how Filipinos could convey a complete idea by just saying one syllable.

When he was riding a public jeep – one of the common forms of public transportation – the driver asked one of his passengers if he intended stepping out by simply saying “bababa ba?” and naturally the other person understood his meaning and gave his affirmation by saying “bababa na”. See? But don’t expect to get the stress and accent of Filipino right away.

Just practice it whenever you can but while you’re at the learning stage yet, don’t worry about not being understood because Filipinos are old hands when it comes to deciphering Foreigner-spoken-Filipino.

No doubt, on your Philippine travel you’d be encountering a word that can’t be found in your pocket Filipino-English dictionary. That’s because day after day, Filipinos seem to be having fun thinking up of new street slang words to use and it’s amazing how everyone catches up with it immediately. If you find a word that confuses you during your Philippine travel, never hesitate to ask because Filipinos would be eager to assist you. But if you don’t feel like asking for a clarification, that’s okay too and once more, you have the option to revert back to English to make yourself understood.