I'm a freshman in high school, fluent in English (I hope, lol) and sorta-kinda-on-my-way to being proficient in Spanish. I practice Spanish with my mom, who is from the Philippines and speaks Tagalog.

Anyway, I LOVE languages and would really like to start learning a second. French is such a pretty language, and it's spoken in a lot of Canada, in France and some smaller surrounding European countries, and throughout Africa. It ranks as pretty useful in most polls/lists/etc. However, it seems like everyone speaks Spanish or French, and having a really unique language under my belt seems like a good idea too, so I was thinking Tagalog (Filipino) since I could talk with my family and I have heritage ties there. However, it's only spoken in one country and even then not everyone in the Philippines speaks it, so it's usefulness is limited.

So, will knowing Spanish and French give me enough of an advantage in the world as far as college/future jobs, or are they too common as 2nd-languages in America? Will learning the obscure language of my heritage end up being useless? Should I aim for something middle-ground like German or Russian maybe? Opinions please!

I guess the best place would be to start at the beginning. My wife and I met while I was stationed overseas. She lived in the Philippines while I was still in Japan. We got pregnant after marriage and she wanted to have her family with her when she gave birth so the baby was born in the Philippines. She was living with her family in one place as typical for filipinos so the baby had constant attention, especially from her mom. Due to some difficulties with immigration and missing paperwork, it wasnt until this year that we were able to bring the child home with us. He is now 4. I was able to visit quite a few times while he was in the Philippines. My wife's immigration was already completed so she had been working here in the US with me to save money to send home for her family. In any event, our son understood he needed to come home with his parents so we brought him back here and hes now been here with us for 3 days. It was a big change for me especially since Ive not had any time with him really so Im learning to be a dad for the first time. The other issue is that he speaks mostly Tagalog which is native language over there. He speaks a little English but I worry about what will happen when preschool times comes, which is right around the corner. Ive never trained anyone to speak, Im not sure if flash cards will work or how Im supposed to go about this? I dont want him falling behind because hes not a native English speaker. So far hes been pretty good. He plays and Ive had a day or two where mommy can sleep and Ill take him to the park with me. He doesnt ask for her and as long as I keep him entertained, seems fine. Oh yeah, with this all in mind, I shouldnt be expecting much sleep during these years correct? I just want to be sure I know what to expect. Seems like hes super active really late into the night. People have told me I should sleep as much as I can when he sleeps. Seems like hell wake up for 8 hours, take a nap and then up for another 8 hours. Its been hard cuz my wife and I are kind of on different schedules that way. She stays up with him at night for the last 4 hours or so because she can get him to sleep by coddling him. Doesnt do that with me so I usually crash a few hours before her. Then when he wakes up, Ill send her to the bedroom so that she can sleep and I try and take him out of the house somewhere to play so he can use up some energy. Its tough in WA, the weather is always so bad its hard to find places outside to take him...ideas? I guess Im just wondering if this is all normal, if the sleep thing will be something the wife and I will have to make the best of while hes this age and also if anyone is filipino reading this, if you have any suggestions for teaching him English now that hes here? He likes watching backyardigans on tv and whatnot, and knows some songs totally in English but still talks to my wife and I in Tagalog. Again, Im just worried about school and him learning a new language and how best to teach him. If anybody lives in WA area and knows of any resources I could consult about Filipino schools that teach English or something similar, that would be great. I just want the best for him and to get a good dad. As good a dad as my wife is a mother. I feel like shes having to hold up so much right now and I just want to do everthing I can to make this doable for her too. Hope I didnt write too much. I appreciate any inputs or advice, this is scary starting off. Thanks

i put this in the wrong catagory cause i needed more feedback. i am trying to teach myself how to speak tagalog because my mom is filipino and she is always speaking it and i want to be able to talk back to her.
i know that in the filipino language some letters are pronounced diffrently then english. can you name some of the letters and how to pronounce them. and if you know of a website that tells you how to pronounce words in different languages that would really help too!!!

I have no Tagalog background, but I'm meeting a girl and her mom in a few months and I guess you can say I want to impress with some conversation. =) I might look and sound like a fool, but the effort is what counts, right?

I don't have anyone to practice with. Any tips for learning online or workbooks?

i put this in the wrong catagory cause i needed more feedback. i am trying to teach myself how to speak tagalog because my mom is filipino and she is always speaking it and i want to be able to talk back to her.
i know that in the filipino language some letters are pronounced diffrently then english. can you name some of the letters and how to pronounce them. and if you know of a website that tells you how to pronounce words in different languages that would really help too!!!

i put this in the wrong catagory cause i needed more feedback. i am trying to teach myself how to speak tagalog because my mom is filipino and she is always speaking it and i want to be able to talk back to her.
i know that in the filipino language some letters are pronounced diffrently then english. can you name some of the letters and how to pronounce them. and if you know of a website that tells you how to pronounce words in different languages that would really help too!!!

i put this in the wrong catagory cause i needed more feedback. i am trying to teach myself how to speak tagalog because my mom is filipino and she is always speaking it and i want to be able to talk back to her.
i know that in the filipino language some letters are pronounced diffrently then english. can you name some of the letters and how to pronounce them. and if you know of a website that tells you how to pronounce words in different languages that would really help too!!!

My mom translated it to: Kung may madilim na kahapon may magandang kinabukasan. I trust my moms translation but I just want to see if that's the closest translation to the actual quote. I also wanted to get it written in the tagalog script but I noticed some letters aren't in the alphabet so I don't know if it could be translated. Thanks

i am trying to teach myself how to speak tagalog because my mom is filipino and she is always speaking it and i want to be able to talk back to her.
i know that in the filipino language some letters are pronounced diffrently then english. can you name some of the letters and how to pronounce them. and if you know of a website that tells you how to pronounce words in different languages that would really help too!!!

Can you guys translation this grammar in Tagalog please im study Tagalog now. i already learn 1 language English i need learn my 2nd language Tagalog. I have write note to mom okay so i can write to mom.

Mom,
tomorrow my friends will come my house is it okay?

Translation 'em please to Tagalog thank u

I really want to learn to speak Tagalog. My mom is Filipino and never taught me. I plan on visiting my family in the Philippines for the first time this summer and want to be able to communicate with them. My om has tried teaching me recently but our schedules don't match up and so there's just no time. I saw an infomercial on Rosetta Stone and I'm wondering if it really works.

When my wife watches Tagalog shows and movies. The only parts I would understand is when the actors start getting emotional. I noticed they start speaking in English. Why do they do that? For me It's usually the other way around. Like when my mom gets mad at me she starts speaking or maybe I should say yelling in Japanese.

My parents use some Tagalog around the house ( Ba: Half Chinese half Filipino, Mom: full Filipino ) and i can decode it and get the gist of what they are saying but i cant say it myself. when i say it, it sounds odd and i cant get the pronunciations right. i recently started learning basic chinese on my own and i can pronounce and say the words right, should i do Chinese first ? i dont know, because i feel that i SHOULD know Tagalog because im 3/4 but, Chinese is not only easier for me, its more interesting too.

I want to learn Tagalog, the official language of the Phillipines because I'm half Filipino and half American. I'm hoping that there's some free complete download of a program so that I can learn it because my mom also speaks it. And she can just corret me if I say something wrong..... Please Help!!!!!!

I love you Mom.
NO matter what argument we have.
You are the best amd that is always true.
Without you, I wouldn't be the person I am...
Without you, I would've had no life.
You make my life special.
You loved me and I loved you.
And forever we will love.

I made this for my mum... but I want them to b in filipino language because my mum is filipino. Her birthday is on sunday btw

i need to take the language, Tagalog.
right now, i fail at sentences....
and i have maybe 2 years is my deadline to understand and speak...
So, [my mom is naturally Filipino, so i learn from her] i feel discouraged that no matter how much i look over the words, i can never get them in my head... =[

how can i keep the words in my head?
and also, any tips? ahah

I've always been fascinated by the cultures of our archipelago. My dad is from Mindanao, speaking the Mindanao dialect of Bisaya, and my mom is from Palawan, speaking Cuyunin. I'm also a student of political science, mainly interested in Philippine politics, and I find the imposition of Tagalog as the national Filipino language absurd. This is not to say that I think Bisaya ought to be the national language; I just feel that the national tongue ought to know how to speak all or at least most of the languages spoken in the territory concerned.

I love languages and learn them really quickly. It'd be great if you guys can refer me to a tutor (preferably not expensive) or at least to books I can study

Thanks!

I understand a little bit of it, but when my mom takes me to the Philippines, I want to go around to modeling agencies over there. I wouldn't be going for acting, because I know you have to speak tagalog. But for example, in France, American models don't speak French, so in the Philippines do American models have to speak Tagalog, or is English also spoken in the agencies?

I have no Tagalog background, but I'm meeting a girl and her mom in a few months and I guess you can say I want to impress with some conversation. =) I might look and sound like a fool, but the effort is what counts, right?

I don't have anyone to practice with. Any tips for learning online or workbooks?

I'm Filipino and i have never been to the philippines (I was born in the US). I might go next year, but i'm scared about what it be like because I can't even speak the language. I feel like I'm not a true filipino. My mom says they speak english over there, but you still have to know what they're saying.

Can anyone tell me about how your visit was? Were the people nice? And if you didn't know tagalog, was the trip still ok?

Sorry i don't want to offend Filipino's I'm half Filipino myself.

what i don't understand is why do they keep speaking English?
I mean why? I visited 2 months ago and everybody seems to speak English, even among themselves. Its like some social status or something if you speak English. I really find it stupid (sorry). They seem to be ashamed of there own language.

I hate it...one more thing woman in the Philippines seems to drop their panties once they here i'm from Chicago. I mean I don't mind Filipina girls are HOT but aren't they belittling themselves, just because i'm half and i have white skin???

The Filipino in me just feels sad about this, even though I grew up here in US. I grew with Filipino culture eating mom's adobo... yummy =D

my mom grew up speaking tagalog (a dialect of the filipino language--she can still speak it), but speaks english now (fluently and almost without an accent). i asked her one day if she thought in tagalog, and she realized that she did. i'm wondering if this is the same for the majority of people who grow up speaking a language other than english.

I'm 13 years old and trying to learn Tagalog. I'm Filipino but I've lived in the United States my whole life and I am just now learning to speak Tagalog. Can someone list websites or Tagalog magazines. What would be a recommended book that could help me? I already have a phrase book and dictionary so I don't need that. My mom speaks Tagalog fluently and she's from the Philippines and she's going to help me too.

How would you say the following,

"I'm half filipina"
"My mom is filipina, my dad is black."
"She speaks(or My mom speaks) Tagalog and Visayan."
"She is from Cebu City"
"I can only understand some tagalog, I'm still learning" (Or something equivalent to this)

Salamat kaibigan :]

One of my best friend's parents just had a stroke...she's feeling really bad about it, and I've consoled her a bit. I wanted to tell her mom some stuff too, but she only speaks tagalog. If anyone could translate this, I'd appreciate it.

/// I know how hard it is when one of your family members gets hurt. I really hope he gets better soon, and that it doesn't happen again.\\

And absolutely NO Google translate. That is BS right there, and it's not reliable.

I want to know a site where I can learn fluent Tagalog, I'm half Filipino and I don't know how to speak it, my mom who is Filipino does not have time to teach me. So I'd love to have help?
Any good websites?

I am Desperate to learn Tagalog, for it is my Mothers Homeland Language, which makes it mine as well. I want to learn also, because my mom's side of her family likes to talk about me in Tagalog, and I can't understand a thing... LOL.

I'd Ask my Mom or my Aunt, But I Haven't seen them for a long time.

Much help appreciated! :]

What is the best website for learning this filipino language? It's kind of hard to find since it's not an official language and just a recognized one. My mom is a visayan, so I would love to learn the language. Best website gets 5 stars.

I just spent 5 weeks in the Philippines to meet my Fiancee and her daughter. Mom speaks great english, but her daughter does not. Her birthday in comming soon and I would like to compose a letter in her native language. We had a wonderful time in the Philippines!! Is there a setting where you can select a language? Or something on Vista? Thanks! Don, U.S.A

i need to learn the "basic words" and sentence structures, etc.
body, adjectives, adverbs, fruits, parts of the house, parts of a school, you know. "daily words".

My mom is teaching me, but we're not committed to it..
ugh..
any ideas to help me learn Tagalog in 4 months?

Like I was talking with my mom and she asked her filipino friend but her friend didn't even know. So if you know fill us in!

I am 12 year old half Filipino and it drives me insane that my mom's side of the family can all speak Tagalog but me. I've tried books and tried to get her to teach me, but I have trouble remembering. Does anyone know how I can learn without having some pricey Rosetta Stone or something?

Hey, I was jus wondering if someone can help me translate a sentence into tagalog? I'm trying to talk to this girl's mom. Her mom speaks English fluently, but she is always impressed when I talk to her in Tagalog because not many Filipino kids around my area speak it. The sentence is:

"I have a lot of love for your daughter"

I'm thinking in my head that it should go something like mashado mahal sa daughter mo or maraming mahal sa daughter mo.

Much appreciated!

I am a Filipino citizen and my mom manager is planning to take me for tourist and he don't know what to write a invitation letter...
please can you give me some sample of invitation letter.
those it need a stamp in Cyprus?

I recently moved from the USA to the Philippines. I am currently 14 years old and attending 2nd year public high school. Though I attend a 1st year Filipino class as well as having a tutor. How long and difficult will it be to learn the language here?
So after I'm done learning Tagalog, how long will it take for me to learn a regional language such as Ilocano (my mom's decent) or Hilagayon (my dad's decent?