and what is your native language?
i am half ilocano, half pangalatoc..

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 speak English,tagalog,french and spanish fluently.My native language is tagalog.

How do you say "I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, but I'm trying" in Korean? I have a handful of Korean classmates who can both speak and write in Korean. They are supportive of my decision to learn their native language so that I won't be left out in their conversations, (I'm Filipina and am able to speak Tagalog fluently). I just feel like I need to have a ready apology for them if they eventually become frustrated.
Thank You!!!!~Gamsamhamnida 감사합니다

Next year, I will be enrolling for a Korean class. I really want to learn Korean and it's something that I love and want to learn.
But, I live in Canada and our two official languages are French and English.
You at least have to have 1 French credit to graduate High school. Also, in grade school they teach French every year.

I have been in Canada since Grade 4 and I am now in Grade 9.
I took French this semester and I am planning on taking the Grade 10 course next year as well. It is a benefit if I can speak/understand French here in Canada, and I will have a better chance at getting a job later on. I'm not really interested in French, and I'm just taking it for the benefit. However, this would mean that I would be taking Korean and French at the same time. I don't want to give up either of them.

Will it be alright to learn 2 languages at once?
If I do decide to take both courses, I would have French for 5 days (Mon-Fri.)
But, Korean classes for only 1 day. (Saturday)
What should I do?
Won't I learn French faster since I will have it everyday compared to Korean which I will only have for one day?

Also, if I don't take the Grade 10 French Course this year, I would not be able to take it in Grade 11 or 12, since I would need to have a Grade 10 Credit, my only choice would be to take it in summer school if I decide to take it in Grade 11.

Another thing, I heard it's good if I can find a native speaker of the language I'm trying to learn and get help from them and that it's also good to use the language a lot and surround yourself with it. But, I speak Tagalog a lot because of my friends and family, I don't want to forget how to speak my native language, like my little brother. (Since he was still very young when we moved here.) & Since I only know about an 9 year old's vocabulary of Tagalog and I don't know many 'deep' Tagalog words, I learn new words and sayings (dialect) from my friends who have just recently moved.

So won't it seem like I'm learning 3 languages at once?
Will it be easier to learn only one language rather than more than one at the same time?

[Sorry for writing a lot .. ]
Another thing I forgot to add, I feel like I'm surrounded my all three of the languages because:

Tagalog - I speak it everyday with my friends and family.

Korean - I listen to a lot of Korean music, watch dramas (Subbed of course), and TV shows.

French - Everything is translated into french here, for example on a milk package it would say MILK and under LAIT, stuff like that.

Hi, I am a Filipino and I speak the native language of the Philippines (tagalog), and also English as my second language. Since 2008, I've been learning Hindi language by the help of Internet. A few months ago, I decided to learn Spanish also.

Can you give me some tips on how to learn quickly a foreign language?

I can speak and understand english language but Engish is not my native language (I'm a Filipino) so it's quite difficult for me to understand what "neti" means. I've tried looking in dictionaries but I guess it's an informal word so I cant find it. Thank You....

for us filipinos, is it right to say that the native language is tagalog if born in manila while the national language is pilipino?

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'm 15 years old and I still don't know how to talk in my native language. My parents are too lazy to go and teach me. So, is there another way for me to learn?

"Absense Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" I can speak simple Tagalog but I think this is too complex does any one know how to say "Absense Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" in Tagalog?
"Absense Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" I can speak simple Tagalog but I think this is too complex does any one know how to say "Absense Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" in Tagalog? maybe "missing you makes my love grow stronger" if it's easier to transelate.

My girlfriend and I havn't see each other in more than a week because I and her are bussy. She seems to think I don't love her anymore it's not true and I'm trying to tell her my feelings for her and why in her native language ... Tagalog.

well i just want to know how other people or ethnicities find my native language an interesting one?thanks!:)

Well, I'm half Filipino (on my mom's side, of course) and my dad is an American. And every time her and one of her sisters or one of her Filipino friends talk on the phone, she talks so loud! And while we're at Wal mart, she talks so loud in her native language, people keep staring at her in the store. I just wonder why Filipinos talk so loud on the phone.

Are you concerned about locals talking "over your head" "around you" and "underneath you" without knowing the topic of discussion?

Do you observe body language,facial gestures and small key words as indicators to aid your understanding of what is going on around you?

Would you learn the native language and speak it fluently but keep it secret for protection?or would you love to display your ability to speak the native language openly and proudly?

What do you think?

Filipino spouse, do you teach and talk to your children (multiracial) with your native language (Tagalog) or dialect? If not, why?

im filipino born and raised in the U.S. of A and proud of it. but for some reason i know how to speak my native language very fluently and even write it. i dont understand why some of my other filipino friends that wer born in the philippines but raised here understands it very well but cant speak it. and they wer born there and i was born and raised here.