calebmelvern

Not at all. I almost never read book reviews at all, especially from those big review sites. I'm not the kind of reader who picks out all the little details and criticizes them. But that's exactly what they do in book reviews and that's just not my thing.

When talking to a foreigner, say an Australian, do you notice that you mimic the Australian accent without you knowing it? I've caught myself doing this myself several times and I find it quite funny. I have also noticed that this is being done in TV shows. For example, when a foreigner is being interviewed, say a Japanese, the dubbed translation is of someone who speaks in English with that distinct Japanese accent. A little odd but it makes the translation more real, I guess you could say.

Ah.. another one of those things that make the English language confusing at times. Since you were wondering whether the terms have specific usage in the British language, I did a quick search. Here's an article from BBC which talks about it as well as the terms may and might. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv162.shtml

Thank you both for the help. I will try to use these properly in a sentence as soon as I can. There is someone teaching me the little bit of Tagalog he knows but he doesn't know as much as others would and all he could teach me in this regard was 'mahal kita'.

Mahal kita is almost always used in nearly all situations. So you really can't go wrong with that. The alternatives mentioned here are very rarely used.

I'm the type who can be really frank, so in situations like this, I just ask the person to repeat what he said. I find that the person appreciates this more than me pretending I understood what he said. Saves both of us precious time.

To be honest, I have no real reason why I want to learn other languages. I do it because I find it fun. I'm a bit of a geek, too, and it makes me feel geekier when I can speak multiple languages. :nerd:

I can't think of anything else, to be honest. "Iniibig kita" comes to mind, but this is rarely used nowadays as it sounds too formal.

Sometimes, I can't help but feel that apps make life more complicated.

For example, there are many language learning apps out there. Some are great, many aren't. But if I were to choose, I'd always just search for a language learning course/site on the web, which is almost always more comprehensive and dynamic. I'm not an always on-the-go kind of person, so I use my laptop way more than my mobile device.

Same thing for those jogging/running apps or whatnot. Just run!

I never use shortcuts. It just doesn't feel right. I have friends who use shortcuts a lot and I have come to understand what they're saying without a problem. What I don't like is when one doesn't use punctuation. I hate reading a block of text without a single punctuation at all.

So, it's more like when someone says 'meh' or 'eh' and are being all chilled out about something? If that's the case, this is my new favorite word in Tagalog.

Yes, but it still depends on how the word is used. It can also mean "just because." For example:

Basta mahal kita. = I love you just because.

Not the best example but whatever. Lol!

Sometimes, this irritates me. Other times, it doesn't. I'm not really sure why. I have gay friends and I find it amusing when they use their beki terms. There are just times when I feel like it goes over the top. You know, those times when a beki would use these terms just because they're beki, seemingly without caring if the person they're speaking with understands him or not. I don't know if this makes sense but I hope you guys know what I'm trying to say. And of course, no offense meant to all bekis out there.

I've gotten use to speaking in a mixture of Tagalog & English or Taglish too and so are my kids.  Just like what Sidney mentioned, there's so many Tagalog words that are so "deep" to be use in daily conversations like "floor" instead of "Palapag".  But I think using "water" instead of "tubig" is just...

  :bored:

But now I think schools are going with this full Tagalog instruction thing with some subjects.  Like recently I helped my daughter with her Economics subject (taught in Tagalog Ekonomiks) and it really gave me a headache. 

:sweating:

The tagalog words/phrases are so deep that I have to look it up online to understand what the book is saying.  Example:

"Tanto ng Paghahalili" means "Rate of Substitution" while "Kurba ng Pantay Layon" means "Indifference Curve".

I wonder what words/phrases they will come up with when they decided to teach Math in full Tagalog too.  :confused:

I'm an Economics major and this sounds really odd to me. But I like the idea that schools are doing this. I also use an English word here and there when speaking in Filipino. But I try my best to avoid foreign terms. Some friends even laugh at me because I speak "weird." When I explain to them, they find me even weirder. I don't care, though. I will never find it normal saying things such as "nagfo-fall in line."  :confused:

I'm also not an expert but I've seen both terms used as >> "Nandito ako" and "Narito ako", in books and song lyrics ("narito" in earlier songs), so I don't think its usage depends if it pertains to a person or an object.

Again, I'm not an expert but I think the word "narito" was commonly use in earlier times while "nandito" is like a newer version of the word and commonly use today.  Like a deeper (or "mas malalim") Tagalog word.  :grin:

I agree. Narito and even rito, are almost never used these days. You would always hear people say dito and nandito. At least that's what I experience here in my place. Oh and yeah, I almost forgot about the song Nandito Ako. I'm afraid there'll come a time when rito will become obsolete.

I like the Aussie accent. It can be really funny and cute, and I don't mean that in a negative way. I have even used Aussie voice overs over at Fiverr for some of my sites.

I do absolutely the same thing. I find it surprising that I forget the spelling of words sometimes, even though they aren't all that uncommon. I think this method also explains why it is recommended to take notes while studying because you tend to remember the things you write over things you just read.

If you're asking which one I'd choose right now, I'd pick an app or study on my own. There's no doubt in my mind that having someone teach you is the better option. However, I don't want to enroll in a class or hire someone to teach me simply because of my work schedule.

Now this is an interesting questions. Never thought about it before. Once I had a strange dream in which I was in the anime I was watching at that time. I was speaking Japanese, conversing with the main characters of the series.

I may be wrong, but I imagine it follows the same rules as Dito vs Rito. Dito is used when the preceding word ends with a consonant, while rito is used when the preceding word ends with a vowel.

I can't agree about Narito sounding horrible when used to refer to persons. The song that comes with the line "Narito ako" comes to mind.

I don't mind this at all. For instance, even if I am a Filipino, I am not that good in Filipino. I think this is because ever since I started going to school, English has been the primary focus of schools.

I don't mean to offend you in any way, but don't you think this is exactly the problem? I think that "not minding" is a serious issue, because it's paramount to saying that there's nothing wrong in Taglish being the norm. This is just my opinion, so again I don't intend to attack you personally. I just feel like we are gradually losing our identity because our native language isn't being used as much as we should.

I always get confused with broccoli. Like right now, I misspelled it again! I never learn!

I remember this being a lesson in grade school! I'll admit that I've used sila wrongly several times before. Sina just doesn't stick as well. I've noticed that Filipino grammar lessons tend to stick less compared to English lessons. Has anyone noticed this too? I wonder why that is...  :confused:

Not for me. I've always enjoyed Filipino classes more than English classes. But it's no surprise that Filipino language lessons "doesn't stick" because so many Filipinos seem to prioritize learning English. The media has a lot to do about it as well. Have you noticed journalists reporting in Taglish? That's just plain horrible.

I'd say it's my curiosity to learn about the culture of different countries. I would love to travel the world someday and learning a foreign language would definitely be of help. I also want to be able to read a novel in a foreign language other than English.

Yes. I am from the Philippines and English is our second language. In fact, most of the subjects are taught in English. Some schools even have a sort of English-only policy. Kids learn English from primary school all the way to university.

Like the other user, I also remember these questions were the easiest for me to answer. But most, if not all, of my classmates hated reading comprehension. I don't know if that's because they were just lazy to read or if such questions are really more difficult in general. As for me, I love reading. And it's a skill that everyone should have.

Try to learn the International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA). It's not that hard and it will help you immensely. After you have done that, practice reading the phonetic transcriptions out loud. There are many resources online that offer phonetic transcriptions, one of the good ones being the sond "The Chaos". Google it.

Thanks man! First time I've heard of the International Phonetics Alphabet. I'll have to look into this and start practicing.