foolsgold

I previously worked in a shared services / business processing environment which means our employees work for companies overseas. People who can speak any language other than English are very well paid (a language premium on top of the basic salary, which is usually the same or more than the amount of the basic salary). Common languages that were handsomely paid were Bahasa Melayu, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, German, and French, and I know for other companies Mandarin-speaking employees are paid well, too.

I try to be diverse and have variety when I read so I like knowing the author's ethnicity/background. It's also a good insight how their background or culture affects how and what they write, the themes in their writing, etc. I've read books by Nigerians, Japanese, Russians, etc.

I think the best way to start is with Basic phrases (Magandang umaga = good morning, Magandang gabi = good evening, etc). Then you can move on to expanding vocabulary and learning the basic sentence structure. I think grammar should come later on when you have learned more words.

Let me know if you need more help!

When I had a small Nokia phone that could was hard to press, I used shortcuts. Now I don't have any excuse for that and would like to express myself accurately so I use full text. In more recent times where language has really evolved through social media, I would sometimes cutoff some words like "probs" instead of probably or something like that. I am annoyed when people use sticky caps though especially when the person texting is a full grown adult. I feel like they haven't gotten past their 12-year old Myspace self 

Do you mean the pronunciation or the language itself? There is an abundance of accents in the UK which do not sound classy at all (Geordie is one example). I find the British accents more interesting though. They are more distinct and "colorful." My favorite British accent is the Yorkshire accent. Think Ygritte in Game of Thrones or Anna in Downton Abbey.

I am proud to have read some parts of Ulysses but unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me tell you what it had been about.  I'm just completely stumped and I admire people who have actually finished and understood the book in some way.

I've read a lot of Shakespeare (Hamlet, R + J, Macbeth) and can now brag to have read him.

It's raining cats and dogs. I was confused why it would rain animals and found it funny when the meaning was explained. I cannot use it in conversations these days as I think it's too odd. Can we say it's raining siamese and poodles to make it cuter?

It's easy to learn for sure since it is everywhere in the media and there are a lot of resources to study it unlike, say Urdu or Punjabi. When you're coming from a language with a different alphabet, it can either be really easy if it has less letters (Chinese, Japanese) but rather hard if it is from a different family entirely (Chinese, Hungarian). But again, the availability of English makes it easier to learn since we consume entertainment in English anyway. It's just unavoidable these days.

I've read a lot of books in my lifetime and these two really stood out for me. Both tells of the time during WWII. While I was reading the book it made me reflect on how I am taking the little thing in life for granted. I also realized that no matter the decades/time that have passed since then, I feel like the situation remains the same for the world and we're all just looking to the side, ignoring it.

- Night by Elie Wiesel

- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

When I've studied well, then I am usually more relaxed before the exam. If I hadn't studied at all then I try to cram everything in which is honestly just counter-productive  I like studying in peace so the same logic applies to exams. Before the exam, I try to find a quiet place to concentrate and focus. It's like a mini-meditation session to get me in the zone for answer test questions.

Times are a-changing and it's quite evident with countless words being added to our dictionaries. It really shows how languages can evolve over time (or even a short period of time). It also reflects the effect of technology on our culture and language, and how people adapt to the changing times. I'm not sure what a tweep is or how socially relevant it is to be included. 

Can anyone tell me how to use the two words properly? I think how I understand it is nang is used for verbs and ng otherwise, especially nouns?

For example:

tumawa nang malakas = nang malakas then becomes an adverb

bumili ng prutas = ng is used to identify an object.

Am I using it correctly? There are more confusing scenarios but this is the first one I thought of.

Thanks for your help.

YES!! Never judge a book by its cover is true in many ways but in the literal sense I care for it so much! I don't like the tacky clip art/stock photo pictures. Sometimes they even look like they were edited using Microsoft Word. There are a lot of cringe-worthy cover art for YA fantasy books out there as well and I want to burn these types of books when I see them  Sorry, that's a bit too much but I feel so strongly about it.

So many but for Harry Potter it will always be Sirius Black. I feel like he never had a shot of living a full life and if he did, I think he would have made the most amazing adventures. I cried when he was killed off. I was JK Rowling would make a short stories collection of Sirius' life as a teenager. That would be amazing to read!

No doubt The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I love anything war-themed (books, tv shows, movies) and this one not only piqued my interest because of the general theme but because it's protagonists are children and Death himself. It's a novel idea to me so I really enjoyed reading that perspective. The horrifying events of war are brilliantly captured in this books and I can guarantee that you will shed tears.

I can definitely relate. I used to work in Australia for a while and had to use the British versions to "blend in." People would often times ask where I'm from if I used the American version (one time I asked "what floor" and the woman was confused. I should have used "what level")  When I came back to my home country, I had to use the American versions again so people won't think I'm a snob for using British. I can't help but use centre, realise and other -ise words especially.

I had met him at the corner of 2nd and 5th Avenue where I was waiting for a taxi cab. He...

English is the universal language so it only makes sense to teach universal concepts such as Math & Science in that language. However, history, Filipino and maybe even values education should be taught in our native tongue so the students can better appreciate and understand not only the language but our roots. A good balance of both languages is key here as we don't want to lose the language aspect of our culture but at the same time we want to be able to have a more universal reach. I think another foreign language should be encouraged in schools - maybe Chinese or a European language.

I think a good sense check is to identify if you are combining two completely different words. This makes it a compound noun and would most likely warrant the use of a hyphen. If the 2 words you want to hyphen has a root word then it probably doesn't need a hyphen. Obviously when in doubt, Google is your friend

I read a lot of pocketbooks growing up so it probably was one of the Babysitters' Club book. I also read Mary Kate and Ashley mystery novels (how pathetic haha) and Goosebumps. I can't tell which ones I've read first though. The first legitimate novel would have to be the first Harry Potter book. I got a copy when I was in 1st grade and didn't read it until a year later.

Yes there is a Z and they pronounce it as "Zed." I personally use the American version most of the time as it feels more natural to me.

Here's an interesting info from Etmonline. Hope this helps!

I am coming back everyday to this thread as I'm really curious to know what this language is. Posting here to bump so hopefully someone with the answer can see it.

I have been going on Youtube to check which languages sound similar to it:

For comparison: Arabic / Persian / Turkish : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXI49Pefqp8

I think the original post is closely related to one of these.

Mahal kita is straightforward and really brings home the emotions you want to convey. It's the main reason why there aren't a lot of alternatives (the ones mentioned above are too formal). What I can suggest is instead of saying I love you, say why you love that person or mention a specific thing. So instead of "Mahal kita", you can say that you appreciate this person's X (Sobrang pinapahalagahan ko ang X or lubos akong natutuwa or Talagang na-aappreciate ko kapag..")

Completely agree. And it's in the nature of languages to evolve across generations anyway.

I use naughty for kulit. For balat-kayo I'd probably use pretentious or two-faced. The others are tricky though, especially pang-ilan. I remember that being a trick question in a HS quiz but our teacher never revealed the answer