Tag Archives: Tagalog

International, Language, Religion, Travel

POPE FRANCIS WILL ADDRESS FILIPINOS IN TAGALOG DURING VISIT TO THE PHILIPPINES

November 15, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

The Vatican, Italy (The Adobo Chronicles) – Filipino Church leaders preparing for Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines in January have announced that the head of the Roman Catholic Church will speak in English during his speeches and meetings with the Filipino people. This, despite the fact that the Argentinian pontiff is not as comfortable with English as he is in Latin and Spanish.

Today, however, The Vatican once again surprised many who are closely watching the Pope’s pronouncements and activities. It was revealed that Francis has instead chosen to speak in Tagalog while visiting the Philippines. He is currently taking Tagalog lessons from a private coach in Rome.

Tagalog (Pilipino) is the national language of the Philippines. It draws on many Spanish words (The Philippines was under Spanish rule for many centuries before the U.S. brought Hollywood into the country).

Pope Francis said that so far, learning Tagalog has been a breeze, saying that in fact, he didn’t have to re-learn many words and phrases which have the same meaning in both Tagalog and Spanish, like ‘Padre’ (father), ‘relihiyon’ (religion), ‘krus’ (cross), and ‘Espirito Santo’ (Holy Spirit).

Perhaps the only phrase the Pope will not get quite right is ‘noche buena’ which douesn’t mean ‘a good night’ in Tagalog. Rather it means ‘midnight feast.’ As in food.

Human Interest

CALIFORNIA’S BILINGUAL PARROT SPEAKS TAGALOG, NOT SPANISH

October 15, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Torrance, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – A parrot that spoke with a British accent when he disappeared four years ago has been reunited with his owner, and he now speaks Spanish. Or so the owner first thought.

A veterinarian used a microchip to track Nigel, an African parrot, to his owner, Darren Chick, a Briton who lives in Torrance. Mr. Chick said Nigel’s accent is gone, and that the bird now chatters in Spanish. He said last week’s reunion had brought tears to his eyes, although Nigel bit him when he tried to pick him up.

Chick said all he heard from his red, white, blue and yellow-feathered pet this week was “cuchara,” “tenedor,” “cuchillo,” “mesa” and “silla” (Spanish words for spoon, fork, knife, table and chair).

Today, however Nigel kept saying “salamat” (Tagalog for “thank you”). That’s when Chick realized he was actually speaking in Tagalog, the dominant language in the Philippines.

Though spelled differently, cuchara, tenedor, cuchillo, mesa and silla mean the same things as they do in Spanish.

Chick has appealed to the Filipino or Filipino family that adopted Nigel for the last four years to come forward so he could thank them for making his parrot bilingual.

Incidentally, Nigel’s feathers are the same as the colors of the Philippine flag.

Business, International, Language, Politics, The Media

ILOCANOS PROTEST SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR’S DECISION TO MAKE TAGALOG AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE FOR THE CITY BY THE BAY

April 2, 2014 Pol Pinoy 10 Comments

San Francisco, California – Not all Filipinos are happy with the announcement by Mayor Ed Lee that Tagalog has been added to the shortlist of languages that will be included in official documents in the city and country of San Francisco. The other “official languages” are English, Spanish and Chinese. San Francisco informational brochures and application forms for various services are available in these official languages.

A coalition of Ilocano-speaking Filipinos protested yesterday’s announcement, claiming that there are more Ilocano-speaking Filipinos than there are Tagalog speakers in San Francisco. Ilocano is the predominant dialect in many provinces of the Northern Luzon region of the Philippines. The late President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. was Ilocano.

Filipinos living in Hawaii expressed their full support for the protest. Ilocanos are the predominant Filipino residents of Hawaii. Many public signage in Hawaii are written in Ilocano.

The San Francisco issue has become more controversial as a group of Kapampangan-speaking Filipinos joined in the protest demanding that their dialect be included as well as an official language. Kapampangan is the dialect spoken in a huge province of Northern Luzon, Pampanga, where former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her late father, Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal, hail from.

Mayor Ed Lee has not returned calls for comment from The Adobo Chronicles.