The 3 best things about speaking Tagalog

I did an interview last night and one thing I was asked was “Why do you speak Tagalog?”. The implication was “Why did you even bother because everyone here speaks English anyway?”

Well…

…the answer seems obvious to me: “Why not?”.

If I were in France, I’d speak French. If I were in Germany, I’d speak German. I’m in the Philippines so I speak Tagalog (ok: Filipino). If nothing else, I think it’s just polite to make the effort to learn it.

But there is something else.

What I find much more important about speaking Tagalog (or any language, for that matter) is the wider world of experiences and connections it opens you up to.

Speaking the native language of the country you’re living in provides you with a few things:

1. A deeper understanding of what people value in life and what motivates them.

This has lead to an added understanding of co-workers, friends and employees and has even changed my stance on certain issues. Having lived in one country my whole life you get a feeling of how things are supposed to be, what people are supposed to think and what’s supposed to be important. Coming to the Philippines, this was turned on its head and people did things differently, thought differently and valued different things and it made me think “Things are one way back home and things are another, different way here but there’s no one right way of doing things. And that’s ok.”. Realising that and then extrapolating that to every country in the world which has their own “way of doing things” helped me accept the differences between home and the Philippines.

2. More meaningful connections with the people you engage with.

I enjoy interacting with people, learning about their families, what they do, how they work, what they think about a particular topic. It’s nice being able to go the extra mile and have that interaction with strangers, on a deeper level than just “where are you from?”. Outside of Manila in particular, speaking Tagalog helps people I talk to relax and be comfortable enough to get past the common “Oh shit, this guy’s a foreigner, I’m going to struggle speaking English with him” feeling.

3. An “ease of use” quality that non-speakers aren’t privy to.

Whether I’m riding a taxi, renting a boat or looking for a guide in the mountains, I’ve become incredibly comfortable engaging with local service providers and making sure I clearly discuss what I want, where I’m going, what I need, how long it will take to get there, how much it will cost, asking for a better price, stating whether or not something is acceptable and so on. This makes it easy for me to go anywhere and do anything knowing that I’m unlikely to run into any serious language barriers.

To top it off, every day in my life here I hear, “Ah marunong ka pala mag-Tagalog [wow, you know how to speak Tagalog]” from strangers I interact with and you know what? It never gets boring. It’s always accompanied with a big smile or a laugh and honestly works as a great ice breaker for relieving the tension of “Ah does this guy speak English? Shit, I’m going to have to speak English”. I know they feel that way by the way because I often overhear people say when I approach “Naku, English-speaking ito [Oh no, this guy speaks English]” or “Shyet, mag-no-nosebleed ako dito” [Shit, this guy’s going to make my nosebleed by forcing me to speak English] or simply “*sees me, laughs, points to co-worker* ikaw na nga [you talk to him instead]”.

It’s all part of the fun of being in this awesome country with these awesome people. I wouldn’t change a thing.

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I offer Tagalog lessons and a free 5 day email program for learning Tagalog through www.learntagalogfast.com

Email me at phil@learntagalogfast.com