Filipino Clubhouse

[jaaraf]

Just wanted to create a place where Filipinos at home or abroad can have some small talk. Half-Filipinos and people of other nationalities who have Filipino friends or want to make FIlipino friends are also welcome. Posts in all dialects are acceptable, but please provide English translations.

Ako, Cebuano na Katoliko nga duktor. (Me, I'm a Cebuano Caholic who's a doctor.)

[Tonks40]

I want to join! My parents are both from Tondo, Manila, but immigrated here to the US in 1960. Want to give a shout-out to all my Filipino compadres and comadres not only here in the States but also at home!

[Cavaille-Coll]

I'm not Filipino, but I can say "ng" correctly.

[Ghoti]

I'm not Filipino either, but my parish choir is! So I'll just pop in from time to time.

So...how do you say, "Lurk" in Tagalog?

[jaaraf]

Originally Posted by Tonks40

I want to join! My parents are both from Tondo, Manila, but immigrated here to the US in 1960. Want to give a shout-out to all my Filipino compadres and comadres not only here in the States but also at home!

Just wondering... How fluently do you speak Filipino?

[jaaraf]

Originally Posted by Ghoti

I'm not Filipino either, but my parish choir is! So I'll just pop in from time to time.

So...how do you say, "Lurk" in Tagalog?

Cool! Do they occasionally practice with Filipino songs?
I think it's "tago" more properly translated as "hide". I'm not too sure. Tagalog is not my dialect, but the national language Filipino is mostly in Tagalog.

[Ghoti]

Originally Posted by jaaraf

Cool! Do they occasionally practice with Filipino songs?
I think it's "tago" more properly translated as "hide". I'm not too sure. Tagalog is not my dialect, but the national language Filipino is mostly in Tagalog.

No, the masses and hymns are all in English. But they have very nice voices, and seem to be very dedicated.

[Tonks40]

Originally Posted by jaaraf

Just wondering... How fluently do you speak Filipino?

None whatsoever. Both my parents speak Tagalog, but they never taught us kids growing up here in the States. They felt that we'd have better opportunities in our new country if we spoke fluent English.

They never foresaw the influx of Filipino immigrants in the 1970's. Thus I have friends of Filipino descent in which half of them speak only English, and the other half are bilingual.

[Ghoti]

Originally Posted by Tonks40

None whatsoever. Both my parents speak Tagalog, but they never taught us kids growing up here in the States. They felt that we'd have better opportunities in our new country if we spoke fluent English.

They never foresaw the influx of Filipino immigrants in the 1970's. Thus I have friends of Filipino descent in which half of them speak only English, and the other half are bilingual.

Anyone who can speak two languages has an advantage over someone who is monolingual -- even if the second language is extremely rare. The ability to function in multiple languages is "good exercise" for the brain, and someone who knows one more language has an advantage in learning new languages over someone who is monolingual.

[jaaraf]

Originally Posted by Ghoti

Anyone who can speak two languages has an advantage over someone who is monolingual -- even if the second language is extremely rare. The ability to function in multiple languages is "good exercise" for the brain, and someone who knows one more language has an advantage in learning new languages over someone who is monolingual.

I agree. I have classmates who started to learn our local dialect after studying here from another part of the country. At the time , they already spoke English, Filipino (the national tongue), and their dialect, Ilonggo. By the time we were in 4th year of med-school they could converse well with patients in Cebuano. Really amazing!

I personally am able to speak and write well in three - English, Filipino and my dialect, Cebuano. I can understand half of what I read in Spanish though (Cebuano has a lot of words borrowed from Spanish). Too bad by the time I got to college, they stopped requiring 4 Spanish subject at the local university like they used to at the time my parents did.

[Milliardo]

Originally Posted by Ghoti

I'm not Filipino either, but my parish choir is! So I'll just pop in from time to time.

So...how do you say, "Lurk" in Tagalog?

Tago is hide (as in, hide-and-seek), so "lurk" wouldn't exactly fit it. The closest is masid (observe), so a lurker would be taga-masid (observer).

[purelovemmc]

Hi everyone,

I know this is a thread to just talk with other Filiponos by blood, or by heart but I just have a question that I would like to address to other Filipinos like me.

It's a family matter. I am turning 20 and just immigrated in Canada about three years ago. Unlike other Filipinos here, we are not yet as stable and not both of my parents are working, just my mom. I guess from there you can say we are financially unstable. I am just wondering about your opinion on helping out parents.

I am almost 20 and I also have a future to think of. I would like to be stable the moment I graduate university and be able to prepare for the future of my own family. However, what is bothering me is the pressure I get, especially from my mom, in terms of helping out financially. When my mom was at her early 20s, and single she used to give all of her full salary to her mom. I am scared that she expect the same thing from me. My mom always speak of seeking help in paying mortgage whenever they purchase house. Problem is they only talk to me about this and never to my other two brothers.

I am caught between culture and what is right. On the back of my head I know that my parents are not my responsibilities and I should also be saving for my own future. However, there is this culture pressure on me to put aside all my future plans and make sure that my parents have everything they want.

Am I sounding selfish with these concerns?

If anything, what I only want to follow is what the Catholic Church says because that is the ultimate truth. But I also want your opinion on this.

Thanks for your help and time!

[Milliardo]

That is hard; since your mom is still working, I would say save first and then later help out. You cannot help your parents out if you first cannot help yourself out. So the first thing that you should do is to help yourself. Filipino culture dictates anyway that you should help your parents when they are old and infirm; that would naturally mean having your parents live with you when they are old (not sending them off to a pension house) or else taking care of them if they do decide to live alone.

[jaaraf]

Originally Posted by purelovemmc

Hi everyone,

I know this is a thread to just talk with other Filiponos by blood, or by heart but I just have a question that I would like to address to other Filipinos like me.

It's a family matter. I am turning 20 and just immigrated in Canada about three years ago. Unlike other Filipinos here, we are not yet as stable and not both of my parents are working, just my mom. I guess from there you can say we are financially unstable. I am just wondering about your opinion on helping out parents.

I am almost 20 and I also have a future to think of. I would like to be stable the moment I graduate university and be able to prepare for the future of my own family. However, what is bothering me is the pressure I get, especially from my mom, in terms of helping out financially. When my mom was at her early 20s, and single she used to give all of her full salary to her mom. I am scared that she expect the same thing from me. My mom always speak of seeking help in paying mortgage whenever they purchase house. Problem is they only talk to me about this and never to my other two brothers.

I am caught between culture and what is right. On the back of my head I know that my parents are not my responsibilities and I should also be saving for my own future. However, there is this culture pressure on me to put aside all my future plans and make sure that my parents have everything they want.

Am I sounding selfish with these concerns?

If anything, what I only want to follow is what the Catholic Church says because that is the ultimate truth. But I also want your opinion on this.

Thanks for your help and time!

Contribute to the household needs and at the same time try to save up yourself for the future.

[jaaraf]

Hey? Where has everybody gone to?