I've just spent the day hiking. And my tour guide, my new chinese american friend, was telling me about his observations of the way Filipinos speak English. He noted some terms we use which Americans would find... peculiar, not wrong. only because the terms may not be in use anymore in Everyday Conversation by Americans:
"Please wait for a while" - this is an eye-opener for me. we Pinoys say this to mean waiting for a short time. Americans would get confused because 'a while" means a long time. Which is why Americans would say "please wait for a moment" or "for a short while".
Suitors and courting. they hardly talk about suitors or courting there anymore. Some of them would actually start laughing if these words were used in a sentence. its turn-of-the-century English, he says.
"Are you dining in?" Nothing wrong with it. But 'to dine' is hardly used as a verb. They talk about 'wine and dine' as nouns.
Debut. This coming-out party for 18 year olds is no longer celebrated in middle America. He gets surprised to be invited to a 'debut'.
"Falling in line". This is a very military term which again, fell in disuse. They would 'form a line' not 'fall in line'.
Thrice. Once, twice, THREE times a Lady. They don't say 'thrice'.
This is just a sample of things he noticed. Again, nothing really wrong with it (except for the 'a while' term which is confusing). And we talked about it not in the context of correcting me. But only in strictly observational terms. Besides, he mentions that Anericans would understand us anyway.
But I mentioned that it wouldnt hurt to learn about these things and do some corrective action, in the hope that we are understood better or that we would 'sound better'.
11 comments:
CC,
Having grown up Americanized, I've always thought "Wait for a while" was the #1 peculiarity among phrases. I remember being told that many times while I was on vacation in Manila and kind of raised an eyebrow everytime someone would say that. After a split second you do end up getting what it really means.
I wanted to contribute by mentioning that another peculiarity is the use of "CR" as in comfort room instead of the more American term rest room. We never abbreviate it to just RR though. I usually end up just changing my ways (When in Rome :)) and adapt CR whenever I come over.
Cheers and thanks for putting this entry up. BTW any sparks with Chinese/American friend? I have HK on my list of places to visit and I hope you've enjoyed yourself.
that's true. it's funny how the same words mean differently. one time an officemate told me to look for her pocketbook. so i went to her cube and look for a book. i couldn't find one. i said to her i coulld not find it. she was in panic thinking somebody stole it. to my surprise, a pocketbook is a small bag. LOL! not the novel book that we read.
hiya pintstriped! thanks for sharing more Pinoy english samples! yeah. comfort room is also something totally archaic as far my friend is concerned. hahaha
hello gharyjohn! wow. that's a new one. thanks for contributing! ill post a part 2 coming from readers!
Funny i had similar reaction when i gifted a nice workmates with a handbag. She told me how nice the pocketbook was and i was wondering because i knew i gave her a handbag.
They also notice how we use "she" for all gender. I then realized that in a casual conversation most pinoys would have difficulty using he as oppose to she when talking in conversational english. Maybe because we actually don't use a translated he or she in filipino. We actually use "Siya" for all gender.
Just a thought.
I remember, "Debut" is definitely out. They usually celebrate "Sweet Sixteen" which as the name suggests the sixteenth birthday usually during the 10th grade. That's the practice here in the East Coast even with pinoys, im not sure about the west coast which i think is more asian than the rest of the country.
I do agree with some of these observations. I can easily pick a filipino accent just from the pronunciation and choice of words.
The word dining is still used in Australia. It is commonly used in fast food outlets when they ask you whether you are dining in or taking away. Debut is also used but not as an 18th birthday event. Queue is often used instead of forming a line. Toilet instead of comfort room. (Americans find the word toilet too dirty. Europeans prefer water closet). Bathroom refers to a room where one bathes as opposed to a toilet. Not sure about the pocketbook. I imagine it is what is commonly referred to as a purse or a handbag. Gift is never used as a verb e.g. I gave her a handbag for a present. Confusion between he and she is common amongst Asians. Soft drinks like 7-up or sprite is commonly referred to here as lemonade. Filipinos can sometimes sound impolite because we just plainly say yes or no as oppose to "yes, please" and "no, thank you."
It took me a bit to unlearn the American pronunciation and spelling when I move down here.
thanks, raffy, for sharing all that info! i never realized the propensity to say 'she' for pinoys!
thanks, quent! i guess australia and even the UK would be another matter! so much more to learn! but i focused on american english, hike buddy being american!
Hi Quent, thanks for the correction, I agree with you, gift should not have been used as a verb.
Hi CC, thanks for the reply, i will give you a ring one of these days.
Check this Wikipedia page for a lot more English words and phrases that are peculiar to the Philippines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_English
These things just point out that English in the Philippines is as valid a dialect as American English, British English, Australian English, Indian English, etc.
i grew up in manila except for schooling in california. but those terms were never part of my vocabulary. debut, of course, is a cultural thing in the phil. so it's still used. the others you noted where phrases i would hear from promdi's.
thanks for the comment, anonymous one! I believe not only those from the provinces actually utter these phrases.
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