What is the reason why Filipinos speak half English and half Tagalog?

Show all answers

THINKER

That would be Taglish.

Maybe it's the new trend . But there are many factors. Some maybe:

-A person does not know how to speak English that good so he uses Tagalog with it.

-There maybe some words in English that a person does not know so he uses Tagalog to substitute it.

-Taglish is used by Filipinos living abroad, such as in Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom.

-In school they re told to speak English and in their homes, they speak Tagalog so it gets mixed up.

According to Wikipedia. Taglish is common in Metro Manila.

Ms Mighty

Because there are some Tagalog words that are not good on the ear. For example, I'd be more comfortable saying "hinila ng kid yung chair" instead of the straight Tagalog sentence "Hinila ng bata yung salumpuwit" (the kid pulled the chair).

Or "Tara, dun tayo review sa library" instead of "Tara, duon tayo mag balik-aral sa silid-aklatan" (Come on, lets review in the library).

This also goes to show that Filipinos are generally literate about the English language, to the point where it is used in different ways to achieve the intended communication or message.

popsicle

it's called taglish. most of us are capable of speaking all-english or all-tagalog but oftentimes our tongues would slip and a mixture of english & tagalog would come out. believe it or not, it comes out naturally altho some people do it deliberately to the point that it sounds unnatural and annoying.

Teresa H

Its because Filipinos speak English as a second language. Meaning, their are some particular words in English that Filipinos are not so aware of so that happens. Like in 90% private schools in the Philippines tell kids that "This is an English speaking school." while at home, they speak all Tagalog and it kinda gets mixed up. And if you think that's bad, in Cebu, they mix up all THREE languages. They mix Tagalog, Cebuano and English. So at least in Manila they only combine two languages, in Cebu, they combine three!

Johny

Because they are good at both so why not mix. Plus all the stars on TV there are doing it so naturally the rest follow along. I'm sure you know how much Filipino's watch TV and take after the girls they watch. ie the fashion,skin whitening products and ofcourse the Taglish that comes with it all. I find it rather cute actually.

luosechi é§±å£«åŸº

I don't know if you've noticed, but if you hear people talking straight Tagalog, they seem to be talking faster than they can think (that goes especially for my wife). It is a fact that most tagalog words are longer than english words (for example delawan vs. two). probably because of that, they try to shorten what they say. It's called Taglish, but don't forget that sometime they throw in a spanish word, especially when numbering between 20 and 90.

joe

I spent a couple weeks last year in Manila and I found it very entertaining to hear a sports announcer call a basketball game using both languages ( I dont speak tagalog) !

Java

Force of habit probably. They'll speak English until they're at a loss for word and switch to Tagalog and vice versa.

53283663

Filipinos are very fortunate that the can use2 different languages everyday. I think it's a major advantage. I speak Tagalog and English all the time and the reason why I do this is I understand better and explain my thoughts better. For me it's really hard to express my opinion in pure Tagalog because I speak English most of the time.

pero_102

it's not only the Filipinos doing it, any nation that speaks english as their second language do that too.. If they're second language is french, they combine it too with their native tongue.

kahlan nynaeveÂ®

in a strictly corporate business world as mine is, we speak english fluently. we even have an english only policy in the office.

i admit i do speak in Taglish (Tagalog / English) sometimes but in a way that i don't mangle either language.

these are acceptable taglish for me:
i. just put your bag there na lang.
ii. she told me she is not coming na.
iii. it's okay with me naman po.

these are atrocious for me:
i. it's so mainit naman here, di ba? like sobra.
ii. let's make punta na to the mall.
iii. did you become galit at him?

as for the reasons, it is because well, almost everybody does speak in taglish. even the media does and since it is seen on TV and even in print, people do the same.

also, one factor is the environment that people are in. my niece speaks taglish and she learned it from her nanny. since her nanny does not speak impeccable english, both have learned to communicate via taglish.

as much as taglish does convey thoughts and ideas easily for some, taglish is also used because sometimes, there is no equivalent filipino word. just how are we supposed to translate square root? does it have to be parisukat na ugat?

i am really not against it as long as no language is being murdered and it is done only conversationally. in formal compositions though and in business dealings, i prefer that taglish is not used.

still

It means Filipinos are versatile when it comes to languages. There are families who speak different languages and several dialects at home- e.g. mother speaks waray, father speaks Cebuano, grandmother and grandfather speak Ilokano, Husband speaks English, cousins speak Tagalog. If everyone would speak using the language or dialect which he/she is more comfortable with, other members would be left out in the conversation. So to make it universally understood, people would resort to use Tagalog to accommodate the lolos and lolas and switch to English for the sake of those who have less Tagalog vocabularies. As a result, there is the tendency to get these two -Tagalog and English all mixed up.. .. this is how " taglish" is born.

STL Biker

I would assume because when you know english then you are more capable of getting overseas jobs than if you don't know english. That is why English is learned at an early age.

Aref H4

Mutation.

Biological, cultural, mentality. Just imagine Leonardo, a Teen-age Mutant, dressed like a Ninja (Japanese occupation), speaking in English (American occupation) and cursing in Spanish (Castillian legay).

âœ¿ einchen âœ¿

I speak Tagalog and English but I don't mix it up when in conversation except of course when there are no Tagalog words for a certain English word. In my opinion speaking TagLish often makes one sound ridiculous. Well some Filipinos doesn't realize that because they are used to watching celebrities do TagLish and they think it's cool which isn't.

Gurlie

I find it easier. There are Tagalog words that doesn't pop out of my mind the given moment so id replace them with English words. I don't find it ridiculous really. I grew up hearing Taglish everywhere and it doesn't bother me at all.

I'dStillPreferNoName

Becoz we found it more trendy and unique. In my opinion i can speak Taglish coz i am not really that good in tagalog, i mean i can understand the words but there were times i forgot that word in tagalog and so i use the english word.

Didn't you find it fashionable when you hear people using taglish word?

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: