Are there any American or foreigners in the Philippines who have learned to speak a Philippine dialect?

Question

If so, which dialect have you learned to speak. How long did it take you to learn the dialect?

Answer 1

I have been here almost 4 years and it has been hard because everyone wants to talk to me in English, they say I speak slow, have a soft clear voice and no accent, even when I preach and teach in person and not just on the radio they ask for English.

I have managed to learn alot of Cebuano and like one of the answers above me, I do "understand" alot more.

Answer 2

I learned to speak Illongo in 6 months with the help of a paid tutor comming 2 hours a day 3x a week in 4 months. That only covered the basics. The rest I learned from bilingual friends over the years. I have been here over 5 years and still am learning and practicing. I'll never speak it as well or as fast as a native, but I still get a kick out of red faces when they speak to one of my friends and say something stupid in front of me and I respond back in Illongo. Not all of us kanos refuse to learn the local dialect.

Answer 3

depends where you come from and which province you plan to stay at in the philippines. i am from ****** occidental and speak ilonggo or hiligaynon but there are towns and cities in both furthest north and south of the same province that will be speaking cebuano. our native dialect has a lot of spanish words that people who studies spanish will be able to pick it up. also, FILIPINO is the national language, not tagalog. i correct people who ask me if i speak tagalog. i do speak filipino without the heavy ilonggo accent but can also speak it in the batangueno accent.
take a look at the redemptorist priests and the mormons, they learn the dialect of the areas they are assigned to.

Answer 4

Sure - a hundred words or so. It seems like a terrible language which is missing a number of letters, but they're still using them. But with the texting, half the people don't know how to write properly anyway.

Then there's Daga and daGa... two different things, and I don't know if they are saying "beautiful afternoon" or "beautiful Japan", and then there are the words with 3 identical vowels in a row... but I'm 70 and probably will never learn more Tagalog than I learned Chinese.

More power to the ones who have mastered it.

Answer 5

The American Mormons roaming around the Philippines. These dudes are fast learners.

Answer 6

I have lived here for 20 years, married to a Filipina, and can speak not just Tagalog but Cebuano as well. I have even adopted a Filipino "funny" nickname which means someone who is dumb. LOL.

Answer 7

when i was going to the US i was siting next to an American who is living in Cebu, and because it is a 13 hour flight i got to learn a lot from him and i remember that it took him only 3 months to really learn the language and he just learned it from his Cebuano wife

Answer 8

well have you ever heard of "Redford White" the actor?
he is pure american and can speak very fast and fluent tagalog like a native...on the other hand i was born in USA from parents that were both pure filipino (immigrants) and i can speak fluent tagalog w/ no accent and my cousins and siblings envy me ahhh its good to be filipino

Answer 9

i meet Dennis here in our place. he comes from liverpool, england and lived in the mindanao with his filipina wife for 8 years. i speak english to him and he replied in cebuano to me. his relatives kidded him and call him dennis the menace but he is really a jolly good fellow.

when i sang " for dennis is a jolly good fellow," ...... he finished the song ..... "that nobody can.. agree." he is really a joker in a group.

Answer 10

I cant speak much, but I can understand quite a bit of tagalag and cebuano, but its a combination of the two. cebualag. :)