Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Tagalog as a Second Language
Did not think it would be this challenging--- getting my half-Filipino daughter to speak fluent Tagalog. After all, I speak Tagalog fluently, I may not write it very well (always was able to write in English better than Tagalog while in school in the Philippines) but I can certainly immerse Mary in Tagalob conversation if I wanted to.
And that's the catch- I have to want to. I DO WANT TO, its the implementation that is the hard part. For half my life now, I have lived in an English-speaking country (USA, Canada, then back to the USA) and I have strived hard to not only speak English but to THINK in English. So it takes a lot of intention to speak Tagalog.
It has to be done. As my husband, Jack says, Mary has to learn about that half of her heritage and she would miss out a lot if she does not know the language.
I will start today--- I will talk to her for at least a full hour every evening in Tagalog. Then, maybe we would have a "Word of the Day" Today's word: "halik" - meaning kiss. I think that's a good word to start with.
And that's the catch- I have to want to. I DO WANT TO, its the implementation that is the hard part. For half my life now, I have lived in an English-speaking country (USA, Canada, then back to the USA) and I have strived hard to not only speak English but to THINK in English. So it takes a lot of intention to speak Tagalog.
It has to be done. As my husband, Jack says, Mary has to learn about that half of her heritage and she would miss out a lot if she does not know the language.
I will start today--- I will talk to her for at least a full hour every evening in Tagalog. Then, maybe we would have a "Word of the Day" Today's word: "halik" - meaning kiss. I think that's a good word to start with.
Labels: Tagalog
