Language Learning

I want to learn Tagalog. Why? Well, first of all because the last time I was in the Philippines I had trouble understanding what people were saying when they spoke English. This worries me as I plan to retire in the Philippines. What if twenty years from now I don't understand anybody? Thus I should use the next twenty years and learn Tagalog because then I can say to people "Ako ng paumanhin ngunit hindi ko maintindihan ang iyong Ingles. Mangyaring makipag-usap sa akin gamit ang Tagalog (I'm sorry but I do not understand your English. Please talk to me using Tagalog)." I already know how to say the equivalent in Chinese (對不起可是我聽不懂您的英語. 請您使用國語跟我談談.) and I do sometimes use it, although obviously not in class because people have to use English.

The other reason is that my son Michael is now 15 years old and he still doesn't speak either Tagalog or Cebuano. This worries me because he IS Filipino and people will expect him to be able to speak at least one of these languages. I've been trying to get Imelda to teach him and have even suggested she teach both of us but she obviously has no idea how to teach. (It is harder than you might think.) Therefore i have put it upon myself to learn Tagalog by myself and try to teach Michael myself.

I would also like Michael to one day learn Chinese and Korean. Why? Because he is always watching 真愛趁現在 on TTV while listening to Girls Generation on my laptop. I know he has also been downloading the romanized and translated lyrics to Girls Generation songs which means he is curious about what they are saying. He can learn a lot of vocabulary that way. If he's really interested in Chinese and Korean then I don't want to discourage him. It is important for him to understand that not everybody speaks English and that there is value in learning other languages.