Mostly useless driblet

Just what I needed, another dilemma! Now I need to know how to work that into a conversation? Lucille

If Florida is like California, you have been importing vast numbers of Filipino nurses to alleviate the nursing shortage. They don't always speak good English. Now you have one word you can say to them that they will understand.

Won't help you with "pass the emesis basin, and hurry", but it should get you extra TLC because we needleworkers stick together.

What concerns me here is the time stamp....Brenda......

Could we have the pronunciation guide, please?

ellice

I'm quite in the dark on the pronunciation. I've been helping proof an English-Tagalog translation dictionary on D.P. but it only gives the word in both languages as well as part of speech. As for the time stamp ... I've had a really bad cold for the past week (DH brought it home from campus) and have lots of trouble falling asleep because of congestion. I ended up taking a shower at 4am which helped. Needless to say I didn't make it to church this morning.

You do get some interesting projects! I always find it frustrating when I'm not sure of pronunciation (I think it stems from learning French in France and being aware of sounding like a 2 year old).

Poor baby - hope you're feeling better. I understand that - sometimes doing the odd thing like a wee hours shower is what helps. Feel better.

ellice

Hello from Rosemary in Melbourne, Australia

My feeling is that the stress would be on the second and fourth syllables in each words.

I seem to remember that this is how Tagalog works.

Thanks, Rosemary. I just can't help my insatiable curiousity.

ellice

Thanks! Any clue on the vowel sounds?

If you know Spanish, they'd be similar I think.

Rosemary

Hmn... Now I don't know German, but I think it (like English) has lots of vowel sounds. Most languages have fewer vowel sounds than we do. The difficulty for me (as an Aussie) is that how I pronounce English is not how most of you do, so my examples may not help.

For example - I would have said 'a' as in banana, but I know we don't pronounce it the same.

Actually, I can hear Arnold Schwarzenegger (?) saying "California". Except for a difference of accent he'd be pretty close.

Hope that helps. By the way, I find languages fascinating, but I have trouble getting them to stick in my head.

Rosemary

Here's some pronunciation information - now if someone wants to post how it all works together. . .

a like the u in up and cut (in the majority of English dialects)

e like the e in end and bed

i like the i in machine and marine

o like the o in old and sold

u like the u in rude and oo in moon

It is important to remember that the vowels should be pronounced in a very pure, clean way. A vowel should not change while it is being voiced. For example, in English we tend to close our lips to form a w sound when we finish the vowel o. Words like "go", "no" and "so" are pronounced to rhyme with "owe". To avoid this problem, practise saying the vowels one by one and remember that once you have shaped your mouth for a particular vowel sound, no part of your mouth should move while you are voicing the vowel. Do not move your lips, teeth, tongue or jaw. This is the key to sounding like a real Filipino.

Also, the Filipino vowel letters are never combined to create a different vowel sound (except in foreign words). Each vowel indicates a separate syllable. So, the number of vowels in a word matches the number of syllables. However, there are a few exceptions (see Irregularities below).

The Consonants Most of the consonant letters in Filipino are pronounced the same way as in English. As a foreigner you can easily be understood if you pronounce them all this way but to really get the Filipino sound you must make some adjustments.

K, P & T In English we aspirate the letters k, p and, t. That means that we tend to release some air when we pronounce these sounds. These letters are not as explosive in Filipino. This light Filipino sound can be heard in English words where these letters follow an s. For example, "skate", "spare" and, "stand".

D, L, N & T The letters d, l, n, and, t are pronounced in a slightly different way too. In English we place the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth for these sounds but in Filipino the tip of the tongue is placed lightly on the edge of the upper front teeth. Again, it is a lighter sound than the English equivalents.

The Letter R The Filipino r is very different from the English r. It is sounded by flicking the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth. (Once you get the hang of it, you will understand the special relationship between the Filipino letters r and d.) This r sound can be compared to the double d in "ladder" but only if the word is not over-enunciated. Some Filipinos, especially in the north, really roll their r's by rapidly repeating this action in a machine gun fashion. Others roll their r's from the back of the throat. However, these variations are not important to a student and may even seem like an affectation when sounded by a non-Filipino. Only a single flick of the tongue is necessary.

The Letter NG This is a single letter in the Filipino alphabet and its sound is not at all foreign to the English speaker. It can be found in words such as "sing" and "hang" etc. The difficulty for non-Filipinos is that the ng sound is often at the beginning of a word or a syllable. Here is a trick to learn this sound. It works as long as you don't pronounce the word "sing" with a hard g.

Repeat the words "sing along" several times together in a continuous flow: Sing-along, sing-along, sing-along, etc...

Now remove the last syllable "long" and repeat several times: Singa, singa, singa, etc...

Now remove the first two letters "si" and repeat several times while making sure that the sound of the letter Y does not creep into your pronunciation. Nga, nga, nga, etc... Now you've got it!

Wow! Thank you so much!