Sunday, August 30, 2009

Welcome back, everyone!

Hi,

I've been terribly busy-- got married, had a baby, moved apartments-- but we're getting back on track this week! I'll be opening up a new email account with 'email support,' which means you guys will be able to email me and ask me questions and I'll respond in 24 hours! Also, I'll be starting a Learn Tagalog Easy newsletter that you guys can subscribe to, just so you can get the most recent news on the status of our podcast. You can also recommend topics that you would like to learn or clarify issues that you might have with speaking/learning Tagalog.

I've been lucky enough to marry an audio guy, so hopefully it will help the quality of our podcast.

Thanks for the wonderful feedback you guys have sent so far, and hopefully you guys will tune in to our new podcasts coming your way starting this week!

Raiza

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

How much Tagalog do you know?

Learning Tagalog The Easy Way

Episode 8 - How much Tagalog do you know?

1. Marunong ako mag-Tagalog
2. Hindi ako marunong mag-Tagalog
3. Nakakaintindi ako ng Tagalog (Nakakaintindi ako ng Tagalog, pero konti lang)
4. Pwede mo ba akong kausapin sa Tagalog, pero mabagal lang?
5. Pwedeng paki-ulit?

So our first phrase is:

MARUNONG AKO MAG-TAGALOG

From our previous lessons, you know that the word AKO means me or I. The word MARUNONG simply pertains to knowledge of something. So the phrase MARUNONG AKO MAG-TAGALOG directly translates as ‘I know Tagalog’

Would you like to try saying it with me?

MARUNONG AKO MAG-TAGALOG
MARUNONG AKO MAG-TAGALOG
MARUNONG AKO MAG-TAGALOG

The next phrase we’re going to learn is the exact opposite. HINDI AKO MARUNONG MAG TAGALOG. The word ’hindi’ pretty much just means no or not. So it directly translates into ’I do not know Tagalog’. Say it with me.

HINDI AKO MARUNONG MAG TAGALOG.
HINDI AKO MARUNONG MAG TAGALOG.
HINDI AKO MARUNONG MAG TAGALOG.

Are you following so far? If not, don’t hesitate to go back to the beginning and listen to the past two sentences, especially since they are longer than usual.

Next up, I want to teach you guys how to express the fact that you can understand Tagalog. A lot of people, like my little sister, can understand Tagalog, but not speak it.

So here is a useful one for you guys: NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG.

I’ll say it again, but slowly: NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG.
The root word is ‘intindi’ which translates into understand. So to say NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG means you can understand Tagalog.

Say it with me a few times.

NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG
NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG
NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG

That’s a sentence you might have to practice a little more, because it is something of a tongue twister.

If you would like to say that you can understand only a LITTLE bit of Tagalog, it’s only a little different from the sentence I just taught you.

NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG, PERO KONTI LANG.

Pero directly translates into the word ‘but’ and ‘konti’ translates into ‘a little’, and ‘lang’ translates into ‘only.’ Therefore, this sentence means ‘I understand Tagalog, but only a little’

Say it with me.

NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG, PERO KONTI LANG.
NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG, PERO KONTI LANG.
NAKAKAINTINDI AKO NG TAGALOG, PERO KONTI LANG.

I hope you are doing well so far, since we’re studying particularly difficult words today and putting them together in a somewhat weird way if you’re unfamiliar with Tagalog.

By now, I’m sure your Tagalog-speaking friend will be thoroughly impressed. However, if you’re still learning Tagalog, and would like to practice, this next sentence should be really useful.

PWEDE MO BA AKO KAUSAPIN SA TAGALOG, PERO MABAGAL LANG?

That literally translates into ‘Can you speak to me in Tagalog, but much slower?’ That way you can practice your Tagalog without being rushed into it!

The keyword here is KAUSAP, which means talk. There is also the word MABAGAL which means slow.

Say this sentence with me.

PWEDE MO BA AKO KAUSAPIN SA TAGALOG, PERO MABAGAL LANG?
PWEDE MO BA AKO KAUSAPIN SA TAGALOG, PERO MABAGAL LANG?
PWEDE MO BA AKO KAUSAPIN SA TAGALOG, PERO MABAGAL LANG?
PWEDE MO BA AKO KAUSAPIN SA TAGALOG, PERO MABAGAL LANG?

If you’re getting it so far, then I’m glad! I feel like we tackled some really really good words today that will be useful to you in the future.

Finally, we’ll learn a highly useful phrase that will be most relevant to our lesson today.

It is simply ‘PWEDENG PAKI ULIT?’
Which just translates into, ‘can you say that again, please?’

Isn’t that useful?

So let’s learn it.

PWEDENG PAKI ULIT?
PWEDENG PAKI ULIT?
PWEDENT PAKI ULIT?

Great! The word ‘ulit’ just means ‘again’ just so you know the meaning of the keyword in that sentence.

I think you did a great job today and I’m really happy we did some more challenging stuff today.

I really appreciate it when you guys email me feedback and tell me what you would like to learn more. Also, if you would like to send greetings out on our show or anything of the sort, feel free to email us or send us some audio clips. That would be really cool.

Feel free to email us at learntagalogeasy@yahoo.com. Again, it’s at learntagalogeasy@yahoo.com

Our site can be found at www.learntagalogeasy.blogspot.com. Again, it’s at www.learntagalogeasy.blogspot.com and that’s where you can find transcripts of all our episodes.

We hope you learned a lot today and will be here to join us for Episode 9.

PAALAM!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Hi All!

Sorry for the VERY long hold-up. I hate to say we've been very busy (since we say that all the time) but the truth is 2007 was a very big year for us.

We're back, though, and will be making more podcasts-- hopefully more often-- for the year 2008. Thanks again to everyone who emailed us and left customer reviews on iTunes. We hope to hear from you guys more.

Take care and Maligayang Bagong Taon!

Raiza and Roux

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Learn Tagalog Easy Episode 6

Learn Tagalog Easy Episode 6 discussed how to count from one to ten in Tagalog.

Here are the words used in that episode:

ISA - ONE

DALAWA - TWO

TATLO - THREEE

APAT - FOUR

LIMA - FIVE

ANIM - SIX

PITO - SEVEN

WALO - EIGHT

SIYAM - NINE

SAMPU - TEN

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, feel free to email us at learntagalogeasy@yahoo.com and for a full list of our podcasts for download, go to http://www.learntagalogeasy.mypodcast.com

Paalam!

Learn Tagalog Easy Episode 5

Learn Tagalog Easy episode 5 talked about the various phrases we found you can use often when you travel to the Philippines but is also free to use in everyday affairs.

These are the phrases we used in that episode:

Salamat - Thank you

Walang Anuman - You're welcome

Nasaan Ang _______- Where is (pertaining to a place or object)

Nasaan Si ________- Where is (pertaining to a person, male or female)

Magkano 'to*? - How much is this?

* contraction of 'ITO' meaning 'this'.

'Wag* - Don't.

* contraction of the word 'HUWAG'

Kahapon - Yesterday

Ngayon - Today, Now

Bukas - Tomorrow

Mamaya - Later

Kanina - Earlier

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, feel free to email us at learntagalogeasy@yahoo.com and for a full list of our podcasts, you can download them at http://www.learntagalogeasy.mypodcast.com

Paalam!

Learn Tagalog Easy Episode 4

Learn Tagalog Easy Episode 4 talked about words and phrases we can use during family gatherings or just simple words you can use to refer to relatives.

These are the words/phrases we used in this episode:

Tatay - Father

Nanay - Mother

Lolo - Grandfather

Lola - Grandmother

Oo - Yes

Hindi - No

Kamusta po? - A polite way to ask 'how do you do?' to your elders. So if you want to ask you grandfather how he is doing today, you can say, 'Kamusta po, Lolo?'

Opo - A polite way to say 'yes' to your elders

Hindi po - A polite way to say 'no' to your elders

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, feel free to email us as learntagalogeasy@yahoo.com

Paalam!

Tagalog Phrases Episode 3

Tagalog Phrases Episode 3 talked about some basic and commonly used Tagalog words and phrases.

These are the words we used for this episode:

Ano? - What?

Ano yun? - What's that?

Ano 'to**? - What's this?

**Contraction of the word 'ito,' Instead of 'ANO ITO'

Sino? - Who?

Sino yun? - Who's that?

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to email us at learntagalogeasy@yahoo.com

Paalam!

Tagalog Introductions Episode 2

Episode 2 discussed common phrases used in making introductions.

In this episode we used the phrases

Ang pangalan ko ay _______ - This phrase is used to introduce one's self. It literally means, 'my name is.' So if your name is John and you want to introduce yourself in Tagalog, you can say 'Ang pangalan ko ay JOHN'.

Ako si _________ - This can be used to introduce yourself as well. It literally translates into 'I am' and is followed by a name. So if your name is John, then can say 'Ako si JOHN.'

Ano ang pangalan mo? - This inquiry is made when you want to ask for the name of the person you are conversing with. It translates into 'what is your name?'

**Pangalan - Name

Anong pangalan mo? - Filipinos often contract their words. As depicted on the left, the phrase means exactly the same as 'Ano ang pangalan mo?' except we merged the 'ano' and 'ang' words.

Ang pangalan niya ay _______ - This phrase is used to introduce your companion or any such person you can pinpoint. This is because the phrase literally means 'His/Her name is ______.' So if you are trying to introduce someone named JOHN, you would say, 'Ang pangalan niya ay JOHN.'

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, feel free to email us at learntagalogeasy@yahoo.com

Paalam!

Tagalog Greetings Episode 1

Episode 1 discussed some basic Tagalog greetings that we thought Filipinos use often.

In this lesson, we talked about these particular words:

Kamusta / Kumusta - A common substitute for 'hi' or 'hello', although the literal translation of this word is 'How goes?'

Mabuti - This is a reply to the inquiry posed by 'Kamusta'. If you are feeling good or well and want to reply in Tagalog, 'Mabuti' is an apt response. It literally means 'well' or 'good'.

Magandang Umaga - These two words constitute the Tagalog translation of the English 'Good Morning'. The word 'maganda' literally means 'beautiful', while 'umaga' translates into morning.

Magandang Hapon - As we have learned previously, 'maganda' means beautiful. 'Hapon' simply means 'afternoon'.

Magandang Gabi - 'Gabi,' in turn, means 'night' or 'evening'.

Paalam - Goodbye

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, feel free to email us at learntagalogeasy@yahoo.com

Paalam!