The language situation in Davao City really fascinates me. It didn't take us too long to figure out that the language they taught us in the language school is not quite what the people speak on the street. People can understand us alright, but the other way around is often... nose bleed. 'Nose bleed' is the expression used to indicate that you don't understand what is being said...
Basically, most people speak a mix (sagol-sagol) of their mother tongue (one of the many dialects of Mindanao), Bisaya (a lingua franca in Mindanao) and English. Having grown up in a country where some linguists risk a heart attack while argueing about spelling rules, the complete absence of language standards here offers a funny contrast. It is very hard to find a book written in Bisaya, although that is the language everyone speaks. People on television speak 'Taglish', a combination of Tagalog and English. TV hosts start a sentence in Tagalog and finish it in English, or the other way around. 'Taglish' is the fancy way of talking ('social', they would say). It works in Bisaya too, which comes in handy. If you cannot remember a word, just use the English word and add a suffix.
Mag-order ta ug beer (let's order a beer)
Nag-enjoy ka? (are you having fun?)
Mag-send ka sa mga pictures? (will you send me the pictures?)
Filipino English is also a funny phenomenon. It is basically English with all the stresses in the wrong places, preferrably on the last syllable. It is interesting that 'World English' is appropriated in very different ways in different parts of the world. Since people hear Filipino English from early on, they find British, American or australian English somewhat weird. since I was taught British English in school, I am now the one with the accent :)
In Bisaya, there is no distinction between 'he' and 'she', both are referred to as 'siya'. Moreover, 'brother' and 'sister' are both translated as 'igsoon'. This can give some confusion, especially when Filipinos speak English and mix up 'he' and 'she' (My brother is 25 years old. She works in the mall') But whereas we may be surprised that Filipino languages do not distinguish sexes, Filipinos are really puzzled that we attribute a gender to things like a chair, a table... And come to think of it, that doesn't make much sense, does it?
It will take me a lot of time still to learn Bisaya well and I don't have much time to study it, but the more I get used to it, the more I appreciate it for its elegance and flexibility. But then again, the beneficiaries of my NGO all speak Bagobo. When I proudly address them in Bisaya, they tend to respond: "Whaw, you can speak Bisaya? That is really amazing! But you know what? It would be REALLY nice if you spoke Bagobo". Sus....
One thing that struck me this week is that I do no longer think in Dutch, my mother language. Since all I write is English and all my conversations are either in English or Bisaya, I have stopped ordering my thoughts in Dutch...
