I spent a month in Philippines. Here are some interesting observations I had on their culture and language:
Spanish Influence
Tagalog, Bisaya, and other dialects are rife with loan words from Spanish, but with a "Filipinized" twist. Examples:
- trabaho -> trabajo (work)
- gwapo -> guapo (handsome)
- apelyido -> apellido (surname)
- banyo -> baño (bathroom)
- negosyo -> negocio (business)
And there's countless more. This was fascinating to me. Most Spanish colonies are clustered in one place and have retained the Spanish language verbatim. But Tagalog actually changes the Spanish words to make them more "phonetically" obvious to pronounce. Notice how the -ny- sound in baño and -syo- sound in negocio are spelled out literally. Why did Tagalog evolve in this "what you see is what you get" way? I'm not sure but it fits with my general observation of Filipino culture: simplicity over floweriness.
"Pasalubong"
I love this word. It means "a gift you bring for someone when you return from a trip". What it represents is: I thought of you while I was away. You'll often see "Pasalubong" stores at Filipino airports and bus terminals. It's a common practice to buy little gifts for others when you're traveling. I love that this nice gesture is literally baked into their language.
"Po"
This is their polite particle. It's the word they append to sentences to add a gesture of respect, especially towards someone they don't know. For example, "thank you po" or "okay po". Thai has this too with the "ka" / "kub" (sa-wa-dee-ka). You'll see Filipinos add this everywhere, from greetings to goodbyes. To me it's yet another example of kindness embedded into their language.
Eyebrow jerks
A shortcut many Filipinos use to acknowledge something – like saying "yes" or "mmhmm" – is jerking their eyebrows up quickly. They won't say anything. They'll just jerk their eyebrows up - either a single raise or a two-tap raise. I find this facial gesture quite cool. You'll ask them something and they'll just reply with an eyebrow shrug. Some Filipinos don't even realize consciously that this is a habit - like a 'fish not knowing what is water' situation.
(Another little "facial gesture shorthand" I've observed is Filipinos smooching their lips in a direction to point at something, instead of using their hands.)
"I receive 400 and I give 200"
When you hand cash to a cashier (which you'll do a lot while traveling – very few places accept card), you'll notice them say "I receive [amount]". Then they'll give you change and say "I give back [difference]". They say it out loud, to themselves as well as you. When I asked why, most people said they never wondered why they say it. It seems like a cultural habit "ingrained" in them, maybe taught as part of the "Good Manners and Rightful Conduct" (GMRC) class Filipinos have to take in school. The consensus is that it's meant as a check against cheating the customer into overpaying or not getting exact change. If so, I love that their culture has somehow added in this little habit for consumer protection that I haven't seen in any other part of the world.
(By the way - the GMRC class is required by law. Imagine an education system where every kindgergartener through Grade 6 child has to study good manners as a separate subject in their curriculum. Why don't other countries do this too?)
Taglish (Tagalog + English)
So many sentences I heard from locals had random English words in them. Apparently this is very common in modern culture. Example:
"Wait lang, I'll finish this later, tapos let's eat na, okay?" (“Wait a sec, I’ll finish this later, then let’s eat, okay?”)
Sometimes it'll be similar to other languages where Western concepts like "refrigerator" and "car" are taken as loanwords. But sometimes it'll be a completely normal word. I've also noticed that the more "educated" one seems, the more English they'll throw in. I wonder if Taglish is seen as a status symbol to show your proficiency in English.
The story behind Taglish seems to be a mix of Western culture and history (U.S. ruled over Philippines). English is now a big part of Filipino culture, and many Filipinos grow up bilingual.
These are just some of many observations I had that seemed normal and 'obvious' to Filipinos.
As an outsider you see things that seem normal on the inside. You realize that's just their version of normal, just like you have your own. And eventually you realize the rest of the world isn't weird, just different. This has actually been my favourite lesson after years of traveling.
Written by Aryan Bhasin