March 11th, 2019

March 7, 2019

  I’ve been typing up all these post and not posting them so I want to sorry for that everyone. This will be my most current post that shall post on March 11^th. Midterms should be in two weeks! I can’t believe this semester is already almost over. I do know that I’m having a bit of trouble this year in the subjects that I actually like due to me not being able to absorb the content. I’m going to have to do a lot of studying this coming week.

  For those of you who actually read these I do appreciate the attention you give. I’m sorry that I’ve been on and off on these. I do write to you guys. I lack in actually posting them. So, I’m hoping that I can schedule what all I have typed up for you that way you have something to read.

  Gaming: Not many Filipinos play games. If they do, it’s Mobile Legends or League of Legends. Card games are considered gambling. One of my friends asked me if I wanted to be the Dungeon Master when I returned home and I got excited. I told my friends here that I wanted to try to play this game with them. It’s proven to be more complicated than they expected and well… I’m probably not helping with my complicated way of thinking but I do hope that I can guide them through a game before I leave.

  If you’re not sure what game I’m referring to, I’m talking about Dungeons and Dragons. I had brought my book over from the U.S because I hoped there was a group here that I could play with and it turned out that the game didn’t exist. At least, not in my city.

  When I first arrived in the Philippines my communication skills lacked and they still do but I can communicate comfortably with these three so I’m hoping this goes well. I have them set up for the most part. The only thing now is to have them place their ability scores in what they think they should do. My girl best friend wants to look up more about the game before she chooses her scores and I understand that.

  Something interesting about this game is that most of the Filipinos I know aren’t aware of medieval times so I get to teach them history as well as English. I’m hoping that we can exchange Ilocano and English and help me build a vocabulary this way. I hope the story that I set for them isn’t too hard to follow.

  What I noticed in the generation of Filipinos from the ages 16-21 is that they don’t have concrete problem solving skills. My friends are smart and I’m sure they’ll figure it out but I wanted to present them with a situation to test that skill and to help them practice it. I originally made the campaign for my friends back home but since there are less of them and a none of them have played the game I made it smaller.

  Language Learning: When I go home to San Emilio, it’s easier for me to pick up on Itneg and I can actually practice it with one of my friends in Abra. However, his Itneg doesn’t always line up with mine. Usually, there is only an accent difference but occasionally there is a major difference. I’ve learned that his Itneg is closer to Filipino while my family’s Itneg is closer to Ilocano.

  I have two tutors again this year. I told my Ilocano tutor that my major difficulty is my lack in vocabulary and he informed me that even the Ilocano speakers of today have that issue. He enlightened me that even though Ilocano is what the teachers speak during 1^st grade to 3^rd grade, they don’t actually teach Ilocano. During 4^th to 6^th (maybe 7^th?) the teachers are told to use Filipino and for 8^th to 12^th they are pushed to use English. Technology is usually introduced in 11^th and 12^th grade and that blows my mind. Some may or may not be introduced due to the lack of funds.

  Out of all the languages I can attempt to speak, Ilocano is the most likely. If I spent more time with my family it would probably be Itneg instead of Ilocano but I spend more time in the city. (Not that I don’t like spending time with my family) It’s that traveling all the way there is not cost efficient). I can understand more Ilocano than Filipino.

  Now, this is going to be confusing but I have to clarify something. People will argue with me but this is what my teachers have told me. Filipino is not the same as Tagalog. Tagalog is a dialect of Filipino spoken in Manila. Filipino is the national language which is standardized. As I said, this is what my teachers have told me and I’m going to stand by it but I won’t argue what is what because well, if there’s a language I do know it’s English but I still have trouble with that language…

  That being said… I can sing, write, and read in Filipino but I cannot understand it. How is this possible? There are song in ‘Filipino’ and I can mimic the sounds that the singers make but that doesn’t mean I know what they’re talking about. Writing in Filipino is pretty easy due to the fact that I understand how to sound out the words and I understand the format in which Filipino follows.

  Ilocano is the most spoken language around me. This makes it easier for me to grasp the language. However, what people don’t understand is just because I can understand the words that are presented to me, it doesn’t meant that I can present the words from my own mental word bank and it’s frustrating.

Overall: People have asked me, “How can you not speak the languages of the Philippines? You’ve been here since April right? This past almost year has been useless if you can’t speak the languages.”

  Let me tell you. I know that I’ve improved and I wish that I could only focus on one language. I can’t exactly prevent the other feeds of languages from coming into my mental feed. Through the people I’ve interacted with I learn as much as I can but language learning has proven to be the most difficult challenge for me as of yet.

  I would also like to mention the ‘s’ that is tagged to the word ‘language’. When I first got to this country I could hear a difference between Itneg and Ilocano but I didn’t know why. Now, I understand what the difference is between the two languages. I still get Ilocano and Filipino mixed up. However, I do know that I recognize Ilocano words easier than Filipino ones when they are spoken. When Filipino is written I can see that it’s Filipino and to be honest, I think that’s enough proof to show that I’ve improved.

  So no. I am not fluent in ANY of the THREE languages that I’m having to learn. But, at least I can tell the difference between the three. I hope that within time, I can speak all three. I really do. There has been a lot that I’ve overcome this past year and I don’t feel that this past year has been a waste. I’m enjoying my time here and I want to continue to learn through my friends and family.

This turned into a rant, I’m sorry everyone.

Thanks for listen,

DJ/Cho/Nar

Keep up with me at the following:

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

 If I don’t write a post here there’s probably a chance that I have written something on my Wattpad because there I post poems! They are shorter reads with more meaning. I am currently working on two poetry books but the more important one that ties into this travel blog is called ‘A Barrier Meant To Be Broken’.

February 18th, 2019

February 19^th, 2019

  Hello everyone!

  By the time this post I will have taken my Teacher Aptitude test and I will be sure to tell you all what my results are once I get them! But! I’m so excited! I want to tell you guys about an opportunity that came up! UNP was invited to trade students for one week with a university in Thailand! If I can manage the funds then I can go and I can show you guys Thailand!

  Of course, I’ll need to take my skin into account and culture. I’ll be around a university so I’ll go in what I usually wear at school. I talked to the person who is in charge of international connections and asked him what I need to do to connect him and Angelo State University! I’ll need to call the school and hopefully this can be worked out. There are many Filipinos in San Angelo so it won’t be as difficult for Filipinos to adjust since there’s already a community built for them!

  I don’t know if I mentioned this at any point of time but while I was there in San Angelo I was part of the Asian American Association of Woman. They’re a nonprofit organization that promotes Asian culture! The organization originally allowed only women to join but now it’s possible to be a male a join! When I was a member I mainly did anything my sister asked me to.

  For those of you who want to check out their website here’s the link.

  As I mentioned in my last post, there is a culture festival going on and I’m in the middle of it. Literally. To the right of my apartment I have the carnival, to the left is the food court and concerts, and behind the building they had their version of a Rodeo. Now, sad to say I didn’t go to all the events. I didn’t spend much time there except for the trade fair, carnival, and food court. But, this apparently happens every year so I probably have another chance to go next year!

  I’ll collect some articles and share them with you all! This weekend I went to Labayug, Sison, Pangasinan. One of my friends had to attend a funeral and I told him that I would be willing to go with him to Pangasinan because I also have family there. His family is from Bayambang which is an hour and half away from my family’s place.

  Labayug: It is impossible to see ALL my family in one visit. Even if I stayed for longer than a weekend I don’t think I’d meet all my family. This time I went to drop off my Aunties’ pasalubong (gift). It takes six-seven hours to get to Sison from Vigan. I absolutely can’t stand long rides like that but at least I was on a good bus. It was a little difficult sitting with my friend because he has to have the vent turned away from him in order to not get motion sickness but I need the vent open in order for me to not get motion sickness. Luckily, we both managed.

  The next day I woke up a little late. I had issues sleeping because Labayug is near a cement factory and that effects my ability to breath. That’s one of the downfalls of being there. It’s also hotter in Labayug. Vigan City is nothing like Labayug heat and I’m thankful for that.

  The only thing I managed to do was go see my cousin/best friend and meet/remeet people at church. I went in late but that was okay. The pastor picked me out easily and welcomed me to the church as a visitor. My dad is well known in Labayug outside of the fact that most everyone is family so I was praised for being there. I have a few pictures that I took. I’m sorry that I haven’t been scheduling pictures for y’all but I’ll be sure to do that in my free time!

  It was tiring but we were able to get back to Vigan the second day before 8pm. It was nice to have someone I know go with me to Labayug. Soon, I will visit my family in San Emilio. I landed in the Philippines the first day of school so I had to go straight from Manila to Vigan and that bus trip was awful.

  Let’s see… Kanawedan (Culture festival). I got a henna tattoo! I’ll post a picture of that. The artist was really cool. He spoke more Tagalog (Filipino) than Ilocano which was a challenge for me but I know that I’ve come far in learning these two languages because I was able to communicate with him and he was able to communicate with me. I never thought I’d be able to understand someone and they would be able to understand me yet we both cannot speak the other’s language very well. So he was talking to me in Filipino while I was responding in English/Ilocano.

  I’ve been getting into the habit of not taking pictures because I want to live in the moment around me but I also want to share it with you all. I have all these photos that are sitting in my phone and my computer yet I haven’t scheduled them! I need to!

  My language progress: It’s weird but I can understand a lot more now than I did when I came here. I can respond in Ilocano more but I’m nowhere near fluent. I can write and read better in Tagalog because that’s the language that is required for my classes. I can understand Tagalog but unless a person is looking at me and making a point that they’re talking to me I tend to not hear it. Information overload you know?

  As for Ilocano… I can recognize it and speak some of it but only enough for small conversation. I can’t read it very well but that’s because most of the words are like ten characters or more. I mentally skip over it when I pass by it and I try not to but half the time I don’t realize that I’m doing it.

  I was sick this week and to my surprise I was able to respond to people in Ilocano and English but if someone speaks to me in Tagalog my brain goes, “Huh. What?” Then it completely forgets what it’s trying to do. Lol.

 

  This year I’m going to try to do my best to keep up with this so be prepared to check on my blog more often because there’ll be more content soon! Thank you guys! Don’t be afraid to message me and keep up with me.

Thanks again everyone!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Keep up with me at the following:

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

 If I don’t write a post here there’s probably a chance that I have written something on my Wattpad because there I post poems! They are shorter reads with more meaning. I am currently working on two poetry books but the more important one that ties into this travel blog is called ‘A Barrier Meant To Be Broken’.

February 4th, 2019

Hey guys,

  So this is my second semester at UNP (University of Northern Philippines) and so far my time has been good. I’ve been doing more travelling that I like but that’s alright. This is what I’m going to cover on this post for this week.

•          Labayug for the weekend
•          Festival
•          Something in history

  I’ll start with this weekend! I went to Labayug to visit my niece who is here for a vacation. Being with her made me miss home and realize the two different lifestyles my father’s side has verse my mother’s side. She’s my niece but she’s only a year younger than me.

  The first difference between my mother’s side and my father’s side is the age difference between me and my cousins. In San Emilio, my cousins are my age and around thirty or more. This is because my mother is the third oldest in her family. (She might be the second I can’t quire remember haha). Anyway, I’m pretty sure she’s the third oldest.

  On my dad’s side most of my cousins are late thirties or older while the people my age are my nieces or great nieces. A respectful term when talking to someone older than you in my family is ‘Manong’ and Manang’. Manang means ‘older sister’ while ‘Manong’ means older brother.

  What I’ve come to learn is that if a person doesn’t know you too well and needs to get your attention they will either call you ‘Manang’ out of respect or ‘Ading’ depending on how that person feels about you. Ading is the respectful term of ‘younger sibling’ which is used for either male or female.

  The land lady and some woman at the karenderias (mom and pop restaurants) that I eat at call me Manang not because I’m older than them but because they don’t consider me a child which is how some people taking the word ‘Ading’. Manang, Manong, and Ading are all Ilocano terms.

  If a person were to use the Tagalog/Filipino term they would use ‘Ate’ (Ah-teh) and Kuya (Koy-yah). Ate is the female term for older sister while Kuya is the word for older brother. Anak (Ah-knock) *soft o* is the term for younger person as a general term.

  The reason why I bring this all up is because when I visited my niece’s family I met her parents for the first couscous time.  I know that I’m calling her family as if they’re not my family but my family is so huge it just makes it easier for me to place in my head that her family section is different from mine lol.

  Now my niece is adopted into my family but she is also blood. What I mean is that she is related to me in two different ways. Through birth, her biological parents are my Manong and Manang because they are in the same generation as me. One of her parents (I think it’s her dad. It’s hard to keep up with all this stuff lol) Anyway, one of her parents is the child of my dad’s sister.

  So, when I have a kid, in this sense she would be their Manang. Since I’m in the same generation as her parents she is supposed to call me Auntie but since we were both raised in the US we both don’t care about those terms. We care about each other and don’t require the respectful term. I guess I should say it’s more interpreted instead of spoken between us.

  Through her adoption, she was adopted by my dad’s other sister. Through that marriage she is in the same generation as me as would need to call me Manang instead of aunt but as I said, it’s fine. I found it odd calling her parents Manang and Manong since I call her sister Manang. I’m ‘supposed’ to call her sister who is thirty something by name but since I know her through Filipino culture I can’t bring myself to do it.

  I hardly go to Labayug because every time I go there I end up drinking a lot. I had eleven drinks this time and luckily one of my friends called me and pulled me away from the commission outside. However, I did abandon my niece which we had a silent understanding that we weren’t going to do that but I didn’t realize what I had done until the next morning.

  When it comes to my dad’s side I tend to be selective on who I am around because they have more of a city folk culture. Not all of them are honest people. Now, on my mom’s side there are people like that also but they’re not as obvious about it.

  Despite all this, I still care for my family no matter what. Today I woke up and found out three of my cousins were in town. They all came from Candon but two of them came together while the other came with his church group. I won’t be seeing the one who came with his church group today but I told my cousins that I would buy them dinner but I refuse to give them money and I’m even going to wait to get groceries until tomorrow because if I buy them now they’ll eat them all and I rather not get upset for that lol.

  All I did while I was in Labayug is drink and sing. I caught up with niece which is always fun. It’s good to know that she has good friends in her life and that she’s happy. That’s all I could ask for, for her. She should be leaving tomorrow for the US.

  Well, I’m running out of time. I want to share with you five Filipino artist and songs that are popular in here. I don’t have enough time to link them for you but I can list them!

·     

1.   Buwan – Juan Karlos
2.  Huling Sayaw - Kamikazee
3. Sana – I Belong To The Zoo
4. Sa Ngalan Ng Pag-Ibig – December Avenue
5. Ikaw – Yeng Constantino

  Look them up some time and tell me what you think! They’re all in Filipino however. There’s only one genre in Ilocano and I’m not a huge fan of it. Well, I’ll catch you guys next week! Make sure to keep up on me on the following

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

 If I don’t write a post here there’s probably a chance that I have written something on my Wattpad because there I post poems! They are shorter reads with more meaning. I am currently working on two poetry books but the more important one that ties into this travel blog is called ‘A Barrier Meant To Be Broken’. Below are the last five poems I wrote on there as of this post being queued.
A Barrier Meant To Be Broken
1.Leaving
2.Too Bright 
3.Calculating 
4.In This Country 
5. A Silent Understanding 

January 21, 2019: Social Media

Naimbag na aldaw sa lahat! (Good day everyone) [Ilocano/English]

  For those of you who are new to Forward Flight, I started this blog on April 25th, 2018. This blog is a personal journal that records my thoughts and experiences of my travels in the Philippines. I created this as a way to keep in touch with those in Texas because back in 2010 when I visited for two months or so, it was hard for me to get a hold of my family and friends. In 2015 when I visited again for a short time, communication was easier but not as easy as it is now.

  Fun fact, the Philippines is the second most known country to use social media! The first is Singapore. During school, I had to sit through a seminar about journalism and media. They had gone over this fact with us but to prove my point here is a website that covers it. Smartinsights.com Philippines (Slides 106 - 142)

  Based on the weibsite, (Slide 39 of 153) an average Filipino spends 9 hours and 29 minutes on the internet while in the U.S an average person spends 6 hours and 30 minutes on the internet daily. I found this interesting but as I was sitting through the seminar I could voice my opinion on the matter and in my personal life, I didn’t start to use social media as much as I do until I started to go to school in the Philippines.

  When I first got to the Philippines in April, I was still in vacation mode. So, I paid more attention to nature and I enjoyed a good book while relaxing at the house. I remember my first day of school and how nervous I was. I didn’t want to speak because I knew that the other students were not as fluent in English as I was and I didn’t understand almost any Ilocano, Filipino, or Itneg. I later found out there was also Gay lingo that I needed to be familiar with as well as a dialect difference. The Ilocano my family spoke in San Emilio was not the same as the version spoken in Vigan City. Most words were the same but some words I knew did not line up with the words that the people around me knew.

  Originally, I would use Facebook to get a laugh out of my day and I still do but since so many people use Facebook in the Philippines and Facebook is cheaper to use than sending text messages, I prefer to use Facebook messenger to message my classmates and call them as well.

  When I lived in Texas, I didn’t add people unless I had physically met them or they had my sister added to their Facebook (which meant that they were family). Now, I have to add people because that’s the source of communication. Most Filipinos have more than one Facebook, which is what I had to resort to.

  I have literally never had to be in so many group chats. Back home if my friends added me to a group chat I would eventually leave because there was no purpose unless we were planning an event and even then, we’d stop talking on it after we were done planning the event. Now, I’m in a group chat for anything and everything. I try my best to clear the group chats because I don’t like having so many open.

  Individual messages are awful too. I enjoy having conversations with everyone but due to my anxiety, it’s not easy for me to keep the conversation going. Before I started to go to school in the Philippines I would purposely stop responding to all my messages on messenger if I had five or more unopened messages. It was overwhelming. Now, I have ten or so messages unanswered or buried due to me not seeing a notification or me muting a group chat.

  It truly is frustrating being in as many group chats that I’m in but most of the time the Ilocano is spelled different ways and even then, I can’t fully understand Ilocano so I can’t understand what people are saying in the group chats. Then, whenever they announce something someone gets upset with me because I didn’t see the announcement. I always have to remind them that it’s not that I didn’t see the announcement, it’s that I didn’t understand it because of the language barrier we have.


  What I am glad about is that people are willing to work with me. Many of the group members will try and explain what they can or direct me to someone who can help. I hope to be able to help them in the future with any of the English questions the may have. I have a friend who usually corrects my English instead of my Ilocano which I find is funny. It confuses my classmates whenever I mess up in English. What they don’t realize is that when a person learns or tries to learn another language, or languages in my case, they use different parts of their brain so it’s hard to keep up with different memory cards.

  Earlier I wanted to talk about more than one website and how the Philippines is active in social media more than the U.S but now that I think about it, that may not be true. I may not have used as much social media but I’m only a small portion of the population in the United States. There are a lot of statistics on that website that I linked up above so click on it and check it out!

  I want to cover more but I also like to keep these short so that I can spread them out and not bore you guys to death. If you’re checking in with me from the U.S, thanks and I miss you guys! If you’re checking in from the Philippines, please! Message me some time. I need to practice my Filipino and Ilocano. If you want to try and learn English you have to help me learn Ilocano or Filipino. Fair?

  I hope to hear from any of you soon! I try to keep up with my messenger. If I don’t answer you within a week please tag me in a post and say that you messaged me or message me again to bring your message to the top.

Thanks for listening! Talk to you next week!

DJ/Cho/Nar

--
Keep up with me with the following:

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

 If I don’t write a post here there’s probably a chance that I have written something on my Wattpad because there I post poems! They are shorter reads with more meaning. I am currently working on two poetry books but the more important one that ties into this travel blog is called ‘A Barrier Meant To Be Broken’. Below are the last five poems I wrote on there as of this post being queued.

A Barrier Meant To Be Broken

Stranger

Broken As A Reminder

A Broken Family

Who I Strive To Be

History

Carabao Languages: Day Fourteen

Day 14: Review #1 & #2

1.
Tagalog: Isa (EE-sah)
Ilokano: Maysa
Itneg: (My-sa)
Spanish: Uno
(Español): (oo-no)
English: One (Wuh-un)

2.
Tagalog: Dalawa (Dah-lah-wah)
Ilokano: Duwa
Itneg: (Do-wah)

*Spanish numbers are used in some locations in the Philippines. English is welcomed also (but less likely unless the number exceeds 100). Use spanish numbers in place of numbers you dont know.

*V = B

Viente - Spanish (Español)
Biente - Tagalog

*Most Filipinos who speak Tagalog and/or Ilokano will understand numbers over 20.

EX: 20 and 40

Say that you're shopping. Your total at the register is P20 or P40.

*P - Pesos

The cashier would say, "Biente" or "Cuarenta" or they would say it in English. I have yet to hear any number over 30 in Taglog/Ilokano/Itneg

Kalabaw Languages: Day Thirteen

Day 13: Ilokano and Itneg

2 - Duwa (do-wah) 

Nuang Languages: Day Nine

Day 9: Ilokano and Itneg

1 - Maysa (my-sah)

Kalabaw Languages

Day 7: Different Sounds That Lettets Make In English (Based Off Of A Texan's Perspective).

Accents: Place a HUGE barrier among people who speak English. Even if a person pronounces a word differently, that does not mean they're wrong! However, these accents do not prevent the wide variety of english speakers from communicating unlike in the Philippines where the 'Language' is Tagalog (Filipino) and other 100+ languages are considered 'Dialects' 

Here's the letter "A" for example.

Apple - "Ah"
Angel - "Ay"
Another - "Uh"
Aeroplane - "Eh"

  Each day I will post a word in either Tagalog/Ilokano/Itneg/Spanish/or English. Tune in daily to learn something new!

*Some of you may or may not have noticed but the title of these post have a varied. The tag I will be placing on this series of post will be 'Carabao Languages'.

Nuang - Ilocano/Ilokano/Itneg
Kalabaw - Tagalog
Carabao - Spanish/English

(Fun fact: Carabao is a Spanish word!)

I chose 'Carabao Languages' as the title becaue in the Philippines people say "Carabao English" to describe that they speak Broken English. So, by translating Carabao into Ilokano/Itneg/Tagalog/Spanish/and English it makes these lessons less intimidating.

Nuang Languages

Day 6: English Vowels

A E I O U and sometimes Y

Ate - Hard A
East - "EE"
Eye - "I"
Boat - "oh"
You - "U"
Why - "Y"

*Above is how to pronounce the letters based on how we say the letter in the Alphabet. Take note that the way the letter is said in a word changes deoending on a person's accent in addition to how the letter is used.

This is why English is considered the hardest language to learn. Depending on the origin of the word is how to decide what rule to use when spelling a word in English. But let's be real...

How To Spell and Speak In English:

1.Think: Does the word follow a rule?
-If Yes or Probably then move to step 2

2. Ask yourelf: How do I use that rule?

3. Break it.

4. Pronounce it 3 different ways at least
-Orange: Oh-range, R-ange, Or-Range

5.Spell the word 3 different ways and make the sound the same

5.1: Make them mean different things

Their, They're, There

Carabao Language

Day 5: Español Vocales (Spanish Vowels)

A E I O U

Prounce:

Apple - Soft a

Bet - "Eh"

Eat - "EE"

Hope - "Oh"

Look - "oo"

  In Spanish there are more accents while in the Philippines the word is spelled slightly different to match the sound.

Trabajo - Spanish
Tabaho - Tagalog
Work - English

*Note that the Spanish I am show you is based off of what I have learned in Texas. So, some of these words are Tex-Mex and based out of Mexico. If you want to share the differences from what I am posting vs what you know, please shoot me a message! Go to my question box and fill out the form. I'd love to hear feedback! You can even comment on my post and I will see it. 

Carabao Español: The Alphabet of the Philippines

  The languages of the Philippines originate from Spanish. So, the letters always make the same sound regardless of position in the world. The vowels are:

A E I O U

(ah) (eh) (ee) (oh) (oo)

Apple
Soft A

Bet
"eh"

Eat
"ee"

Oh
(The expression)

Book

(oo)

Kalabaw Tagalog: Spanish Alphabet/Las Letras

Carbao English: Las Letras

A B C CH D E F G H I J K L LL M N Ñ O P Q R RR S T U V W X Y Z (30) 

Compared to the English alphabet there are 4 more letters in the Spanish Alphabet. CH, Ñ, LL, and RR. 

ñ - Alt + 164 

Ñ -  Alt + 165

Nuang Ilokano/Ilocano/Itneg ABC's

Carabao English/ Nuang Ilokano|Itneg/ Kalabaw Tagalog

Day Two: ABC's

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

There are 26 letters in the English Alphabet.

I won't be placing the sounds on this post because I will explain them later. English letters make different sounds depending on what letters are around them.

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Carabao English: ABAKADA

Nuang Ilokano|Itneg/Kalabaw Tagalog/Carabao English

Day 1: ABAKADA:

Written Alphabet of the Philippines

A B K D E G H I L M N NG O P R S T U W Y

Pronounce
Ah Ba Ka Da Eh Ga Ha EE La Ma Na Ng (sing with si) Oh Pa Ra Sa Ta oo (oo as in book) Wa Ya

I know this doesn't make sense right now but it will in time. Tune in each day for a new lesson!

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Week 16

To Sum Things Up: 
  I'm officially enrolled at UNP
  Classes Start August 6th 
  If you want to send something to me (something small, nothing too valuable unless it's sentimental) then drop it by my Dad's shop by the 4th of August between 8am to 8 pm. Don't wrap it unless it's a letter, envelopes are fine.
  Krystal/William's Goal 
  Good luck on the school semester, Everyone
  Those of you going through tough times or if you want/need someone to talk to my messenger is always open!! 

  Dedications: 
  Friends:
  Brandon&Skye 
  Sam 

  Family: 
  Dhexciah 
  Jen 

  My classes are: 
    Understanding The Self 
    Mathematics in the Modern World
    The Child&Adolescent Learners
    Technology for Teaching&Learning 
    Movement Enhancement 
    Kontekstwalisadong Komunikasyon sa Filipino (Tagalog Communication)
   Purposive Communication 
Building&Enhancing New Literacies 
    Literacy Training Service 1 

Dedications: 
Friends:

  Brandon: I know that you're not big on everyone knowing your business so I'll keep your dedication short. Brandon's a cool cat and has good taste in music. Clowns aren't my thing but he thinks they're bad ass. Miss you, bitch. I'll learn shit quick so I can head home. Miss ya, Bruh. 

  Skye: Gosh, you like almost all my post. I'm super happy to know that you keep up with me, Hun. I miss you a lot, really!  wanted to have a dedication to you so that everyone knows how awesome you are. You might not like the humidity here but I know that we'd have a lot of fun if you ever found yourself here in the Philippines. As I said, thank you so much for keeping up with me, Girlie. You're the best! Love you and miss you! Good luck with that new job of yours!

  Sam: I figured I should throw you in a dedication to you since I was mentioning Skye&Brandon. I still think you're cool. Poetry can be a foreign language to some so I'm glad you have a talent for it. Expressing one's emotions takes courage and confidence. Keep it up, dude. Share some of your poetry with me some time if you're bored! Any friend of my friend is one of my own. Strive on dude. I'll see you when I see you!

Family: 

  Dhexciah: You were the first person to help me learn Tagalog&Ilokano. Thanks for that! I still find it hard to believe that you're only a senior in senior high (Senior in High School as I'd say in the US). You have a big heart and I hope I'll be able to spend more time with you in the future. Good luck with your classes! I believe in you! You know that if you need anything, all you have to do is ask. I'll see what I can do to help. Though, know that I don't have all the answers lol. I'm willing to help you on what I can!

  Jen: Where do I start? Out of all of the family in the U.S I have, it dies down to you or Lorie Jane as my best friend. Lorie Jane is more of a sister while you're the awesome cousin but because you both are related through my dad's side y'all are my nieces. I miss you a lot! But it was probably for the best that we parted ways. I know you said Nebraska is boring but I still want to go. I have a goal to visit all 50 states! I think you've been to more than me. I hope I can help you learn Ilokano and Tagalog. The good thing about the language barrier here is that Filipinos can't always understand Filipinos and they are super friendly. Miss you, hope to see you soon.

  SEND ME STUFF BY AUGUST 4TH: I put this in caps because I want to make sure those of you who have gotten a hold of me to ask about mailing me something can see it. If you want to send me something do the following!!!

  What can/should you send: 

• Nothing Bulky, So something small 
• Examples: A Flash drive of music 
• A letter addressed to me with your mailing address so I can attempt to mail you a letter back. 
• Anything that reminded you of me 
• Pictures are always nice. I'll hang them up in the apartment I'm staying at (Developed pictures obviously) 

  What to do with the items once you've figured out what to send 

• DO NOT WRAP IT
• Unless it is a letter addressed to me in a small envelope, do not wrap it. Instead, leave your name with a sticky note or something. Customs have to be able to see what the item is and make sure it's nothing against policy. (Ex: Guns lol)
• If it is a letter to me, leave it in the envelope. Make sure you write your address so that I can try to send you a letter back. I should be able to send mail through the college. 
• Drop it off at my dad's shop between Monday-Saturday. He's there from 8am to 8pm for the most part. If you want to make sure he's there call 325 655 1886 and ask for Tex. If he's not there at the time that you come by, leave it at his booth. Or, if you're not comfortable with that you can always come by there later. He practically lives there lol.
• GO BY THERE BY AUGUST 4TH 

   I know that I didn't exactly give you a lot of time to prepare for this and if you don't send anything it's okay! Honestly, I rather my friends message me on Facebook and keep me updated on their life but I know that some of you really want to send me things and I don't mind it. I'll be sure to get each of you something in return. 

  What to get me if you don't have a clue and really want to send me something anyways. 

• Audio books from Garage Sells (I need something to listen to) 
• A spare music CD that you have lying around and haven't listened to in a while 
• Pens (XD I'm always up for pen donations) 
• 1-10 developed pictures that you have of us. Or a badass selfie of yours. I don't know, make sure it's placed in a ziplock 
• If you draw, I want a drawing! 
• Don't send me any cards guys. As much as I love Magic The Gathering, Pokemon, Yugioh, and ect... They will only get lost and not played 
• If you have a spare set of DnD dice, please!!! I need 5 sets at least!!! They don't have dice in the Philippines ):

  Donate: Some of you want to send me as little as $5 and as much as I'd love to take your money for a good cause I don't want it. I would rather you all donate to my friend who is in need. He is a Drag Queen and his mother had a stroke. He is currently the only one who is able to pay his mother's hospital bill. So please, put your donations towards this instead! 

Donate| Krystal's Instagram

His goal is 5K so please, any donation is helpful.! 

  Week 16: I've really fallen behind on these but I found myself waiting on my cousin's teachers so I suggested that we hang out at a computer cafe. I'll write as much as I can while I'm here. Overall, I'm excited! Whoa. I'm going to be going to school soon! Oh yea, so let me bring my schedule back up. 

 My classes are: 

    Understanding The Self 
    Mathematics in the Modern World
    The Child&Adolescent Learners
    Technology for Teaching&Learning 
    Movement Enhancement 
    Kontekstwalisadong Komunikasyon sa Filipino (Tagalog Comminication)
   Purposive Communication 
Building&Enhancing New Literacies 
    Literacy Training Service 1 

  I will share how my first day of school goes for sure because I don't know what Understanding the Self is. I'm assuming it's an introduction class, maybe even one that helps direct students to figure out a schedule for themselves since most of these first year students are 18. Fun fact: Those of you who graduated up until 2014 would have graduated in 2012 in the Philippines. After the 2012 class the school program changed and they introduced Senior High. Before that there was Elementary Kinder through Sixth and then High School which was Seventh through Tenth. 

  All of the names of these classes are all fancy lol. Mathematics is Math, Movement Enhancement is P.E (Physical Education), and Purposive Communication is Speech. (At least that's what I interpreted lol).

  Then there's Child&Adolescent Learners. I already met the teacher for that and she's nice. She wanted to teach me Ilokano. Technology for Teaching is another General Education specific course. I have no idea what Building and Enhancing New Literates is, it might be my English class lol. 

  Kontekstwalisadong Komunikasyon sa Filipino is my Tagalog class and in the same way that the American English class is not about literally learning how to speak English this course is the same where they talk about Tagalog and not focus on the 'how to speak Tagalog'. 

  My classes are from Monday to Saturday. What? Saturday. Yea, Saturday. It sucks but that's alright. I don't know what a Literacy Training Service is but I do know others are having to take this course with me so there's that. I'm hoping to get to the school an hour early and stay an hour late so that I can help some of my teachers with whatever they need and so that I can get some practice in Tagalog and or Ilokano. I know that some of them might not be willing to spend that type of time with me and that's fine. I already know of two teachers who are willing to help me and two is enough but I'd like to practice with different people. 
-

  For those of you who are starting a new semester, good luck! I'll be doing my best and I have faith in all my friends. Don't forget to try to get some sleep, drink water, and spend time outside of school work to be with friends and family. If you every need anyone to talk to, I'm here. 

  Also! Family who is having to do essays in English, I'm willing to read over them but I can only take so many at time so message me and I'll let you know if I have time to read over it! 

  Generally speaking, if any of my friends need someone to talk to, my messenger is always open. Remember that I'm 13 hours ahead of you (If you're in Central Time). If you message me, I'll do my best to message you back as soon as I can! I love chatting with you all. That being said!! Down below is my Instagram. If you follow me and I see that you have less followers than the people you follow I"ll follow you. If you do have a ton of followers, message me and say hi. I'll follow you back if you take the time to actually talk to me but otherwise I won't follow you back. 

  Questions: I wanna hear what you guys are thinking! What's on your mind? Next week I'm thinking of tagging a few people and start a Q&A so be ready! I might tag you next! I want to thank you all for reading these and supporting who I am. I know that I do the same for you all but it doesn't hurt to be thankful. 

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Ideas: I'm thinking of starting queuing Ilokano, Tagalog, Itneg, Spanish, and English lessons so stay tuned! These will start in August! Thanks again, y'all. Until next time,

Dj, Cho, Shinar

Santiago Dagat!

Santiago Beach/Dagat/Baybay/Playa

English/Tagalog/Ilocano/Spanish :)

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