English-speaking na kids: matututo ba mag tagalog?

[iceebaby]

I really need help sis, I admit na hindi namin kinakausap ng Tagalog ang eldest ko na 7 year old na (Grade 1) eversince and lahat ng pinapanuod niya ay puro english speaking channels.

So, hindi talaga siya natuto mag tagalog. Sabi nila, eventually matututo naman daw. But, up to now... hindi talaga siya marunong. Minsan nagugulat lang kami na parang nagegets niya usapan namin ni hubby (we speak tagalog naman in the house) pero super hindi talaga masyado.

Now, may FIlipino subjects na siya in school and sobrang dilemma ko. Kahit Aso, pusa, nanay, tatay ay di niya alam. Mga sis, help naman... may mga experience ba kayo na ganito with your kids?

Btw, hindi masyado sharp ang memory ng kid ko na ito pero he is very intellectual kasi. Math and Language whiz niya... maliban sa Filipino. Nakakalungkot kasi minsan hindi niya maintindihan kalaro niya altho, in his school they are required to speak in english during classes and most of the kids speak in english naman.

[lemonade]

from our experience, english din ang first language ng daughter ko. when she started school at 4 years old, kinausap na namin siya sa filipino, ayaw na ayaw niya. galit na galit siya talaga. i tried reading tagalog books to her, nung una hindi siya nakikinig but eventually, nung napunta siya sa grade one, she became determined to learn the language kasi more than half of her classmates spoke in filipino. now she's in grade 3 na (8 years old), mahusay na siyang mag-tagalog. pero mostly conversational lang, nahihirapan pa rin siya sa malalalim na salita (pamayanan, mamamayan, halalan, etc.). kanina hinatid ko siya sa school, sabi ko, "tumawid na tayo." sabi niya, "ano yung tumawid?" so sinagot ko naman. mahirap lang mag-explain ng conjugation. tumawid. tumatawid. tatawid.  pero basta constantly talk to your son in filipino, matututunan niya rin.

[hunny_ally]

^^why don't your try enrolling him in Filipino tutorials? Minsan getting outside/3rd party help is beneficial. I think learning library is offering such services.

[iceebaby]

^^ Thanks, sis! Tama, we'll speak in Filipino na nga to him. Which is weird kasi nasanay na din kami to speak in English pero when we talk with everybody else (except with our own children).. napapa English kami. Will do that also with my toddlers who are 2.5, english is also their 1st language (since kuya also speaks in english). So, 4 years old, is a good time to start speaking in Filipino din.. at least that's an option that might work. thanks talga!

^tama... I could try that too. Hay... minsan din I get impatient in teaching e... tao lang. hehe... THanks!

[sarsingkit]

i dont have kids yet pero i think nasa practice lang yan. marami nga adults na saka nag-aaral ng bagong language pero natututo naman. nahihirapan lang siguro tayo to teach tagalog kasi yun yung first language natin so very natural sa atin to speak pero parang hindi mo ma-explain diba. in my husband's case, kinukwento nya, when he was young, he speaks ilocano only. tapos nung elem, ilocano and english. tapos HS, ilocano, english and few tagalog. nung college na sya napractice yung tagalog kasi sa manila na sya nagcollege. we had spanish subjects in school so nagkapagconversational spanish pa sya. when they moved to canada, he can speak conversational french pa. so dami nyang alam. haha. nasa practice lang yan. maybe hesistant din ang kids kasi hindi nila alam if tama ba yung sinasabi nila in tagalog so if mali sila, i-correct lang ng maayos. in our family, when we were young, lahat naman kami tagalog pero naging ok naman sa english when we started school. 10 years worth of english education i think is enough. what saddens me now is that i have officemates who grew up using the english laguage in the family, studied in high end schools, end up being conyo pero when constructing emails and formal letters eh baluktot na ang english. hindi ko alam kung anong nangyari =(

[glamorosa_09]

sis maybe you can try searching sa net on how to raise bilingual kids, you can apply it with your younger kiddos. Reading your posts, that's what I'm gonna do with my baby.

Toddlers can easily pick up from songs/action songs. When you talk to them, you can use two languages and then reading na may two languages din.

[sweety_paige]

Nasa Grade 1 na din yung anak ko at hirap na hirap kami sa filipino subject, hindi ko nga alam paano tuturuan, kasi sa halip na magsimula sa madadaling salita ang inaaral nila ay malalim na tagalog words na, example is nasambit, tungkulin, inakay, inahin... Trying hard talaga kami, pwera pa dun Chinese subject pa ang isang problem ko.

[tiggerlily]

sis, we're also trying to teach our kiddo filipino. baluktot ang dila pero ok lang. katulad lang ng pagturo namin dati ng english, kinokorek kapag mali. ipapaulit kapag mali. sabihin mo hindi mo maintindihan kaya sabihin nya sa filipino. tapos i-translate mo yung sinasabi nya at ipaulit sa kanya.

from what i read, there could be one parent for each language. yun ang gagamitin nilang language everytime they talk to the kid.

you can also try to schedule a day or 2 in the week na all filipino lang ang usapan. ito matagal ko na gusto i-try pero ang hirap kasi i-maintain e. nakakalimutan ko yung araw. hehe!

[iceebaby]

Thanks mga sis... I'll try every way na matuto siya ng Filipino. Kahit naman yung son ko, gusto niya matuto.

Will it work if meron special tutor kaya siya? May nakagawa naba sainyo niyan, mga sis? Naawa kasi ako sa Filipino subject niya..

[hunny_ally]

^my daughter's playmate has a Filipino tutor pero ayun bagsak pa din. I think the tutor can only do as much. Kailangan pa din ng follow thru from the parents and the rest of the people in your house.

[jhenbreak]

my son is just 1 1/2 yo, so dapat pala talaga taglish ang turo. Kaming parents, we talk to him in english, yung grandparents naman ang responsible sa tagalog. Sabi ng pedia ng baby ko, eventually nga matututo naman daw kasi yun ang mother tongue nya, yun ang maririnig niya sa paligid niya, pero mabuti na rin siguro hangga't maaga maturuan both languages para hindi mahirapan pagpasok sa school, kawawa lang si bagets.

[honey-ecclaire]

my son is three years old na ang nag-school na din,when he was one or two talagang English ang salita nya since we talked to him in English but nung nagwork na ako and si hubby and si ate na ang nag-aalaga sa kanya ayun now mas lamang na yung tagalog speaking nya pero ako sa English ko pa din sya kinakausap and na iintindihan naman nya and he responded in English minsan pag sa tagalog kino-correct ko,then pag-watch sya ng movies in English he asked kung ano sinasabi nila then minsan tinatanong nya ang tagalog ng ganito ganyan...

For me kase matututunan nya din yung mother tongue kase nga maririnig nya sa paligid pero now ok na akong half-half sya hehe....when he grow up that is the time na mandatory na in English nya ako kausapin...

[kitty07]

son ko din, 4 1/2 years old, used to speak only in english but when he started going to school last year,natuto sya to speak some tagalog words because most of his classmates speak tagalog.  then nakakapick up din sya some words from local shows we watch.  minsan pag may kumakausap sa kanya in tagalog ask nya kami kung ano sinasabi o ibig sabihin.  now, may times he'll speak short phrases or sentences na tagalog, yung mga commom words o mga lagi nyang naririnig sa mga classmates nya, pag di nya na maexpress mag-eenglish na sya. for me kasi belief ko ok na nauna sya nasanay mag-english kasi di sya maiilang magsalita pag lumaki na sya, confident na.  usually kasi yung pag mas malaki na conscious na and intimidated magsalita in english.  sa tagalog, alam ko eventually matutunan nya ng maayos.  like ngayon, natututo na sya kahit papano. though kanina nagstart na kami sa filipino subject nya, kinder na sya, ako ang medyo kinabahan kasi pagtinuturo ko mga pictures hirap nya masabi and matandaan, he'll say them in english. so ganun kami kanina, read ko in tagalog then translate ko sa english, pag answer sya in english translate ko sa tagalog yung sagot nya then practice nya ipronounce yung word.  narealize ko big challenge ito pero for now ganun siguro style namin, explain/translate in both languages lagi tapos practice saying the words then try gamitin during conversations saka in everyday activities as much as possible.  sana effective.  :-)

[shopaholicforkids]

all the kids i know in our family, started with english as a first language then eventually learned the filipino language because it was needed in school.  so, not to worry about your kids, while they are young, they will learn reallly fast   

[jaydeerpg]

check out the learning center near Megamall, it specializes in Filipino and Sibika.

There is nothing wrong with teaching your kids the English language.

1.  Eventually they are going to learn and understand the Tagalog language because they hear it all the time.  It can be in grade one or in first year high school, but they will learn.

2.  They need fluency in the English language to be able to compete in the business world, a lot of companies will not hire applicants who are not fluent in English.  By teaching your kids confidence in this language, you are giving them an edge in the real world.

3.  Filipino and Sibika subjects, in my opinion, is really hard for both English and Tagalog speakers.  Even if your child speaks in tagalog, do you think Sibika will be easier for them?  Do you know what pambalana means?  It is all about teaching your kids context, they may be unfamiliar with the vocabulary but they can use the context to guess what it means. 

4.  There are numerous dual-language books worth around P100 which you can read to your kids.

5.  You have the option (if your child is still a toddler) to raise your child in two languages, one parent should consistently talk to the toddler in English while the other in consistent Tagalog.

6.  What is important is, whether you are teaching your kids English, Tagalog or both, make sure you teach them consistently and make sure that you teach them STRAIGHT ENGLISH or STRAIGHT TAGALOG or BOTH.  You are not doing your child any favor by teaching them taglish, or half-baked languages.   

[agape]

My lolo raised his eldest son, my uncle, speaking, watching, reading only English. He is now in his 50's and he speaks barok-Tagalog, akala mo Chinese or Phil-Am. Di na rin  siya natuto Kasi he learned to dislike the Filipino language, saka masmahirap Kasi ang Filipino language, like grammar rules compared to English. He speaks more slang English, okay sa call center.

I wasn't raised using English but I was tutored, and for someone raised speaking Filipino but watching and reading English, my lowest grade is always in Filipino subjects. Sa to too Lang, wala Masyado sa generation natin ang Matino mag-Filipino, Palagi itong may halong Salitang Ingles o kaya naman ay galling sa Kastila.

[jan888]

My daughter is same age as yours.. she'll be 7 soon..  I'm glad I started her early by encouraging her yaya to speak to her in Tagalog.  My daughter likes to talk / make up stories (using her imagination) with her yaya during meal time.  She's a slow eater, it sometimes takes her an hour or two to finish a meal.  So imagine, those meal time serve as her practicing the filipino language time, she learns the language at the same time she enjoys it without even really exerting much effort allthough of course when she speaks Tagalog, there's still accent, but in time, I'm sure it will come natural.  Her mother tongue is still English as hubby and I speak to her in English most of the time.

[byutijunkie]

my son is having a hard time in filipino so i told everyone in the household to stop talking to him in english na.  he's in grade 1 in claret and he finds sibika and filipino difficult.  =( 

[Princess Anne]

My 7 yr old son was born and raised here in Canada and he speaks english at home, and french sa school. We speak to him in english, kasi I didn't want him to be too confused sa different languages especially sa start ng school. But since kami ni hubby with rest of my husband's family and most family friends speak tagalog all the time, gusto na din nya matuto. He knows some words (mommy - nanay, daddy - tatay, gusto - want, etc)  and sometimes pinagcoconnect nya yung mga words, "nanay gusto mo tubig?" or "tatay gusto mo kape?" barok but cute hehe I think it will really depend sa kid.

[mamapeew]

Share ko lang mga sis.

Ever since my daughter was born, english ang pakikipag usap namin sa kanya pati mga cousins nya pati mga kapatid ko english talaga sya kinakausap and ang mga pinapanood nya sa tv puro ingles talaga (baby einstein, sesame street, elmo's world). Kahit mga helpers pinipilit sya kausapin ng ingles kahit nahihirapan sila, in the end, may mga words sya na medyo may punto. When she turned 2, I've decided to let the helpers speak to her in tagalog (tutal medyo naiintindihan na rin nya). Even yung kalaro nya na kapitbahay, tagalog din sya kausapin. Ngayon marunong na rin sya mag Filipino. Napansin ko, pag ang kausap nya yung nagaalaga sa kanya or yung kapitbahay namin na kalaro nya, tagalog ang salita nya pero pag kami (daddy, mommy, cousins) ang kausap, english. Minsan tinatranslate nya, ex: Ate, asaan si __________? Pero nung kaharap ako: Mommy, where is __________? Sya na mismo nagaadapt sa kausap nya. Pag tinagalog sya, tagalog na rin ang sagot nya.

Medyo baluktot sya mag tagalog and medyo slang (which is cute, actually) but atleast hindi masyadong taglish like: Mommy, I'm so pagod or Mommy, I'm so pawis. Hehe..... Tagalog kung tagalog or english kung english. I'm glad too that she's able to understand and speak both languages na sa ngayon. Yun din kasi ang worry ko na by the time may Filipino subject na sya in school, mahirapan sya kasi nakita ko yun sa pinsan nya.