Did you know that the Philippines actually has two official languages: Filipino and English?
I didn't really realize this until I went there in 2010 (my first...and only time there).
Billboards were in English!
Street signs were in English!
Here are some pics I took. Things look surprisingly like they do at home.



Filipinos start learning English in pre-school. It’s a required subject for all schools. It’s used in government and business. Filipinos have to learn English, one way or another, to get by.
Julia told me that often school subjects are taught in English. Science: taught in English. Math: taught in English.
My second day in the Philippines I was in the hotel lobby and I heard an argument. I looked over to the front desk to see the hotel clerk and a guest, both Filipino, arguing in English!
So why did the Philippines include English as an official language? Why not just use Filipino? The weird thing about Filipino is it’s not a language that developed organically; the Philippine government created it.
The base language of Filipino is Tagalog, with words from other dialects mixed in. Even though Tagalog is the most used language in the Philippines, only 31% of Filipinos speak it. There are 120+ languages spoken in the Philippines.
Not dialects. Languages!
Cebuano
Ilocano
Sambal
Aklanon
Central Bikol
...
Non-native Tagalog speakers often have a hard time learning it. Especially if it's not spoken at home or around them.
It’s often easier to learn English because even if they don’t use it at home, they use it in school or work. They’re also constantly exposed to English through Youtube, TikTok, Insta, TV, movies, and books.
What happens when someone from Davao travels to Manila? How do they communicate? English.
Here’s what my OFS, Julia, told me about how this weird language barrier affects their life.
I’m not a native Tagalog speaker, so I’m not that fluent in Filipino. I’m a Cebuano speaker.
My husband, Jam, is a native Tagalog speaker and is fluent in Filipino. Jam’s parents are native Ilokano speakers who are also fluent in Filipino because they live amongst native Tagalog speakers.
If you forced us to only speak in our native language, we wouldn’t understand each other. I don’t understand Ilokano. My in-laws don’t understand Cebuano. So when we get together, we use Filipino AND English to understand each other, but I lean more towards English because my Tagalog isn’t that good.
People often ask me if they can find someone who speaks good English in the Philippines.
YES!
It's completely reasonable to find someone with perfect English.
When recruiting, see if you can find someone who uses English slang. If they do, you know English is deeply entrenched in their life.
John
https://johnjonas.com/how-do-filipinos-learn-english/
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