Tips For A Tagalog Learn To Speak English

By Lisa Bennett


English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. As Filipinos travel and work in other countries, it becomes necessary for a person fluent in Tagalog learn to speak English. Since this language is also one of the Philippines' official languages, it shouldn't be difficult for a native to acquire proficiency. Here are some tips.

Since Filipinos are taught the language as early as in grade school, you can start with reviewing the basic parts of speech. You can start with nouns and pronouns since these are necessary to construct a sentence. Likewise, study verbs and adjectives for these will complete a sentence. Remember to differentiate between singular and plural forms.

Once you have studied the parts of speech, you can proceed with basic sentence construction. A sentence just needs a subject and a predicate. Do your best to match a singular subject to the appropriate predicate. Just start with simple sentences. Over time, you will notice that you can create longer statements.

To practice your knowledge in grammar and sentence construction, take quizzes. You can buy books on the subject. There are also websites, computer programs and mobile phone apps that test your knowledge and comfort in using the language. What is even great about these programs is that these do not just evaluate you, but these also help you set and follow up on your learning goals.

Improve your language comprehension by reading publications. Choose a material that is interesting to you so that you will not be bored. Broadsheets and fiction books are reading materials that will expose you to the use of the language. After finishing each material, take time to write a summary of what you have just read.

Watch foreign movies and tv shows. This will familiarize you with how native speakers talk. Take note though that there are various accents and sentence patterns depending on the character being portrayed. Be observant when it comes to regional accents and non-standard word and sentence usage.

When listening to the language, Filipino speakers may not be able to identify certain sounds because their native language only has a few vowel sounds. To compensate for this, use a dictionary to study different vowel sounds. To make sure that you understand the differences, you can ask for the help of a fluent speaker to listen to you.

Lastly, fluency is acquired by continuously practicing language usage. Prepare to answer questions in the language. As a beginner, you may initially think in your native language and then translate your thoughts. As you continue to practice, you will find that it is no longer necessary to translate the question nor to compose an answer in your native language first.

It may take some time to acquire fluency, yet this is not impossible with continuous study and practice. In the Philippines, this will not be difficult to do with the abundance of learning materials and movies.




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