Learn Filipino pronunciation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Betsey: Mabuhay! Hello everyone! Betsey: here. |
| Becky: Hi everyone, I’m Becky, and welcome back to FilipinoPod101.com! This is All About, Lesson 4 - Filipino Pronunciation Made Easy. In this lesson, we’ll be talking about pronunciation, and tips to improve your Filipino. |
| Betsey: Some English speakers may have trouble with certain long Filipino words, but we assure you that it’s all about practice! |
| Becky: And we’ll be helping you every step of the way. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Betsey: As we mentioned before, Filipino vowels are more or less the same as English. |
| (Vowels) |
| Becky: So let’s start by giving you examples of what those vowels sound like. |
| Betsey: The Filipino vowels are “A”, “E”, “I”, “O”, “U”. |
| Becky: “A” is pronounced like in “Car”. |
| Betsey: “E” is pronounced like in “Get”. |
| Becky: “I” is pronounced like in “tea” |
| Betsey: “O” would be pronounced like in “toe” |
| Becky: And “U” would be pronounced like in “flu” |
| Betsey: Now that wasn’t so bad, was it? |
| Becky: It’s pretty straightforward. And there aren't any additional sounds in the vowels section. So, once you remember and understand these basic sounds, you’re good to go. |
| (Consonants) |
| Becky: Now let’s move on to the consonants. |
| Betsey: Well, the initial ‘Abakada’ Alphabet only had 15 consonants. And all of them, with the exception of ‘Ñ’ and ‘NG’ are used the same as in the English Alphabet. |
| Becky: So let’s try practicing those two. |
| Betsey: First off, the ‘Ñ’ sound comes from the Spanish. So, when you pronounce it, it sounds like ‘Nya’. |
| Becky: Just like in the word “Piñata”. |
| Betsey: ‘Piñata’. Just think of it as N and Y coming together. For example, ‘Piña.’ ‘Piña’ is “pineapple” in Filipino. |
| Becky: Now let’s talk about the next sound, the “n”,“g” combination. This sounds like the last two letters of “sing” or “king”. |
| Betsey: It shouldn’t be hard, but what can be different with the ‘ng’ sound in Filipino, is that it can be placed in the first syllable, in the middle, or at the end. Unlike with English, where it is usually in the end. |
| Becky: Betsey, let’s give an example. |
| Betsey: Sure! “Tooth” in Filipino is ‘Ngipin’. (slow, by syllable) - ‘Ngipin’. |
| Becky: Let’s give another example with this combination in the middle of the word. |
| Betsey: Ok. How about ‘langit’, which means “heaven”. (slow) ‘La-ng-it’ |
| Becky: One useful tip is to practice the word with a “sing-along”. Keep on saying it and take out the “-long” at the end, and just say “sing-a”. |
| Betsey: “Sing-Along.” “Singa.” By the way, ‘singa’ means “sneeze” in Filipino. |
| Becky: These are the most distinct ones. Other than that, we’ve pretty much covered it. |
| Betsey: Well, there’s maybe one more we can cover. The ‘R’ sound can also be different from the way it’s pronounced in English. |
| Becky: That’s right - it’s closer to the way it’s pronounced in Spanish. |
| Betsey: More of a rolling ‘r’. For example, “listen” in Filipino is ‘Rinig’, (slow) ‘Ri-nig’. |
Outro |
| Becky: Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Betsey: Paalam! Bye bye! |
Comments
HideWhat do you think of Filipino pronunciation? Do you think it is easier than other languages?
Hello Ronzlkyle F. Romualdo,
Thanks for taking the time to write to us. 👍
We're glad to have you here!
If you have any questions or need clarification on any topics, please don't hesitate to ask. We're here to help you improve. 😊
Cheers,
Ali
Team FilipinoPod101.com
This lesson help me just a bit to understand Filipino and how can I know to speak Filipino a bit good
Thank you very much for this lesson
Hi Steve!
It's great to hear that you find Filipino pronunciation easier compared to some other languages you've learned! Filipino does have a relatively straightforward pronunciation system.
Continue learning with us!
Eric
Team FilipinoPod101.com
It's definitely easier pronouncing most Tagalog words than some of the other languages I've tried to learn.
That's fantastic, Maia!
Your background in studying Spanish will likely provide a solid foundation for mastering Filipino pronunciation. Keep up the great work! 😄
Eric
Team FilipinoPod101.com
It helps with proper pronunciation that I've studied Spanish for years.😄
Hi Chris!
You will learn both Filipino and Tagalog here.
Let us know whenever you need help.
Cheers!
Eric
Team FilipinoPod101.com
Is This Filipino OR Tagalog Lesson ?
Hi Gene!
The Filipino alphabet has indeed 5 vowel sounds and 15 consonant "sounds" but a total of 28 letters. The letters C, F, J, Ñ, Q, V, X, and Z are not used in native Filipino words but carry different sounds which are neither vowels nor consonant sounds.
I hope this helps!
Eric
Team FilipinoPod101.com
Lesson discloses that the Filipino Alphabet Abakada has 5 vowels and 15 Consonants. One would conclude there are thus 20 letters in the Filipino Abakada. The Lesson 1 Test gives an answer of 28 letters in the Filipino Alphabet. Please EXPLAIN if TEST is INCORRECT and the correct answer should be 20. Or explain how the TEST ANSWER is 28 letters in the Filipino Alphabet.
Hi Gab!
Yes, the 'ng' in the Filipino alphabet sounds like the last two letters of "sing" and "king."
Let's all keep practicing! 😎
Cheers!
Eric
Team FilipinoPod101.com
2:08 Sing King comfirmed!!!
Hi Tamas!
We're happy to know that you appreciate the work FilipinoPod101 is doing.
About your concern, you are right in saying that 'singa' means "to blow one's nose" and that "to sneeze" is 'bahing' or 'bumahing' in Filipino.
Thank you for pointing these things out. We really appreciate your feedback. Rest assured that our team will look into these issues and have them corrected as soon as possible.
All the best,
Eric
Team FilipinoPod101
Hi,
I appreciate all the hard work here to create this language learning course, but I found some major mistakes of the translations of words, even on the recordings are the same mistakes can be found.
The word "singa" means actually "blowing the nose" and not sneeze.
Sneeze in Filipino is "bahin" or "bumahin".
The word "rinig" means actually "audible" or "can be heard" and not listen.
Listen in Filipino is "makinig" or "pakinggan".
Be so kind and correct these in these lessons.
Maraming Salamat.
Hello Robert,
Thank you for your feedback.Just keep on practising, you'll remember it.
Best regards,
Marivic
Team FilipinoPod101
Definitely harder. For some reason words that I think I remember are forgotten the next day.
Hi Anon,
Thank you for your wonderful feedback ❤️️ Feel free to leave your questions here!
Best regards,
Marivic
Team FilipinoPod101
Hi Rod,
Thank you for sharing that with us! There is maybe a similarity because Indonesia and Philippines is both Asian country and near each other 😉
Best regards,
Marivic
Team FilipinoPod101
I've tried learning 3 different languages, but out of all of them, Filipino is much less stressful and easy for me! Tysm for making Filipino so easy and understandable!!!
Mabuhay!
It is close to Indonesian language, called Bahasa. All of that. This good thing is motivating me to learn Filipino further.
Salamat po!