The Republic of the Philippines is located on numerous islands in the Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia. Its population is more than 103 million people, and the official languages of the Philippines, according to the law of the country, are Tagalog and English.
Some statistics and facts
- From the 16th century to the middle of the 18th century, the Philippines was colonially dependent on Spain, and Spanish served as the country's only written language. It also remained in the role of the language of interethnic communication until the mid-50s of the last century.
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Up to 40% of the vocabulary of Tagalog - the official language in the Philippines - is occupied by Spanish words.
- The majority of the population of the islands speaks one of the Filipino dialects of the Austronesian language family, which, in addition to Tagalog, includes Cebuano, Ilokano, Bicol, Varai-Varai and several others.
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Until 1986, Spanish was studied in schools as a compulsory subject. Today, students can choose any foreign language and the bulk of them prefer English.
- Among the population of the Philippines, 81% are Roman Catholics.
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In total, there are up to 150 languages and dialects in the state.
Living by the river
This is how the name of the official language of the Philippines is translated from the local dialect. Tagalog was brought with them by the inhabitants of the island of Mindanao and it spread throughout the country.
Tagalog has many dialects and borrowings from other languages. The latter circumstance is very typical for Filipinos, who are used to mixing different dialects. For example, English mixed with Tagalog is called Taglish here. It serves as a lingua franca for residents of different regions of the country. Taglish is spoken by Filipino immigrants in the United States, Canada and Australia.
English in the Philippines
In 1902, the country was occupied by the United States, and American teachers appeared in cities and villages, teaching children various subjects in English. The 1935 Constitution proclaimed English as the second official language in the Philippines. Most of the printed materials in the republic are published in English.
Tourist notes
Traveling around the Philippines, tourists who are familiar with the English language have no problems communicating with the locals. Most of the service personnel of restaurants and hotels in cities and beach resorts speak English. The necessary information for a tourist is also duplicated on it.
