Tag: tagalog

Numbers in Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Fookien and Tagalog

by Niaw de Leon | Language Learning | , , , , ,

numbers

At the 3rd session of my Basic Korean class yesterday, we learned about numbers. And since I already know about numbers in Mandarin, Cantonese, Fookien and Tagalog, I thought of making this table as a memory aid.

Number Mandarin Cantonese Fookien Tagalog Korean
1 / 一 yī jat1 it isa 하나 (hana)
2 / 二 èr ji6 di dalawa 둘 (dul)
3 / 三 sān saam3 sa tatlo 셋 (set)
4 / 四 sì sei3 si apat 넷 (net)
5 / 五 wǔ ng5 go lima 다섯 (daseot)
6 / 六 lìu luk6 lak anim 여섯 (yeoseot)
7 / 七 qī cat1 chit pito 일곱 (ilgop)
8 / 八 bā baat3 pue walo 여덟 (yeodeol)
9 / 九 jiǔ gau2 kaw siyam 아홉 (ahop)
10 / 十 shí sap6 tsap sampu 열 (yeol)

Note: The Cantonese column uses Jyutping romanization. The Fookien column does not include tone information.

A Korean Student Masters Tagalog: Interview with Jinsoo Choi

by Niaw de Leon | Language Learning | , , ,

I dove into the mass of pillows, blankets, rilakkuma plushies that made up my bed and was thinking about the lazy morning I would have that coming Saturday, when my cellphone rang. It was a friend and organizer of very popular KPop events in Manila. “Hey Niaw! The emcee won’t make it until the afternoon tomorrow! Can you take over as host in the morning of KPOP and Culture Fest?” Despite the short notice, I love hosting events, so I agreed.

Arriving at the event the next morning, I met Jinsoo Choi, my co-host for the morning session. After finding out he’s Korean and wasn’t born in the Philippines, I was shocked by the ease with which he used colloquial Manila-flavored Tagalog, with slang expressions like “SABAW” interspersed into the fluid mix of Tagalog and English that is so characteristic of Manila’s inhabitants. Were it not for his name and distinctive appearance, you would not have known that he isn’t your typical native Manila student.

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