I’ve been studying Spanish for the past few weeks now. It’s something I had wanted to pick up since I was very young. I had wanted to be able to read the old history books, documents and literature from the Philippine Spanish era.
I only picked it up because I was itching to master another language apart from Tagalog and English. I thought that maybe I could continue learning Chinese or Japanese but changed my mind about the two.
After watching Spanish films like El Espinazo del Diablo (The Devil’s Backbone), Labirinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth) and El Orfanato (The Orphanage), my interest in Spanish was rekindled. I watched the films with the English subtitles but I realised that I could pick up a lot of what the characters in the film were saying even without looking at the subtitles. I knew some of the words because these words are part of the Tagalog language, Tagalog words loaned from the Spanish tongue.
That got me thinking. Instead of Chinese or Japanese, maybe I could learn Spanish first instead. I might be able to master Spanish faster than Chinese or Japanese. I’m very keen on learning Spanish to begin with anyway.
After a few weeks of studying, I did find that Spanish was a lot easier to learn than Chinese or Japanese thanks to all the Spanish words I already know. I also found the pronunciation easy too because of its similarity with Tagalog. In the end, I’m enjoying myself and feeling really motivated.
I want to be able to watch more Spanish films without the assistance of any subtitles. I want to be able to read Jose Rizal’s letters and works in the original Spanish. I want to gain a better understanding of the culture we Filipinos share with the rest of the Hispanic world.
Speaking of the Hispanic world, as an aside, I found this funny film clip of an advertisement from Spain about their Metro trains:
I really liked the commercial but apparently there were Filipinos who found the ad offensive, for some reason. I can’t see why. The Philippines in the ad looked tranquil and charming. The townsfolk all seem very pleasant and in the end, they were able to make their own Metro!
Anyway, I got to get back to my studies. ¡Hasta luego!
Palabok 