Recently, I had the chance to share my experiences of learning Japanese and the Japanese way when a professor from the University of Fukui invited me to talk with his students. In my talk, I intended to share the following: Learning how Japanese people do things Learning the Japanese way…

Speech sounds in Philippine languages Speech sounds, also called segments, can be classified into two major categories: consonants and vowels. Above the level of these sounds are phonetic properties called suprasegmentals. This includes the syllable, stress, tone and intonation. Most Philippine languages have fewer than 18 consonants and have three…

Classification of Philippine languages The term “Philippine language” has been used ambiguously in literature. It is used to refer either to “any language native to the Philippines, without regard to its genetic affiliation” or to “any member of a putative subgroup of Austronesian languages located in the Philippine Islands” (Blust…