LESSON TRANSCRIPT

All About #4
Filipino Pronunciation Made Easy

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
LESSON FOCUS
OUTRO

# 4
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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.

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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!

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