An Americano speaking Tagalog

I just want to give credit to the wife for patiently teaching her American husband to learn to 

speak Tagalog.  And she is a Visayan at that!  Very good work, indeed!  It also shows volumes about the kind of loving this couple must have for each other. I'm always surprised when I hear some Filipinos I meet here who'd apologize to me when they can't speak really good Tagalog to me.  I don't take it really as a slight (even if they don't know I do Tagalog tutorials here in NYC).  

Now, it's always easier for people to relate better with their loved ones if they speak a common language.  There are practical considerations for this.  It makes everyday life lighter and easier to pursue;  so much is lost in translation which can be frustrating for someone who likes to express something in a language that he/she knows best. But I'm just sure the wife is just like most Filipinos who are tri-linguals, i.e. they speak at least 3 languages including Tagalog (on which "Filipino" as found in the Philippine Constitution is primarily based), English, and another local language found in the over +7,100 islands of the Philippines.  Even the current Philippine President (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo), speaks very good in several languages, including Tagalog, English, Bisaya, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Spanish, among others. 

Now, if we can redeem and recognize our hispanic heritage in its rightful place in our current affairs, we can actually pursue to become easily fluent also in Spanish (or "Kastila" in Tagalog, which I found out in a thick English-Spanish dictionary is Philippine in origin).  I'd venture to say that Filipinos would easily get to learn to speak good Spanish in a short period of time. And also going farther based on historical records, we can also reclaim and redeem our Chinese heritage (I read somewhere that at least a third of Filipinos have Chinese blood--I myself have to re-establish contacts with the 1st cousins of my late father, who are in mainland China---that's another story, though!), so we may go about learning to speak Chinese, at least Mandarin, & claim our rightful place and good connections with China, the rising economic power now in Asia, and probably the world over.  But I know I'm going really too far with this posting now!