Bikol Facilitates the Teaching and Learning of Japanese

and Mandarin Chinese

Ruel M. Magayanes

Language Department, Computer Arts and Technological College

Balintawak Street, Albay District, Legazpi City
0919-123-4567

ruelmagayanes@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

a)

Bikol comes handy in facilitating the understanding of some

grammatical, phonological, and orthographical idiosyncrasies of
Japanese and Mandarin Chinese.

prior knowledge upon which the students can build new

learning;

b)

cognitive landmark that may guide the students in

navigating that complicated maze called foreign language
acquisition and transitioning them from the familiar to the
unknown; and

c)

basis for analogy or comparison that may enhance

comprehension.

For instance, W ho in Mandarin Chinese is I am ok in

English and Ako ay ok in Filipino: w=I=ako, ho=ok=ok,
x=am=ay. While both the English and the Filipino translations
follow the subject-linking verb-complement (S+LV+C) pattern,
the Mandarin Chinese versions pattern is S+C. Students find it
difficult to account for the missing LV. The students can only
appreciate the S+C pattern when the sentence is translated to
Ako ok in Bikol where linking verbs are virtually non-existent.
Peaceful town in English is shizuka na machi in Japanese:
peaceful=shizuka, town=machi, x=na. Students would usually
want to know what the Japanese na is. Such difficulty is
unlocked when the Japanese phrase is translated to matoninong
na banwa in Bikol: shizuka=matoninong, na=na, machi=banwa.
The /l/ sound is non-existent in Japanese; it is normally
represented by r. But the Japanese r is not exactly the same
as the English r; the former sounds between /r/ and /l/ although
much closer to /d/. This complication is simplified by sarili in
Filipino and sadiri in Bikol: /r/ is related to /d/ and /l/ is
related to /r/. The ancient baybayinwhere d[a] and r[a] are
represented by a common symbolalso helps.
Bikol, therefore, is an effective medium in the teaching and
learning of some East Asian languages.

General Term
Languages

Keywords
Bicol, Japanese language, Mandarin Chinese, language teaching,
language learning, comparative linguistics, polyglotism

1.

INTRODUCTION

Acquiring a second language (L2) is hard enough; learning a

foreign tongue (L3 or L3) is even harder. This difficulty is
particularly more pronounced in learning East Asian languages
such as Japanese and Mandarin Chinese whose grammatical
structure, orthography, and phonology seem too exotic for
English users.
Thankfully, there is Bikol which, in my own classroom
experience, provides the following learning aids:

2.
FOREIGN VS. NATIVE SOUNDS &
SYMBOLS
2.1. Teaching Japanese Phonetics
It is a well known fact that Japanese cannot produce the /l/
sound. This is not a racial predisposition. Perhaps, the Japanese
are not able to develop the ability to perceive, hence, articulate
the /l/ sound because such sound in nonexistent in their native
language. By nature, such ability would find no usefulness.
And then there is this mistaken notion that the Japanese language
is replete with the /r/ sound. Actually r is a mere symbol used
to represent a sound that is midway between /r/ and /l/. This
sound, although described as midway between /r/ and /l/, is
actually closer to /d/.
The following texts that describe the Japanese /r/ and give
suggestions on how it should be properly articulated were
verbatimly lifted from authoritative sources and given to the
students for them to understand.
ra sound peculiar to Japanese pronounced with
the tip of the tongue moving midway in the mouth
but not rolled. If the tongue is given slightly more
tension, this sound easily becomes d. It is like
neither r nor l in English but is sort of
between the two, like the Spanish r in pero. [1]
-o0o/r/ is probably the most difficult sound for
English-speaking students. This is neither /r/, /l/,
nor /d/ in English, but may be most close to /d/. In
Japanese it is necessary to distinguish /r/ and /d/.
In both cases the tongue touches somewhere and
comes off quickly and decisively. The difference
between these /r/ and /d/ is that of the position of
contact.

Filipino

r
l

Figure 1. Relationship of the Bikol & Filipino /l/, /r/, & /d/

Figure 1 encapsulates the relationship among /l/, /r/, and /d/ in

Bikol and Filipino which the English explanation will find hard
to capture.
Notice also the relationship of /l/ and /r/ in the Bikol daraga
and the Filipino dalaga.
The following (non-exhaustive) list of some Filipino words may
help elucidate the relationship between /r/ and /d/:
dami
rami
dito
rito
dini
rini
doon
roon
Even the ancient baybayin (Table 1) confirms the nearness of /r/
and /d/: d[a] and r[a] are represented by common symbol:
Biko Mintz
d/r
Doctrina Cristiana
d
Tagalog stylized
d
Baybayin kana
d/r
Bisaya Hervs
d
Baybayin Lopez
d
Table 1. Comparison of baybayin font types
Baybayin Typeface[3][4]

ha
la
ma
na
nga
o/u
pa
sa
ta

ga

wa
ya

Baybayin Lopez

Bikol

e/i

Bisaya Hervs

Yet, even with the aforementioned explanations from experts,

the students still could not grasp the relationship of /l/, /r/,
and /d/. This is where Bikol and Filipino come to the rescue:

ka
da/ra

Baybayin Kana

I then remembered what Sensee told me about the

pronunciation of the d sound; I should have
pressed the tip of the tongue against the upper
teeth ridge. [7]

a
ba

Tagalog Sytlized

I put my foot in my mouth again today. When I

introduced Miss Winters to my Japanese friends I
meant to say Edo bungaku o kenkyuu shite imasu
(Shes studying the literature of the Edo period).
But my d sounded like an r. So what I
actually said was Shes studying pornographic
literature [Ero bungaku o kenkyuu shite imasu].

Cristiana Doctrina

-o0o-

Bikol Mintz

/d/ against the teeth with somewhere more front of

the tongue[6]

Roman Transliteration

/r/ against the alveolar ridge with the very tip of

the tongue

a
b
k
d/r
E
g
h
l
m
n
N
O
p
s
t
w
y

a
b
k
d
E
g
h
l
m
n
N
O
p
s
t
w
y

a
b
k
d
E
g
h
l
m
n
N
O
p
s
t
w
y

a
b
k
d/r
E/I
g
h
l
m
n
N
O/U
p
s
t
w
y

A
b
k
d
E
g
h
l
m
n
N
O
p
s
t
w
y

a
b
k
d
E
g
h
l
m
n
N
O
p
s
t
w
y

2.2. Teaching Japanese Orthography

Refer to Table 1 and Table 2 and notice the following similarities:
k [ka] Baybayin kana
[e] Katakana
h [ha] Baybayin kana
[no] Katakana
O [o/u] Doctrina Cristiana [ro] Hiragana
t [ta] Baybayin kana
[i] Katakana
y [ya] Baybayin kana
[hi] Hiragana
Filipino students find the Japanese hiragana (cursive script) and
katakana (angular script) too intimidating. They find such writing
systems completely foreign. But using baybayin as springboard
may somehow ease the intimidation and melt the resistance
against learning them.
Take note also of the following baybayin characters:
d [da]
r [ra]
Bikol Mintz
d [da] r [ra]
Baybayin kana
Ra is formed simply by adding a diacritic to da. Such process
may also be used as springboard in teaching the transformation
of basic kana characters into sonant and semisonant characters.
For instance:

kaga

kigi

kugu

kege

kogo

bahapa

bihipi

bufupu

behepe

bohopo
Take (kigi). The Bikol word for cut is either kiris or
giris. That also is another good springboard.

Table 2. Japanese kana (hiragana & katakana) syllabaries

Basic Syllables

ka

sa

ta

na

ha

ma

ya

ra

wa

ki

shi

chi

ni

hi

mi

ri

ku

su

tsu

nu

fu

mu

yu

ru

ke

se

te

ne

he

me

ko

so

to

no

ho

mo

yo


re ro

Dakuon
(voiced/sonant)

Handakuon
(semivoiced/semisonant)

They are called na-adjectives because they need particle na

when modifying nouns. For instance:

ga

za

da

gi

ji

ji

gu

zu

zu

ge

ze

de

go

zo

do

ba bi bu be bo

shizuka na machi (peaceful town)

nigiyaka na ptii (lively party)
shinsetsu na sensei (kind teacher)
Most students could not grasp the sense of the English
translation because they could not account for the missing na.
But translating the Japanese phrases into Bikol does the trick.

pa pi pu pe po

shizuka na machi (matoninong na banwa)

nigiyaka na ptii (maribok na party)
shinsetsu na sensei (maboot na maestra)
By employing Japanese-Bikol analogy, the Bikol translation
enhances comprehension.

3.2
Mandarin Chinese Basic Sentence
Pattern
The first sentence learned by a student of Mandarin Chinese is
usually N (you) ho (fine). Its literal translation is you are
fine, but its equivalent expression in English is Hi.
N ho may be expanded to N ho ma? whose literal
translation is you are fine? but is equivalent in English to
How are you?
The formulaic response is W (I) ho (I am fine) or W hn
(very) ho (I am very fine).

3.
TEACHING JAPANESE &
MANDARIN CHINESE GRAMMAR USING
BIKOL THROUGH ANALOGY
3.1

Example: shizuka (peaceful)

nigiyaka (lively)
shinsetsu (kind)

Japanese Adjectives

Japanese adjectives are of two kinds: i-adjectives and naadjectives.

I-adjectives, considered as true adjectives, are native to the
Japanese language. They are so called because they end in
character (i).
Example: oishii (delicious)
atsui (hot)
atatakai (warm)
When used as noun modifiers, i-adjectives behave like English
adjectives, that is, they precede the nouns that they modify. For
example:
oishii tabemono (delicious food)
atsui khii (hot coffee)
atatakai tenki (warm weather)
Na-adjectives are those that originated from Chinese and other
foreign languages.

W ho is the basicbeing the simplestsentence pattern in

Mandarin Chinese. Ironically, it is its simplicity that makes it
hard to comprehend. English users are told that a sentence may
not be complete without a verb. But W ho is a complete,
albeit verbless sentence.
In Mandarin Chinese, when the complement is an adjective, a
linking verb is not necessary, as in:
W ho. (I am fine.)
Hny (Mandarin Chinese) nn (difficult). Mandarin
Chinese is difficult.
But the complement is a noun, the linking verb sh is needed,
as in:
W sh (am) Filbnrn (Filipino). (I am [a] Filipino.)
T (she) sh losh (teacher). (She is a teacher.)
Table 3 shows that English and Filipino are inadequate to
explain the sentence pattern, but Bikol says it all.
Table 3. Comparison of S-C & S-LV-C sentence patterns
Subject
(S)
W
Ako
Ako

ay

Adjectival
Complement
(C)
ho.
ok.
ok.

S-C pattern
in Mandarin Chinese
& Bikol
Mandarin Chinese
Bikol
Filipino

I
Subject
(S)

4.

am
ok.
English
Linking
Complement
Verb
S-LV-C pattern
(C)
(LV)
in English & Filipino
Predicate

CONCLUSION

Teaching foreign language is a multilingual affair; using one or

two languages in delivering the lesson may not be enough to
make things clear.

5.

REFERENCES

[1] _____________________. 1973. Japanese for Today.

Tokyo: Gakken. p6.

[2] _____________________. 1973. Japanese for Today.

Tokyo: Gakken. pp26-27.
[3] http://www.mts.net/~pmorrow/fonts.htm
[4] http://www.fonts2u.com/baybayin-modern-kana.font
[5] Japan Foundation, The. 1986. Basic Japanese-English
Dictionary. Tokyo: Bonjinsha-Oxford.
[6] Koide, Fumiko. 1983. Easy Japanese. Tokyo: Lets. p3.
[7] Mizutani, Osamu and Nobuko Mizutani. 1977. Nihongo
Notes 1: Speaking and Living in Japan. Tokyo: Japan
Times. p99.
[8] National Office for the Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign
Language (NOTCFL). 2002. New Practical Chinese Reader
1 (Textbook). Beijing: NOTCFL.