Philippine English

[krisfromgermany]

Is Philippine English easy to understand for Europeans or foreigners in general?
I'm planning to travel there and I've never heard Filipinos talk because there hardly are any here in my city.
I read that grammar seems to be only slightly different but maybe pronunciation and vocabulary are different?
I'm only used to CNN English and can't even understand Liverpool English so far.

 

[Tdol]

They have a distinctive pronunciation and intonation, but I lived there for three years and never had any problems with it. You should find most speakers easier to understand than a Liverpudlian accent. If you're OK with CNN, you won't have any problems at all.

 

[GoesStation]

Is Philippine English easy to understand for Europeans or foreigners in general?
I'm planning to travel there and I've never heard Filipinos talk because there hardly are any here in my city.
I read that grammar seems to be only slightly different but maybe pronunciation and vocabulary are different?
I'm only used to CNN English and can't even understand Liverpool English so far.

Some Filipino immigrants to the US have a very thick, choppy accent which I've found very hard to decipher. Others are easy to follow.

 

[krisfromgermany]

They have a distinctive pronunciation and intonation, but I lived there for three years and never had any problems with it. You should find most speakers easier to understand than a Liverpudlian accent. If you're OK with CNN, you won't have any problems at all.

Good to know. Yes, I understand 99% of CNN English but when I saw a documentary about Jürgen Klopp the other day where they interviewed some Liverpool fans outside the stadium, I got shocked because I almost didn't understand a single word. Same is for an English soldier from Newcastle who I got to know last year or so; I couldn't understand him at all.
I also heard that Filipinos often suddenly switch from English to their native Asian languages in the middle of a sentence, is that true?