There are three languages that I speak: Tagalog, English, and Bisaya. In that order.

Filipino or Tagalog, my mother tongue; English, because we’ve been taught how to read and write in English since kids, and; Visaya or Bisaya, the native language, or dialect if you prefer, of major parts of central and southern Philippines.

I started learning how to speak Bisaya when I was in high school. It is my 3rd language. Because although I was born and raised in a city in the southern part of the country, our local dialect is Tagalog. My mom, who is from Batangas, far up north in Luzon, and my dad, who is half-Chinese, both speak Tagalog. Ironically, my dad doesn’t speak a word in Mandarin nor Hokkien. He does speak Hiligaynon, more commonly known as Ilonggo, and Maguindanaon, the language of Muslim people. So it is natural for us to be speaking Tagalog at home.

When I moved to Iligan City, in the northern region of Mindanao, that’s when I was fully-immersed in the Visayan language. My classmates, my professors, the store attendants in the canteen, the campus security guard, the jeepney driver…everyone spoke Bisaya.