Taste of Ilocano Culture

Image courtesy of MAKAN

For most of us, checking the Facebook news is a part of our daily routine. This morning, as I skimmed through people's post and daily morning rants, I came across a picture of pinapaitan, an Ilokano delicacy, posted by Ilokano Food. I was so stoke! Since I'm about to eat some of that this weekend.

What is Pinapaitan? So you ask. Mananggan describes it best. My simple definition is "Ilokano Menudo" only better.

The article was actually from this website MAKAN. If you are interested in the Ilocano Culture, you simply must start with the food! This site is all about the taste buds of Ilokanos.

While browsing through the different articles, read the comment sections of the site and exercise what you've learned so far from the lessons we've provided. The best way to retain what little Ilokano you've learned is to utilize them. Many of the comments are short and simple. Write down the words you don't know and ask us on our Facebook Page.

Afterwards, for more historical knowledge on Ilokano Food Culture, go check out A Taste of Ilocos Norte.

Don't forget, we post a "Ilokano Phrase of the Day" in our Facebook Page.

Siak ni Gigi, Intayon Agbasa!
(I am Gigi, Let's Read/Learn!)

Paskua

Naragsak a Paskua 

ken

Narang-ay a Baro a Tawen

Kadakayo Amin

(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone)

We are now on Facebook!

In our attempt to interact more with our readers, you can now send us a message on Facebook.

Mangatayon! Let's Eat! Part II

Now we shall go over the exercise with Tagalog-Ilokano version to help compare the difference between the two languages. This exercise is for Tagalog speakers learning to speak Ilokano.

Refresher: Mangantayon! Lets Eat! Part I

Ilokano Version: Tagalog Version:

Jacobo: Nangankan? Kumain ka na?
Mark: Saan pay. Hindi pa.
Jacobo: Umayka ditoy, mangan ka pay. Halika dito, kumain ka muna.

Mark: Ania ti sidain? Ano ang ulam?
Jacobo: Pinakbet ken sisig. Pinakbet at sisig.
Mark: Kayat ko ti sisig. Gusto mo ang sisig.

Mark: Naimas! Sino ti nagluto? Sarap! Sino ang nagluto?
Jacobo: Kasinsin ko nga ni Demy. Pinsan ko na si Demy.
Mark: Nagimas ti sidain. Ang sarap ng ulam.

Mark: Nabusogakon. Busog na ako.

You'll notice the similarities in a couple of the words and that is because Tagalog and Ilokano do share some common words such as "luto" or "busog" and of course the names of dishes such as "Pinakbet" and "sisig".

Mangatayon! Kain na Tayo!

And we are back!

 Okay, Okay, I know it took as awhile to get going again but, here we are, WE ARE BACK! We are please to see that there are many people who are actually interested in learning the Ilokano Language.

So, let's recap what we've covered with our basics.

1. Greetings and Labels
2. Number Basics
3. Street Basics
4. Simple Prefixes
5. Common Phrases

So what's next?

To start us up gain, here's a little something base on the basics that we've given our so far.

When riding a bus in the Philippines, you have a driver and a conductor. The conductor will assign seating and also give you your ticket fare, they will have hole punches into you ticket to indicate the amount you will be paying base on your destination. Here's a little Ilokano Joke for you.  Try to keep up.

NOTE: Highlight the space under the lines and the English translation will appear.
Daytoy ket naaramid diay unig ti bus:

This happened inside the bus:

Konductor: Daytoy ni ti tiket mo madam.
Conductor: This is your ticket ma'am.
Madam: Manong, mano iti bayadak nga pasahek?
Ma'am: (Older brother), how much do I pay for my fare?
Konductor: Madam, kitaem ken basaem dayta tiket mo
Conductor: Ma'am, look and read your ticket.
Madam: Kasano ngay nga basaek daytoy ket inabut-abutam mettin.

Ma'am: How am I suppose to read this, you punch a lot of holes into it.

NGEK! ( It's like saying OMG! or LMAO but in a more dramatic way)

Now, many of you probably didn't get that joke but it's a start. Many Ilokano jokes are full of sarcasm and also many are deemed offensively perverted to westerners but all in good fun. We will stick with the cleaner jokes, of course.

Thank you to all our viewers and those who are actually looking forward to the new lessons coming up.

Agyaman kami la unay. (We thank you very much)