Waray Language: Phrases You Should Learn When Travelling to Tacloban

If you are heading to Tacloban in the Philippines, you must be familiar with their culture or language. Waray language is widely used in speaking and writing, some of the signages are written in Waray and everyone converse well in their native tongue. Although, this part belongs in the Visayas region, they are rather using a different dialect and not the widely spoken Bisaya. Parts of Samar, Leyte and Biliran used Waray as their language; and you may be confused when you heard some Waray words with similarity in Bisaya. But don’t worry, this article will help you learn some useful Waray phrases that will surely help you while you’re in Tacloban.

When Learning Waray Language You Must:

First thing you should do is to observe how the people speak. Listen to their tone, pronunciation and diction. In this way, you will have a feel of what it is like to live in Tacloban.

Symbol of Hope

Tacloban City

Tacloban is a beautiful city and considered as a highly urbanized city in the Philippines. It serves as the provincial capital of Leyte. Some significant events in the history of the Philippines happened here. This makes the place more fun and interesting to roam around.

It is always fun to learn new things while you travel and sharing it with your friends is like giving them a piece of your adventure.

Here are Some of the Waray Phrases You Should Learn Before Going to Tacloban:

You should know these words so that you can tell if somebody is asking you a question or not.

When you ride in a public transport, you will often hear these words. So, it is better if you already know this beforehand. And when somebody ask you to give the fare to the jeepney driver, you will not look each other in the eye and wonder what to do.

Although they can clearly understand Tagalog and English, part of learning their language is to speak to them. Just give it a try and when you don’t understand the reply, speak to them in Tagalog, at least you tried! 🙂

Don’t be a tourist, be like a local. When buying something try to speak their native language. Because you know, some items / merchandise is relatively high when you’re a tourist. Practice what you learn and who knows, you may get a cheaper price.

It is always good to greet someone, it’s like you’re inviting them to be your friend and having a good friend in different places is awesome. Why? Because you are broadening your circle of friends and growing your connection. This will always be beneficial on both sides because there’s a greater chance of learning .

Let’s count from one to ten! Memorize this, it’s really a big help.

Learning their culture may not be enough during your short stay here but learning some words / phrases in their dialect is a good start.

So when you visit Tacloban, try to memorize these phrases beforehand. It will be a great help for you in traveling and living like a local.