Del Taco al Tango - Get to know JP

:):):):):):):):) Cool podcast! I don't know ANY older brother who would give his sister a massage. My older brother used to tell me I had been found in trash, I was a test-tube baby, I was a foundling left by aliens... Bless his good soul! :) Spanishpod, it turns out, is also a great place to improve one's English - to dish the dirt on somebody. Great phrase :)

Well, I'll have you all know that when my sister was in town to visit, I treated her to a Chinese foot massage at a spa called Head To Toe. It was a real massage, not her head and my toe. So Heather actually speaks Spanish, too, but she studied in Salamanca, Spain, so her Spanish sounds more European, and mine sounds more Latin American. Our parents' language is called Pangasinan, and the titles we usually call each other are "kuyang" (older brother) and "ading" (younger sister). We rarely address each other by John Patrick or Heather, which is why she hesitated in the podcast when you heard her call me 'John...' Yes, JP is short for "John Patrick," now you know! Finally, to speak on behalf of older brothers everywhere, we take our duty to "protect and torment" very seriously. Anyway, I'm so glad my ading came to visit!

At one point in the podcast, JP says "simón," and Liliana comments that simón is much too Mexican. What does simón mean? And what is the phrase that JP says right after that...si something else. It was muffled. Muchas gracias.

You guys had me laughing out loud on my way to work: The "head to toe massage," and the "foreign language student of the year" Yes, I got the joke. I can boast of similar "accomplishments." It would be fun to hear about how you all ended up in China in a future show. Oh, and now I know why JP's last name is Villanueva.

"Protect and torment" - this must be some sort of secret, older-brotherly vow throughout the world... :) Having said that, I must also add (on behalf of probably all younger sisters) that we... well, we really appreciate it.

cyberdiva, I believe simón is slang for 'yeah', and it is indeed a mexicanism.

Muchas gracias, Rodney.

Cyberdiva Simon means yeah, like Rodney says. We use this in Mexico because "simon" starts with "si" so it's close to the sound, this is very colloquial, very slang and very Mexican.

After "simón" I said "cilantro," which also starts with the word "sí," but Mexicans don't really say that, it's just me. The opposite of "simón" is "nopal." So my sister Heather and I spent last weekend in Manila, for my cousin's wedding. The ceremony was held in a 14th Century Spanish church called San Agustín, and the reception was held at the Baluarte de San Diego; both locations are in Manila's Intramuros district, which is the original walled Spanish from the days of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon. In fact, you can see some of the sites I'm talking about, as well as my baby sister, in this video:

hey, JP, are you a Filipino? Where do you live here in the Philippines?

JP...I heard that Philippines recently restored Spanish as one of its official language. Is Spanish hot there now?

What fun!! The wedding looked like a lot more fun than most I've been to!!. Nice to get to know you a little better JP.

cjpangilinan, I am Filipino American from SeattleI live and work in Shanghai, China, where SpanishPod and ChinesePod are based. I was in Manila for a cousin's wedding. I have family in Quezon City and in La Union. I love it love it love it in the Philippines; might consider moving to Manila if it weren't for the traffic! pituitaryademona, I hadn't heard that Spanish had been restored as an official language, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's been restored (and widely ignored).

Didn't know JP was Filipino. Pinoys represent! :)

Thank you for sharing it with us JP!

I'm not quite clear about which language it is that JP grew up with his folks speaking. At first he describes it as a very distinct language, rather than a dialect, so different from Tagalog that Filipinos can't understand each other if one of them is speaking this tongue. But later, he mentions that there are a lot of Spanish words embedded in Tagalog, as if that were the parents' language. I may have misunderstood what he was saying. One amusing thing, at least to me: I never imagined JP to be of Filipino heritage. My fantasy about his background was that he was a Catholic kid from south Boston, with an Irish American mother and a Mexican father. That's what the name John Patrick made me think of. And then he moved to Seattle to go to university and stayed there afterward, seduced by the city's beauty, or a long-gone love interest, or maybe just addicted to the caffeine.

Ha ha, yardbird, I'm a Seattlite, grew up in Olympia, WA, and as a Seattlite I consider anything east of Lake Washington "too far east!" Only half kidding... My parents' language of choice is Pangasinan, but when other Filipinos are around they switch to Tagalog (the national language). They are fully fluent in both languages, but around the house it was Pangasinan. Both languages, especially Pangasinan, are chock-full of Spanish words. I have one uncle who's home language is honest-to-God Filipino Spanish, left over from colonial times, but I think that's pretty rare nowadays.

jp: great stuff! I'm curious after hearing lili's coment about when you guys have guests in the studio and how you get along no problem...how many languages do you speak? I find myself more and more fascinated with language, can't really describe it. Anytime I see a movie that has an element of another language involved and only some of the characters being able to understand, or to translate I am immediately sucked in!

hypersport I love languages! I would love to speak arabic! that might be my next challenge! JP speaks Spanish, French, Italian, some Chinese and some Tagalo, am I missing anything else JP? I speak Spanish,English,French and Chinese.

JP, thanks for the explanation. Well, I liked the idea of you being from South Boston, if you understand the reference. And the pairing of one Mexican parent and one Irish American is actually a known pattern of mating, over time. The common bond being the Church. but in that case, in Boston, the parish would probably be in big financial trouble at this point. A sad turn of history. shameful betrayal. Sorry to introduce such tragedy. So I'm glad it was Olympia, Washington, instead. But how did you come to call Seattle your home, when at this point in your life you're a Shanghai ex pat? As for all those languages, fluency in, all I can say is far out. Really, really impressive. Same for Lili. Incredible. I mean, marvelous. I am deeply impressed by you guys.

yardbird, you can take me out of Seattle, but you can't take Seattle out of me... ha ha, don't get me started. Shanghai is a great place for a gig, even an extended gig, but being an ex pat makes me a permanent outsider. As far as those languages goes, it's really just a matter of study and travel. There's things I can't do, like balance my checkbook, sew a button, or drive a stick... But in fact, I am working with a bunch of talented folks. Both Lili and Leo are fluent in French, and Esti can hold her own, when she's not speaking Basque!

wow!!! Lili, what was your motivation to learn Chinese and French? How long did they take you?

Since I was a kid I thought French was one of the most romantic and elegant languages, but later it was because I was interested in political science and diplomacy. I learned it in a year or so. Chinese I learned to be very interested once I started talking and reading the characters. Chinese I am still studying already studied for a year and a half.

Nice! Well, with Spanish here in the states-- it's a given, I mean there are so many opportunities to use it. It's been such a huge part of my motivation to learn, the fact that I get to speak it every day with native speakers, some who don't speak any English. But I wonder sometimes if I was to tackle another, if I could stay motivated without the native speakers all around me.

Kumusta JP, Hola Liliana! Greetings from Ann Arbor, Michigan - I can't tell you how much of a blast I had listening to this extra because I am also a Pinoy-American too trying to learn Spanish because of our mixed heritage . The stories about you and your sister are hilarious because they are so straight out of my family's too - the extra reminds me of scenes from 'The Debut' if you haven't already seen it - what great Pinoy flick. Hilarious, we seem to know only the choice swear words and verbal frustration indicators in Filipino/Tagalog, that's the extent of our education into the mother tongue too. Too funny! Anyway, all the best and keep up the great work to the both of you - 'Ingat' at/y 'Hasta luego' Patricio

hola patricio! I saw "the Debut" a few years ago when it made the rounds in the theaters. I just taught Lili how to pronounce "debut" in kalabao English! You know went to grad school in Ann Arbor, lived on Ann Street behind Rackham Hall! Sige!

LOL, 'de-BOO' is that right? I actually started coming to this site when my friend who is trying to learn Spanish sent me here and she says you look like a relative of mine , I looked and saw that you are Pinoy and like a cousin of mine in Toronto so I just had to drop a line. LOL Liliana reminds me of my gracious hostess who helped me out with the customs/language while I worked for GM in Toluca/Mexico City for a year so these podcasts have been such fun with a sense of familiarity about it too. Yeah, I've lived in the A2 area for pretty much my whole life and I cycle past Ann St. a lot . When did you finish grad school here? There is a cool salsa dancing club near Ann Street where I like to dance but have recently broken my leg cycling so salsa is on the backburner until I get back to 100%- but in the meantime I can live vicariously through the rueda casino/salsa forum on here until I can shake my salsa tailfeather again - LOL. Salamat!