Basic Filipino Terminologies A Foreign Should Know

If you are a foreigner and wanted to visit the Philippines, you definitely need to learn some basic Filipino language so you communicate well and make you stay worthwhile. Although Filipinos are known to be good communicator and almost everybody in any part of the country  knows how to speak English, Filipinos are very appreciative to foreigners who knows how to speak the Native Language (Tagalog). Here are some basic sentences that might help you a lot to make your stay smooth.

Greetings:
1) Magandang umaga po! (Good morning!)
Ma-gan-da means good (in some case maganda means beautiful depending on the usage, u-ma-ga is morning, and dont forget the word "PO". Po is a two letter word that you should not omit in every sentences you will speak. Its basically a courteous word in Filipino.
2) Magandang gabi po! (Good evening!) Gabi means evening.
3) Magandang Tanghali po! (Good afternoon!)
4) Magandang araw po! (Good day!)

Just to be specific, you can have the first 3, and if you want to greet in any hour of the day, you can use #4. :)

Frequent Questions
1) Anong pangalan mo? (What is your name?)
2) Saan ka nakatira? (Where do you live?)
3) Ilang taon kana? (How old are you?)

A-no= What?
Sa-an= Where?
Ka-i-lan= When?
Ba-kit= Why?
Si-no= Who?
Pa-a-no= How?
I-lan= How many?

Terminologies if you are going to call a person.
1) Ku-ya (older brother, or older male, sometimes male in authority like guards, the drivers, or simply a bystander hahaha). You can hear almost all Filipinos calling a male person "Kuya". Even a child, or a teenager, and you are older than them, it is acceptable to call someone "Kuya". It originates in the family, when parents are calling their eldest son "kuya" so that younger siblings will follow calling him "kuya". Thats the logic behind that.
2) A-te. Well basically, its the counterpart for Kuya, so it applies the same. :)
3) Na-nay (Mother) You can call an old Filipina Nanay eventhough she is not your mother. Believe me they will love you and you will make them smile.
4) Ta-tay (Father) its the counterpart for Nanay so again it applies the same. Hahaha ;)

So there. Hope you learn from this. Maraming Salamat!