Day 54: Your Thesis in Plain Tagalog
In a faculty office at a university in Manila, Karl (A), a master's student, asks his thesis adviser, Victor (B), what he thought of the first chapter of his thesis on Tagalog romance pocketbooks.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Tagalog. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio for this lesson is coming soon. For now, read the dialogue and its translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day
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A
Sir, nabasa na po ba ninyo ang unang kabanata ko? Kahit masakit po, kaya ko.
Sir, have you read my first chapter? Even if it hurts, I can take it.
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B
Dalawang beses, at hindi ko pa rin alam ang sinasabi mo. Basahin mo nga ang unang pangungusap.
Twice, and I still don't know what you're saying. Read me the first sentence.
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A
Heto po: "Isa itong postkolonyal na pagbasa sa diskurso ng pag-ibig sa mga pocketbook, bilang lunan ng hegemonya at ahensiya."
Here: "This is a postcolonial reading of the discourse of love in pocketbooks, as a site of hegemony and agency."
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B
Ngayon, sabihin mo ulit na parang kausap mo ang tindera ng pocketbook sa bangketa. Bawal ang "diskurso."
Now say it again as if you were talking to the woman who sells pocketbooks on the sidewalk. "Discourse" is banned.
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A
Ano po... binabasa ko po ang mga pocketbook para makita kung paano nagmamahal ang Pilipino.
Um... I read pocketbooks to see how Filipinos love.
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B
Mas malinaw. Ngayon, ang "ahensiya ng mambabasa" mo, sabihin mo nang walang "ahensiya."
Clearer. Now, your "agency of the reader": say it without "agency."
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A
Na hindi po basta nagpapaloko sa pantasya ang mga nagbabasa. Pinipili po nila kung ano ang paniniwalaan.
That readers don't just get fooled by the fantasy. They choose what to believe.
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B
Sino ang mga mambabasang 'yan? Hindi teorya, Karl, tao.
Who are these readers? Not theory, Karl. People.
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A
Mga kasambahay po, tindera, estudyante... at ang nanay ko po, nagbabasa sa jeep pauwi galing trabaho.
Housekeepers, vendors, students... and my mother, reading on the jeepney home from work.
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B
Ayan ang thesis mo: kung bakit ang nanay mo, pagod na pagod, bumibili pa rin ng kuwento ng pag-ibig.
There's your thesis: why your mother, bone-tired, still buys love stories.
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A
Opo, Sir. Pero puwede po bang maiwan ang "postkolonyal" sa pamagat, para po matuwa ang panel?
Yes, Sir. But can "postcolonial" stay in the title, to keep the panel happy?
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