20% Proposal

     For this semester's 20% project, I decided to learn how to speak the Filipino languages Tagalog and Ilongo. I chose this project because it's both timely and relevant to what I plan to do in the near future - visit the Philippines this coming summer. Although I am Filipino, I can only understand some of the language and I sound very illiterate when I try to speak back. I am actually traveling to the Philippines by myself, so it's super important that I learn how to speak fluently in case I get lost in travel. I also want to be able to speak to my relatives particularly my grandpa. My grandpa speaks Ilongo, a Filipino dialect, that I tend to mix up with the main language, Tagalog. Part of my 20% project will be to clearly distinguish between both languages, since it's super confusing to me. So, essentially I am learning two different languages.
     To do this project I will definitely be needing a mentor (something that was very needed during my last 20% project), so I will definitely be talking to my parents about helping me throughout this journey. I hope to take notes, maybe make flash cards, or just properly document something when I learn it.
     The easiest part of this project would definitely be understanding the Filipino languages since I am already able to translate a lot of it.
     The most difficult part of this project will probably be learning Ilongo. Tagalog is the Philippines' main language, so it will not be hard at all to find resources online to help me. But, Ilongo is really only native to one island out of 1,100 islands in the Philippines (and I have tried to find resources online before and found one ill-created dictionary), so I would need to depend on a native speaker to teach me.