Happy Day of Freedom, Philippines! 🇵🇭

Did you know we have almost 6,000 tutors in the Philippines? Today, on Philippines Independence Day, let's travel to this amazing country, and explore its culture!

Lifestyle

Holidays and birthdays are often celebrated at a relative's house, and it’s typical for three to four generations of family members to attend and have a big buffet. Family life in the Philippines is a core value and close friends are considered family. After a party with about 20-70 family members, few might choose to go to a karaoke bar at the night's end.

Karaoke is a common pastime and karaoke bars can be found in every city. The Philippines is home to some amazing singers and karaoke competitions here are unlike anywhere else in the world — with some contests even being a gateway to a career in entertainment.

Community participation is an important part of karaoke competitions, weddings, or town fiestas. Neighbors often help with stage setup, preparing meals for the judges and guests, as well as selflessly helping the contestants with their preparation.

Culture and traditions

When it comes to language, Filipinos generally use a mix of Tagalog and English — “Taglish”, but there are more than 120 languages and dialects spoken throughout the country. Respect for family members and the elderly is of the utmost importance and this is reflected in the way people speak. Don’t be surprised if you hear a sentence like “thank you po”, as “po” is added to show respect.

As a predominantly Catholic country, Christmas is very important in the Philippines. Many Filipinos start decorating as early as September and the festive season ends in the second week of January. That's a total of four months — the longest Christmas celebration in the world!
Following Christmas, one of the biggest celebrations in the Philippines takes place in Cebu every January. The Sinulog Festival is an annual festival celebrated by up to 15 million people. It honors Santo Nino (Child Jesus) through a dance that tells the story of the transition from paganism to Christianity.

Cuisine

Due to many influences from countries like the US, Spain, China, and Japan, the Philippines developed a unique cuisine.

There is no bland food in the Philippines and you can expect an explosion of flavors in sinigang, sisig, lechon, lumpia, kare-kare, inasal, or anything adobo! Most dishes are a mix of flavors like salty, sweet, and sour. Rice is a staple, whether it’s steamed or fried, and accompanies all dishes.

And if you’re craving something sweet, halo-halo would be a great choice: a mix of fruits, sweetened white beans, milk, flavor-infused crushed/shaved ice, caramel, purple yam, and ice cream.

Filipinos are usually huge meat lovers and they show appreciation towards their food in many ways. For example, they will not waste any animal parts and will often share their meals with others.

Our tutors

Filipino people are known for their hospitality, friendliness, and hard work and we know this for a fact: Our students constantly praise Filipino tutors for their welcoming, warm, and patient attitude. Here are some reviews from our students:

“She is a very kind and good teacher. You will speak English comfortably in the class. I strongly recommend her.”

“She always greets me with a smile and asks lots of questions every time, which gives me practice in speaking English. Thank you very much.”

“The teacher had a very friendly atmosphere and I was able to speak without being nervous. She corrected my grammar mistakes every time and wrote in the chatbox. I would like to ask her again to be my teacher.”

“This was my first lesson and the teacher was friendly and helpful with a smile. They wrote in the chatbox about the words we discovered and I think they were very attentive.”

“This was my second lesson and I learned a lot today. She was wonderful at giving praise where praise was due, and paying attention to points that needed attention!”

We are very happy we get to work with our amazing Filipino tutors daily and we’re honored to cover the Philippines in this article. Hope this inspires you to discover more about this wonderful country or even visit if you haven’t before!