please correct it :-) thank you Tagalog message to a friend

Magandang hapon, kaibigan! Kamusta (na) kayo? May mga pagbabago ba? Ako'y nag-aaral  nang konti/kaunti  araw-araw. Miss na miss na kita. Sana'y maging masaya at hindi maging malamig ang araw mo.  Ingat ka at kung maaari'y tumawag kayo sa akin.

Viel glück!

(continuation)

Miss na miss na kita. – You need the 2 “na”s there if what you wanted to say is “I already miss you a lot”. “Miss na miss” is “miss” in the superlative. The second “na” is the “already” in the translation, but it also serves another purpose there in Tagalog. It somehow tones down the superlative degree by which you miss your friend. To a friend, you may naturally say this after you’ve been apart for quite some time. Hence, the “na” fits in perfectly. Without that second “na”, “miss na miss kita” would sound more like “I can’t live without you” or “I miss you like crazy”, which may suggest romantic feelings intentionally or unintentionally. Between lovers, they may say this to each other every hour and with or without the second “na” won’t really make any difference.  :)

Sana maging masaya ang araw mo.  -  The use of “maging” (to become) would make this statement appropriate at the start of the day.  Remove “maging” and you can say it at any time.  “Hindi maging malamig (ang araw mo)” is not a typical Filipino expression given that we are in the tropics, though we would really rather have colder days for the most part.  If you say it, what it could be taken to mean in a humorous way is something like you hope “he/she has someone to keep his/her bed warm.”      

Ingat ka/kayo at kung pwede/maaari ay tawagan mo/ninyo (nyo) ako/ko.  – If you are using “ka” (singular) or “kayo” (plural) in the early part of you sentence, try to keep that number consistent for the rest of the sentence. “Ingat” is a clipped version of “mag-ingat” (be careful).  However, due to the use of “ingat ka” as a very popular expression of farewell, it has assumed the meaning of “(you) take care”, while “mag-ingat ka” still means “(you) be careful”.  I think more of us would use “pwede” instead of “maaari”, especially in casual conversations.  Both “tumawag ka/kayo sa akin” and “tawagan mo/nyo ako” can mean “call me”.  However, when used this way, “tumawag” would be rather lukewarm compared to “tawagan”.  The nuance could be something like that between, “if you can, well, call me” (that’s with “tumawag”) and “if you can, do call me” (with tawagan).            

Magandang hapon, kaibigan.  Kamusta kayo? – “Kayo” is normally used to refer to a group and in this case, it could mean your friend’s family or whatever group you associate your friend with.  It can also be used to address an elderly individual/group or a superior. If the person you are addressing is really a friend, you would say this as “Kamusta na kayo?” or “Kamusta ka na?” (if you are greeting your friend exclusively).  The “na”(= already) gives cognizance to your last contact with the person. So, your “how are you?”, with the “na” will now mean “How have you been?”, i.e., your concern goes back beyond the here and now. 

May mga pagbabago ba? -  This translates to “have there been changes/improvements?”.  You ask this usually if what you are interested in are the expected changes or improvements in conditions. For example, you may ask this if your friend has a new boss, a new government, or if he/she is taking medication and you want to know if the medicine is doing its job.  If what you meant to say is something like “what’s up?” or “what’s new?”, the popular colloquial expression is “anong balita?” (what’s the news?, but taken to mean as what’s the latest?) or the less popular, “anong bago?” (what’s new?)

Ako’y nag-aaral ng kaunti (kaunting Tagalog) araw-araw. – “Kaunti” is the correct spelling, but we tend to pronounce the “au” as a diphthong, so it really sounds like “konti” and you will see it spelled that way at times.  You do not need the “lang” in there unless you wanted to convey that the quantity is even less than “a little/bit”.  Also, your friend may not have an idea of what you are studying, so if it’s Tagalog that you are referring to, then use “kaunting Tagalog” in place of “kaunti”.

please correct it :-) thank you Tagalog message to a friend

Magandang hapon kaibigan! Kamusta kayo? May mga pagbabago ba? Ako'y Nag-aaral ako ng konti lang araw-araw. Miss na miss na kita. Sana'y maging masaya ang araw mo at hindi maging malamig. Mag-ingat ka at kung maaari ay tumawag kayo sa akin.

Wow, ang galing mo'ng magtagalog! Nasurprise ako ah! Saan ka natuto nito at bakit ka nag-aaral ng Tagalog? (Wow, you're so good at tagalog! I'm surprised! Where did you learn it and why are you learning Tagalog?) 

Tagalog is just my 3rd language by the way but I am a Filipino. The 1st language being Cebuano and 2nd being English, I became fluent without study! I just used to watch national television and ask my babysitter what this and that means when I was about 8-10 and before that I didn't know any Tagalog. Cheers!

-Manuval