Which is harder: Tagalog vs. ASL

ASL is my 3rd language. I grew up speaking English, plus a little French in High School and College - but not really enough to count it as a second language. Then I moved to the Philippines as a missionary and learned Tagalog (and I learned it very well, if I may say so myself!) Tagalog is really pretty much on the opposite side of the world - and the language spectrum - from English and French, but I really love everything about it! And now, I'm learning language #3, which proves that the language spectrum is 3-D, because ASL is completely different from English AND Tagalog. Here are some things that are better about learning each language. You can judge which wins the smackdown!

If you don't know a word...

ASL: you just fingerspell it. It's amazing.

Tagalog: you use a handy ambiguous word like "Kuwan" or "Ano" - Like, "Please pass the kuwan" while pointing your lips at the butter. Or, "Will you please...y'know....ano." Usually they get it from context, and sometimes they don't even guess that you don't know what you're talking about. They think you've just forgotten the word for a minute! Ha!

Grammar....

Tagalog: Easy peasy. Verb, then actor, object and location. Same word order, every time.

ASL: You draw an image with your hands, starting from the big picture, narrowing in to details...

Pronunciation...

Tagalog: phonetic.

ASL: making the same motion one, two or three times can mean three different things...or not. But people usually get what you're trying to say, anyway.

Conjugation...

Tagalog: none. You do use different prefixes/suffixes on verbs to indicate tense.

ASL: also none. There's not even any tense. (I have mixed feeling on whether that adds or takes away points...) In fact, half the time I can't even tell the difference between a verb and a noun...