I am Derek, native of England and living near London.

Mini autobiography edit

My main interests are languages and linguistics. I speak 3 languages: English (my native language),Tagalog and Tawbuid (a tribal language of Mindoro, Philippines). I have also some knowledge of French, Italian, Portuguese, and Maltese. My first degree is in Linguistics.

With my family, I spent from 1988 to 2001 in the Philippines, mainly with the Western Tawbuid tribe, learning the language and translating the New Testament. There has been very little research into the language, and my contributions form the only detailed analysis available. A couple from the USA spent from the 1950s to the 1990s working mainly with the Eastern Tawbuid. They analysed the language for the first time, though none of their work has been officially published.