WALA LANG...
Surfing around. Read this great entry in Howie Severino's Blog about English vis-a-vis Filipino.
Carabao Taglish Anyone?
Language is the unspoken wall in the Philippine version of apartheid
by Howie Severino
Naturally, my big mouth replied. Bored lang kase eh.
"Inasmuch as I do respect Filipino (which is different from Tagalog mind you) and use it everyday, I cannot overstate the importance of learning English. Especially in a developing country such as ours.
Language is the door to a world of ideas. The more languages you know, the more possibilities are presented. Knowing English allows you into books, movies, and culture available in those languages.
"America's Boy" and "Still Life with Woodpecker" are a couple of my favorite books. But I could not have known how brilliant they were unless I understood English and understood it well.
Unless Philippine society and it's government goes out of it's way to translate the world's greatest literature (classic and contemporary) into passable Filipino editions - so sorry, it's English as the language of choice for me. Nothing wrong with living in a world where you can only understand Filipino newspapers, Filipino TV, Filipino movies, Filipino radio, and Filipino books I guess. But that's just a little too insular for me. The problem is not the language. The problem here really is that some Filipinos think they are hotter shit than other Filipinos just because they speak English. Now that is not the fault of the language, is it?
Bilinguality should really be promoted. It's possible. One doesn't have to sacrifice one or the other. English in School. Filipino in Government and at Home. "
Thank you Francisco Reyes for the white carabao.
Language is the unspoken wall in the Philippine version of apartheid
by Howie Severino
Naturally, my big mouth replied. Bored lang kase eh.
"Inasmuch as I do respect Filipino (which is different from Tagalog mind you) and use it everyday, I cannot overstate the importance of learning English. Especially in a developing country such as ours.
Language is the door to a world of ideas. The more languages you know, the more possibilities are presented. Knowing English allows you into books, movies, and culture available in those languages.
"America's Boy" and "Still Life with Woodpecker" are a couple of my favorite books. But I could not have known how brilliant they were unless I understood English and understood it well.
Unless Philippine society and it's government goes out of it's way to translate the world's greatest literature (classic and contemporary) into passable Filipino editions - so sorry, it's English as the language of choice for me. Nothing wrong with living in a world where you can only understand Filipino newspapers, Filipino TV, Filipino movies, Filipino radio, and Filipino books I guess. But that's just a little too insular for me. The problem is not the language. The problem here really is that some Filipinos think they are hotter shit than other Filipinos just because they speak English. Now that is not the fault of the language, is it?
Bilinguality should really be promoted. It's possible. One doesn't have to sacrifice one or the other. English in School. Filipino in Government and at Home. "
Thank you Francisco Reyes for the white carabao.
posted by carlosceldran @ 9:58 PM
14 Comments:
I grew up on English instruction and Tagalog at home and outside school for everyday conversation. So now I'm fluent in both. I think we should restore strict English instruction just because it's the only place underprivileged students will be forced to learn it. For those who can't (or won't) speak Tagalog at home, well -- that's their choice.
I'm willing to look at evidence of learning impairment due to lack of English skills -- but then isn't that more reason to improve English instruction at the beginner levels?
I wonder what role Taglish will play (check out the first entry in my brand-new blog: http://robbyv.blogspot.com)?
Oiga, I say bring Spanish back into the curriculum. So much of our past is inaccessible without it and we've lost a large part of our connections with the West through it. And lest you think I'm evil, I say Chinese is important also for the future. That should be taught as well, and not just in certain schools in Greenhills or I.S.
I think we're far too wrapped up in the Tagalog v. English debate. Its part of the semi-religious search for purity that infects our politics and our culture. Accept that fact that we are, so to speak, impure anak sa labas and thus our identity is no identity but multiplicities. We speak English and dozens of different native languages, not just Tagalog. We are mongrels of Chinese, Malays, Americans, Spaniards, Mexicans and god knows who else. I think those from the Caribbean have got this right: just revel and enjoy in the multiplicity and stop seeking a singular identity so you can be like "the Chinese" or "the Thai."
The West Indian poet Derek Walcott, in fact, expressed this sense of hybridity and lack of singular identity better than I ever could: "Either I'm nobody, or I'm a nation."
The idea of inculcating strong national identity is no longer relevant and increasingly less so when Filipinos go abroad to make their careers. The key to development is capable leadership and effective administration. That's what a country needs to succeed. Not just "identity" whatever that means. We're not and never will be like the Japanese or the Koreans.
So I think we should require English and one native language (doesn't have to be Tagalog, can be Cebuano or Ilocano or whatever as long as its the native language of the region) throughout grade school. This will encourage writing and expression and initial identity-formation in the local language. Then permit students in high school to study a third language either Chinese or Spanish. This is to prepare them for the more globalized world we face in the decades to come.
The Walcott reference is from his poem The Schooner 'Flight'
"I'm just a red nigger who love the sea,
I had a sound colonial education,
I have Dutch, nigger, and English in me,
and either I'm nobody, or I'm a nation."
A few years ago, when the Indian government proposed to adopt Hindi as the language of instruction in public schools, the loudest protests actually came from the poorest families. Their reason was: the rich families will always be able to get English instruction, which their children would be able to profitably use; in contrast, the children of the poor would be trapped in occupational ghettoes and would be unable to profit from the global markets.
yeah, let's all learn to speak english so we can have a cottage industry of call centers in every barangay.
how lofty can we dream as a nation, no?
Aynako, there we go again with the yabang before the work. Please, we have enough dreams.
Don't knock call centers. It's work, it's money, its jobs. And we're not in any position to pick and choose what we get, thanks to a generation of terrible and yes, mayabang, leaders.
We produce people. We need jobs for them. Option#1: Export our people. Option#2: Give them jobs at home. Either way in this globalized world, they're going to need training and be given some advantage over other high-population countries (since our labor costs aren't cheap).
Not only that, our labor force is also manipulated by bloody leftist unions who delude them into thinking they are being "exploited" and make them strike. Our labor force is also undisciplined. Most manufacturing operations in the philippines have caucasian floor managers just to instill "fear" in them. And compared to the focus and drive of the average Chinese worker, our gossipy, nap-prone, six-meals-a-day laborer just can't compete. I say teach us all English and entrepreneurship. We have to truly start thinking of ourselves as an agriculture/service economy. Our days as a manufacturer are over.
I think Pinoy entrepreneurs missed the boat on the call center explosion. There was a huge market out there but it took foreign companies and investors to really cash in on it. Failure of imagination?
As for the medium of instruction, I think our teachers do realize that the primary aim of their profession is education (duh, me). If they notice that the language is hindering their students from understanding a lesson, theyre not inflexible. Theyll use Taglish or Filipino or the local language to translate concepts and get the message across no matter what the official medium of instruction is.
(Carlos, I saw the Living Asia Channel feature on you yesterday and I have to say, if ever there's a new category for National Artist--for, um, Tours?--, you have my vote.)
Why thank ya.
Well, I've really tried convincing people that what I do is a form of street theatre. I guess "tour" is the word that is quickest to comprehend?
Why are we so focused on what language to teach in schools when there are other skills and thinking processes that should be taught? For example, everyone should know real world applications of math. By this I mean how to calculate real prices of things. There are companies out there who price their products at the same price of a competitor's when in reality, although they are equally priced, one has a lower amount of product in it. Hope this makes sense...
I agree that a foreign language should be mandatory in curriculums in elementary and high school with the student choosing what he/she wants to go into. It promotes awareness of cultures other than the US and broadens one's thinking. We should be proud that most of us are bilingual or even tri- or quadri-lingual when the so called "nationalistic" countries like China or India can only communicate in one language. We have a definite edge over our neighbours and instead of insisting that Filipino should be the language of instruction in our schools we should all focus on the QUALITY of education. Sige, pano isatagalog ang INTERNET? OSMOSIS? Download? Can you imagine reading Shakespeare in tagalog?
man i'm totally agree with you.....to master the knowledge in this damn world, we need to know english. only by knowing english then we could master others thing. Yes, what i means here the key to the world is english. but you cannot be so proud with your english since it is not the mother tongue for you nor me.
regarding tri or whatever langueges, i think you're right about that, we should learn lot of others languages not only from others region, for example outr own region South East Asia, how amany of us know all the main languages here.....
but for me........i starting mastering tagalog...hihihihihi
As one of those Gringo Call Center Managers brought in to instill fear into the native population, I can tell you that rather than instill fear, I struggle to instill confidence in the folks I work with. Rather than continue to focus on the "Filippino" problems, recognize that these problems are universal. focus on the good in the RPI, and build on that!
I think we should give the same amount of attention to Filipino grammar as we are giving to English grammar. This is in the context of literature or formal writing, by the way. Did you ever notice how nobody ever uses the word, "nang" anymore? Nobody knows when to properly use it instead of "ng".
And I think that bit about others thinking they are "hotter shit" just because they speak better English is so so true to an insuperable degree.
By the way, I was among the group of volunteers visiting Casa Manila in Intramuros (April 2nd) who were gladly left behind by our tourmates to chance upon your group and hear the interesting comments you made on Filipino interiors, architecture and food. I would never eat "papaitan", and glad I never did. :D I would someday like to join your tour officially. :)
Actually, I didn't mean call centers when I meant "instill fear". I was really thinking of the manufacturing sector, where menial and manual labor is all that is required and keeping that line in "order" is the objective. Your industry is a little bit different I can assume because it requires more brain power than brawn.
And Rio. Yes. It would be great to have you on the tour one day. The more the merrier I always say.
Post a Comment
<< Home