It is shameful. I cannot bear to imagine that many schools, organizations and institutions still require their people to speak only in English.
I suppose it is admirable that many Filipinos have a good grasp of English. It just absolutely perplexes me though that in some quarters, those who slip are fined, rebuked or ridiculed. If memory serves me right, it was only a couple of weeks ago that a beauty contestant became the recipient of all words unholy for her poor grammar and her inability to express herself in English. A politician went so far as to say that her performance was proof of our country’s declining quality of education.
I daresay shame on him and on anyone who puts a premium on another country’s mother tongue over our own. I do understand that mastering English is a must for most of us. It is after all most people’s major key to either get call center jobs that are perfect manufacturers of the living dead or get overseas employment from where a few Filipinos have come home in white boxes.
It is the poverty issue yet again. I don’t think we lack racial pride. We just can’t afford to speak in our own language. Learn to speak in English or else you will never survive or escape the sinking Pearl
Note: Yes, I write in English so naturally I have to be defensive. I have to write in English because I too can’t afford to write in Filipino but I actually write better in Filipino.
i definitely agree with you.
Ndi nga rin ako nagsusulat sa tagalog kasi i can’t afford it..kelangan ng other people from other countries na magpunta sa blog ko at mabasa nila ung sinulat ko..
sa totoo lang mas masarap magsulat sa filipino..kahit ndi ko masyado alam ang mga ispeling.
totoo yan webster. talagang mas masarap magsulat sa filipino. talagang elegante at madamdamin ang filipino. sayang noh?
oo..>>medyo madrama ‘to<< pero sa tingin ko parang romantic ung filipino para bagang latin, pranses o italyano >>drama<<
She’s pretty though. I have to admit. But I don’t speak in anything but english to people I know cos if you think people ridicule you for slipping in english, try being a kid raised in english trying to speak bisaya or tagalog.
Anyways, I remember laughing at that vid tons of times.
They was the ones…
oh…hahahahah!
oh. you have a point cuttlefish. yeah i would laugh at you if you attempted to speak to me in Filipino. yes, it’s kinda just the way you are. you really will sound funny.
thanks for reminding me though. i have to raise my kid to speak in both languages. 🙂
i just love the sound of Filipino 🙂
did you see her interview with jessica soho last night?
Dang! that was hilarious..
JS: would you rather be smart or beautiful? (something like that)
JSM: Same
^_^
My friend’s Dad asked us after being entertained by the video. He asked us:
“Would you rather have a beautiful but dumb wife or a smart but ugly one?”
We were speechless…
The answer is obvious by the way. 🙂
..and Grace, I’m working on it…
hahaha. i wasn’t able to watch the interview in full webster. i have a funny feeling she isn’t so smart after all. i used to think she just made that pageant booboo because she knew what to answer but just didn’t know how to speak in English. now i really wonder if her brains are really devoid of substance. tsk, tsk, i hope i’m wrong.
is the answer obvious cuttlefish? 🙂 in my case, i really did pick brains over physical beauty 🙂
oh, her teachers happen to think she has brains hmmmmmm 🙂
Beauty…. duhhh….
Drop by my blog if you got the time gwacey!
beauty? tsk, tsk. you’ll have a lifetime of boredome ahead of you.
have something new in your blog? yup, i’ll drop by at least once a week. might have time tomorrow 🙂
lam mo sis grace,wala nmn problema sa pagsasalita ng english eh…masyado lng pinepersonal ng mga critics…ako nga english ko more on black slangs…wala kayang grammar msyado dun…iba p ung mga words…pano kung ung contestant ganun magsalita dahil un ung nkasanayan nya at ganun sila since birth…eh english din un…madidis kaya ng iba un?
🙂 oo bro. la naman talaga problema sa paggamit ng english eh. di ko lang maintindihan kung bakit pinipilit tayo magsalita ng english. well, ang ibig kong sabihin eh nakapag aral ako at nagtrabaho sa mga lugar kung saan mandatory ang english. ano ba naman diperensiya kung ayaw ko mag english? hehe. tawagin man akong rebelde o ano pero di ko ma gets bakit kailangan pilitin
Tantrum has a point. But what ever we do, It’s still funny…
To defend my stand on beauty, I say this…
Nobody is ever really that dumb…
ohohoho cuttlefish you make me smile all the time.you have a point there too. i do hope you find that pretty girl who has a little substance. hahaha
wahahah tama cuttlefish…kung ako tatanungin,hehehe beauty din pro sana may konting brains kahit konti lng…wahahaha
If I had tentacles, I’d wave’em.
Now you can brag to all you’re friends a mollusk made you smile.
😉
again! hahaha. cuttlefish you are so witty and hilarious. i am only just now discovering your real genius. 🙂
tantrum, ikaw ha, typical guy ka rin pala ha 🙂 beauty pa rin?
poor me. i only have the brains you know. good thing my husband doesn’t mind. 🙂
hmmm i meet a lot of people who try really REALLY hard to speak English well but i do wish i could speak bisaya or tagalog better. as a kid i used to get laughed at all the time for speaking bisaya with a weird accent wahahahaha.
. . .
and seriously cuttlefish – beauty over brains??? hmmmmm a lot has changed since we last met..
ahem, ahem! i would so love to make a comment on your commen aimee but i might get into cuttlefish’s nerves. wouldn’t wanna irritate him so i would much rather abstain from commenting. hehehe
thanks for dropping by aimee
Well… Look at this Aimee… My past romance never involved anyone ugly now did it?
But that’s where it all starts… Beauty’s first gear. It’s the intelligence and ‘interestingness’ that carries everything along. You gotta pass through first gear.
But there are just some times that the car just stall… You feel me?
stalls…
another laugh stuck in my throat. ok, ok. i concede. you have a very good point that is hard to refute cuttlefish. the first gear thing makes sense.
i wonder what would happen if you actually fell in love with someone who doesn’t pass first gear. it can happen you know
Women aren’t very good drivers are they?
Miracles can happen. 🙂
yeah, yeah. i hope you encounter the first miracle.
by the way, that was a nice compliment to pay to a young lady if you know what i mean. 🙂
yeah i understand that whole first gear thing, but if you already knew that a girl’s stupid or boring, would you still chase after her?
i mean that’s really surprising coming from you. that’s just… AVERAGE BOY LOGIC! assuming it requires any logic in the first place of course.
by the way ma’am (no i just can’t call you Grace) would you happen to know a Reine Jamal?
a few hours after i posted a comment here, he sent me an email saying something about how he wishes he could speak english well. i don’t know him at all and i thought he might be a reader of yours or something..
ugh, i just hate being called mam esp. mam m. ughhhh!!!!
unfortunately i don’t know that person. maybe you can email him back and ask him. maybe he’s an admirer 🙂
but be careful. there are new hacking methods that might put your email account and you in danger
maybe Mags then. ahahahahhaa.
admirer? no i don’t think he’s from here.
anyway i did ask him and he hasn’t replied yet.
see ya around mags 😀
hahaha. this is getting funnier and funnier. A calls me grace and you call me mags so you’ve completed my name between the two of you. hahaha, i’ll get used to it.
trivia: my husband and father in law are also nicknamed mags but only the bugoys call them that 🙂 bugoy aimee 🙂
on the first gear thing…i dont think it matters…i dont believe in a sayin…first impressions last…and most relationship spiced up on the first bad meeting…its memorable than the first great meeting…
well no offense mags but you’re not exactly the epitome of grace. hahahaha! just kidding 🙂
hahaha. that is so true aimee. i admit that to be true and i’m proud of it. hehehe. 🙂
Grace, I like your article about ‘English Campaign’. Ang tanong ko is are we ready? Ssiguro as observed around us … HINDI!!! Masyado ho tayong ambisyoso sa english but empty-pocket. What I mean is we should have a system to follow if we want to prosper… Our country in general. One of those is using our national language… Filipino! Mahirap ba ‘yon? They said yes, if we look into considaration the numerical application daw! Hypocrisy!!! Mahirap daw gamitin dahil hindi naman daw itinuro noon ng ating mga guro sa Filipino but instead he/she used tag-lish to compromise the learners interpretation. By looking at the present times, to whom are we putting the blame! In the end it’s the law makers maybe, dahil sa paurong-sulong na batas confirming the use of Filipno tightly in school. dahil takot tayo sa global competitiveness (a war – in terms of economic status). My question is why are we leaping as high as we can to reach our goal than walking under slowly to reach our goal. Ya, Japan, Korea, China are very rich countries using their weapons… ‘A Wealthy Nation, A Strong Country’- that’s Japan
hi grace! can i be your new member?
actually grace, i can’t blame the contestant answering that way. at least she shows herself a very patriotic woman! hehehe
hello palac_alcanz.
yes, i really agree with you about our country’s language education. it really is about time that we stopped compromising our language and heritage in the name of global competitiveness.
thank you for dropping by. you are very welcome here. feel free to browse anywhere you want. do you have a blog of your own? i’ll link with you. 🙂 i can’t seem to access your profile through your name.
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grace don’t anymore. i am your avid fan
wow 🙂 thank you very much alcanz palac 🙂