I found this article online, and I thought about sharing it with everyone.  There are indeed many reasons why we fail to master the English language because of our own culture and upbringing.

When I was young, I moved to Hawaii, and that is how I learned how to speak English.  Unfortunately, I was not accepted by the local Filipino community there, and my very first best friend was a Caucasian kid, Kevin.  But within a few years, my mastery of the language exceeded the locals, who spoke pidgin mainly.  In fact, I became their class president, tutor, newspaper editor-in-chief, debate team captain, and many more.  But I can clearly remember how other Filipinos made fun of my accent and grammar.  The Filipinos can be the hardest, and easiest, to please!

I wanted to get rid of my Filipino accent.  I abhorred it.  I even tried denying who I was.  But my experience with culture and diversity helped me to overcome my eschewed perspectives.  I began to love my Filipino culture, and I thought that the Filipino accent was “cool.”  The accent gives us a cultural flavor, but learning the American accent is helpful as well.

Please read the article below for some extra tips and strategies.

English the Filipino way

By Antonio Aboitiz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:06:00 01/03/2009

Filed Under: Language, People

MANILA, Philippines—The ubiquity of the English language in these islands is a bittersweet reality of our culture.

The entire world is scrambling to learn the planet’s current lingua franca while we, who had it thrust upon us for better or worse, are coming dangerously close to losing our fated headstart because of a variety of complex factors.

One of these factors is the fact that many of us who do not pronounce the words like the people on the pirated DVDs everyone purchases (piracy is a crime!) are very intimidated by this inability, and therefore become frustrated or ashamed and give up. This is something that must be smashed. Not the DVDs, but the stigma and teasing that can come along with bad diction.

Making fun

The perpetuation of the national pastime of making fun of someone’s English abilities should be ended. That is because we have our own English. It is Filipino English, and it is as valid—if not more so—than the English spoken by say, Australia or Canada, nations whose populations are but a fraction of ours.

We are supposedly the third largest English-speaking nation in the world. However, that all depends on how you define fluency. If you take the number of speakers of English as a second language, we probably rank around that.

English is a difficult language to learn. It has many rules, but also has almost as many exceptions and is fantastically non-phonetic (why is knife spelled with a k?). Its earliest evolution from its Germanic base, running into long and bloody backs and forths with the Romans, Vikings, then the French, then a liberal spiking of words obtained from conquered lands belies the history of the incredible islands from which the language bursts forth and itself conquered the world.

There may be more speakers of Chinese, but their geographic scope and influence around the globe cannot rival that of English.

This is THE language of international business, diplomacy, aviation, science, entertainment, and the World Wide Web.

English was brought to us by Americans, who started our public school system (an educated citizenry is a pre-requisite to true democracy) and left us speaking lots of good English. That is, until we decided to make Pilipino the national language in 1936 (check the preface on your kid’s Balarila) and the Bagong Lipunan tried desperately to force it as a medium of instruction.

We have our own English. We say comfortable the way it is spelled, not as “cumftabul” the way an American would. We use the word “already” as no one else does. “It is ready already” “it is finished already” this is pure Filipino-English. An Australian or an American would likely say simply “it’s done.” We say “for a while”—what exactly does that mean? I take it to mean, “when it’s ready already.” Again other English speakers might say “just a moment” or “just a sec”—but they mean the same thing really. The British and their Commonwealth members use “take away” Americans, “to go” Filipinos say “take home”—or at least used to.

God help you if you ask for the “CR” in any other English-speaking nation. But hey, we’ve also contributed to the English language in general: “boondocks” is a corruption of bundok.

The very difficulty and inconsistency of the English language—its fluidity and ability to invent and co-opt words—lies at the heart of the creative potential it imbibes to those who speak it.

Our ability to comprehend English is a trump card that we have to develop further and play to the hilt.

It makes courting foreign investments easier, makes tourism more attractive, adds to the “by the grace of God” advantages we have—great natural wealth in terms of biodiversity and minerals, strategic crossroads location, and more importantly, truly friendly, caring people who have a great sense of humor.

English is a living language, just as our own languages are. We also co-opt other words and usage as they come into our lives and become ubiquitous, and unavoidable. Its evolution is not determined by scholars and laid down as the law of the land.

Evolution

This just tells me we are primed and ready to evolve our language at the pace this world now demands of everyone: fast. We share some of those built-in ethno-linguistic evolutionary characteristics that gives English its creative advantage.

Back to the pronunciation aspect. I believe one great advantage we have in the growing field of business process outsourcing/information communications technology/call centers—is that we are not grating to the native English speaker’s ear, the Americans and British folk who are our major call center customers.

You outsource that to someone from India, or Singapore, or Hong Kong, and their accents will not be as pleasing to those customer’s ears as our own accents which we make such fun of.

Let’s not lose our aces. We’ve already done that with a few of the good cards we had already been dealt.

I have several suggestions to keep our edge in English:

1. Keep speaking English and continue to use it as a medium of instruction. Take what we want from either of the other two largest English-speaking nations but be consistent in our textbooks, particularly in spelling and grammar.

2. DO NOT make fun of someone’s pronunciation unless it is constructive.

3. DO NOT fear ridicule. That person making fun of your English, well, you could probably run circles around them in your own dialect.

4. Keep speaking your home dialect, teach it to your children, and present it as a language class in school. While English may be slowly changing some of our already fractured-culture nation’s heritage, we will never ever give up our identity and cultural characteristics. Don’t worry, we will still be Filipino.

5. Remember that each dialect we lose, we lose a complete worldview. So the old languages must somehow find a way to survive or they will perish forever.

6. Keep it to a minimum with the silly acronyms. We are just plain crazy about those. Some are unavoidable (it’s a waste of time to say “Subscriber Identity Module card” rather than the omnipresent “SIM card”). For your own sake, don’t use the silly acronym unless you know what it stands for. This acronym insanity permeates business, nongovernmental organizations, cooperatives, civil society, government (“Epira—what’s that? Such silliness because if they called Republic Act No. 9136 the “Industry Reform Act for Power and Electricity” instead of the “Electric Power Industry Reform Act” we might be calling it “I RAPE”), education, religion, etc.

Numbers game

7. Remind those arrogant enough to challenge our English that on many terms, we win because we have the numbers. The United Kingdom herself only has about 60 million people, and even those guys can’t agree on the proper pronunciation of words.

8. At some point in time, our own Noah Webster will create a Filipino Dictionary of the English Language. When that happens we will have truly come of age as another birthing place for this unique modern language.

(Aboitiz recently retired from the Aboitiz Group of Companies and is current chairman of the Visayas regional committee of the Philippine Business for Social Progress.)

Hi there,

My name is Chris, the general manager of The American Institute.  This is my section of this blog, and here, you will find about my perceptions of all things relating to this world.  Yes, this whole world, since my mind wanders from one topic to another.  I warn you now, there will be times I’m very sarcastic, but don’t worry, I will be civil most times.

I love life, which means I love sports - all kinds; I love travel - wherever; I love food - almost anything and everything.  I love music and movies.  I love being with friends.  I love chocolates.  If you get me some, I will be your friend.  Chocolate covered macadamia nuts.  Hawaiian Hosts.  Hehe.

My motto is Carpe Diem, or seize the day.  Carpe Diem.  Chris Delacruz.  Got it?  Initials C and D?  Cool!

Here’s something more professional about me…

Christopher Delacruz, General Manager

Chris grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii where he finished high school as National Honor Society President and Editor-in-Chief of the paper, attended college in Seattle, Washington as a Trustee’s scholar and commencement speaker, and developed himself professionally as sales and marketing manager, corporate trainer, and management consultant in Las Vegas, Nevada.  He has returned to the Philippines believing that “education is the key to liberation.”  Chris fosters both a personal and professional relationship with the students, believing that each individual must be treated respectfully and uniquely.

+ BA, Political Science, Seattle University (Seattle, Washington, USA)
+ Seattle University Commencement Speaker
+ Writing Specialist, Seattle University Writing Center
+ Sales and Marketing Director (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA)
+ Parliamentary Debate Finalist/Award Winner, Northwest Parliamentary Debate Association Tournaments
+ Impromptu Speech National Champion, Western States Communications Association (Western USA and Canada  Championships)
+ Impromptu Speech and Debate Competition Sponsor and Judge
+ Corporate Trainer/Manager/Consultant for local and international corporations
+ Business Developer and Manager
+ National Honor Society President, Class President, Editor-in-Chief in Honolulu, Hawaii

I am human being, just like you.  So treat me with respect and dignity as that is the only way I will treat you.  No more.  No less.