Filipino not a ‘language of the learned,’ says columnist

[dodongo]

As it is, politics and greed have destroyed those hopes.

yup.

ya sure... if your native language is rich enough and deep enough and sophisticated enough and developed enough and evolved enough to put into native words all the ideas and concepts and knowledge and information that's out there

otherwise, you'll be adopting lots of foreign words and integrating those foreign words into your native language

sounds familiar?

Well, like I said, it would only be for the early years of learning. I doubt grade 1 kids would be studying decimals. linear equations and fractions.

Also, the school comparison (mother tongue vs english) came from this [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1rFhJ0HwWU]I-Witness: Don't English Me! (Episode on August 31, 2009) - YouTube[/ame] episode of i-Witness. and again I must stress, very small sample size.

and here is an old blog post by Winnie Monsod that covers what the episode shows.

http://blogs.gmanews.tv/winnie-monso...struction.html

I don't know James Soriano but he is my batch mate and I believe went through the same GS, HS, College.

Most of my friends weren't strictly or even mostly speaking in English like him.

But, I have a brother in grade school right now and most kids are English-speaking, although my brother isn't.

[donbuggy]

LKY: English gave S'pore its edge

LKY: English gave S'pore its edge

my paper
Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011

ENGLISH gave Singapore a head start over its neighbours, but this competitive edge will eventually be lost, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday.

"Many countries are trying to teach their children English. Competence in English is no longer just a competitive advantage," he said.

In order to forge ahead strongly, it is essential for Singaporeans to raise their standard of English because "it is the language of business, science, diplomacy and academia", he added.

Mr Lee was speaking to about 1,200 educators and English language experts at the official launch of the English Language Institute of Singapore. The event was held at Marina Bay Sands.

In his opening address, Mr Lee said the choice of English as Singapore's lingua franca had given all races equal opportunities, as it became the common language for learning, communication and work.

It had also ensured the country's survival by uniting a group of "multi-ethnic, multilingual people", he said.

"Had we not chosen English, we would have been left behind."

[uls]

"Had we not chosen English, we would have been left behind."

and it's the professionalism and competence of the people

[vinj]

Here's another one:

From: One fun-filled afternoon at the Senate | Inquirer News

One fun-filled afternoon at the Senate
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
5:24 pm | Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
0share1 0
MANILA, Philippines – Two veteran senators have turned an otherwise formal ceremony in the Senate into a fun-filled occasion when one broke into laughter while the other was throwing an antic.
“Stand straight and smile for Facebook,” Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago told the newly confirmed diplomats, who climbed the rostrum of the Senate plenary for a photo opportunity.
It was Santiago who endorsed for plenary approval the confirmation of 42 diplomats on Wednesday.
Before this, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile was uncontrollably laughing while administering the oath of office of new members of the Commission.
Enrile and Cebu Representative Eduardo Gullas were apparently having difficulty pronouncing the oath of office in Tagalog.
After the oath-taking, the Senate leader confirmed this, pointing out that it was because he was an Ilocano while Gullas was a Cebuano.
Other members of the Commission could not help but also laughed at the situation.
Nueva Ecija Representative Rodolfo Antonio, who was on the floor, joked that there may need to make the oath of office in English.

This scenario is actually true. Some of my Cebuano co-workers have a hard time speaking Tagalog.

[andywesteast]

and it's the professionalism and competence of the people

Hindi lang English, pati Ugali ibang-iba.



Which is Singapore, which is Philippines? One look alam mo na.

Pinoy, puro Yabang, walang Hiya naman.

[galant E SS]

there's nothing wrong with teaching Filipino subjects in school. Filipino is our national language and we must love it, sabi nga ni Gat Jose Rizal "Ang di marunong magmahal sa sariling wika ay higit pa ang amoy sa mabahong isda". There are some Filipinos who just can't patronize our own language and even our own products. But in reality, English is the primary language in schools and we use English as our official language in our work. But Filipino language is not useless, we can use the same in speaking with our fellow Filipinos who speak different local dialects like Visayans, Ilokanos, etc. I disagree to the author's view that we only speak Filipino to our yaya's, katulongs, drivers, or other lowly educated members of the society. Try to talk to some educated persons in pure English and let's see if they will not call you conyo or they might even talk with you in Filipino. If you keep on talking in pure English kasi, others might think that you are mayabang. However, I agree with him that some kids like him who are trained by their parents to speak in English at home find some difficulties in studying Filipino. My grade 2 daughter is experiencing that. But we are usually talking with her and her sister who is now a toddler, in English, Filipino and in our own local dialect so that they will master the 3 major dialect/languages as they grow up.

[galant E SS]

Here's another one:

From: One fun-filled afternoon at the Senate | Inquirer News



This scenario is actually true. Some of my Cebuano co-workers have a hard time speaking Tagalog.

so it's better to talk with them in English. But i know a lot of Cebuanos who can speak filipino/tagalog in tagalog accent fluently.

[hein]

In the realm of Science and Math, Filipino language is next to USELESS.

Yup, the kids who speak only Filipino are naturally Poor in Science and Math.

Try to explain Theorem, Postulate, Momentum and Inertia in Filipino. Yikes.

Kaya sa International Science and Math Achievement tests, ang Pilipinas....KULELAT at nasa ILALIM

[vinj]

so it's better to talk with them in English. But i know a lot of Cebuanos who can speak filipino/tagalog in tagalog accent fluently.

I guess it's not applicable to all (especially those who interact a lot with people from Manila).

[badsekktor]

A lot of us are expecting too much from a native language or a native dialect. English language is totally on a different level compared with other languages in the first place.