I have been hearing a lot of stories these days wherein Filipino children, from Filipino families, living in the Philippines, fail their Elementary Filipino classes. That is just simply and utterly infuriating.
I do understand the importance of the English language in this country, in this globalized world, for that matter. I'm a language instructor, proud Filipino, living in the Philippines, teaching English to European students, as a matter of fact. How more globalized can you get than that?
>I will, however, declare, here and now, that I will never go to the extent of wiping out traces of my language, our language, from the generation that will come after mine, only because another language takes prestige in this century.
I understand, of course, that this is a personal choice. People have the liberty of choosing what language they use with their children. I respect that. Before making that choice, however, consider this point well and good.
Linguistically speaking, children are a clean slate. They can acquire as many languages as they can. During the years before they hit adolescence, a child's language-acquisition tool remains open. That means as long as there is input, children can learn the language of their parents, of their friends and whatever language they are taught in school.
Call me presumptive but don't you want your children speaking not one but two (maybe even three or four) languages? Won't that be more of an advantage than, say, just one?
When that happens, we will be no better than ordinary Americans, too proud to learn a language other than English. Look at what's happening now in the land of the free. They are scurrying to learn Spanish and other languages slowly gaining importance globally.
My point is that it's really illogical, not to mention disadvantageous, not to allow your children to learn a language other than English. I think parents have this fear that speaking Filipino to children will somehow lower their chances of learning "correct" English, which, really, has no basis.
I've said this again and again. Not only are humans multilingual but they are also multidialectal. They have the ability to learn and speak different versions of the same language. Notice how when you speak English at work is different from when you speak English with your friends? Really, learning Standard English (what parents consider "correct" English) and non-Standard English/es ("incorrect" Englishes) is not impossible.
Remember that, parents out there. You do not have to wipe out what Filipino culture is left in your children. Being successful, in school, in business or in whatever career you may have, does not have to be contrary to being able to speak Filipino. Keep that in mind.
Labels: culture, english, filipino, linguistics, politics, spanish
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