November 16, 2005

Pride and Language

Since last week, I found myself busy doing so many things. I've been meeting lots of new people and even got to chat with two Pinays who were visiting Turkey en route to Greece on a cruise. I stumbled upon them while doing my laundry in the common room. It was nice to get to talk to someone in Filipino again. I'm glad I got to chat with those two ladies. They are based in San Francisco now and are living there for more than a decade but their Tagalog was impeccable! Really impressive. You wouldn't even think they are living in the US.

This is what I don't understand with some of our kababayans though. I've met quite a number of Filipinos who suddenly can't remember speaking tagalog just because they went on a short vacation to the US of A. Suddenly, they all start having that twang together with the normal tagalog words. I mean, how can that be possible? If you grew up hearing and talking Tagalog most of your life and then went on a short vacation abroad (meaning 2 - 3 months, or even a year) I don't think you will suddenly be at lost with Pinoy words and start talking Tagalog with a certain twang. One more bizaare thing I noticed, that this normally happens when Pinoys go to english speaking countries. I mean, I never hear a Pinoy speak English with a Japanese, Indian, or Chinese accent after spending his vacation days in those countries. I've met some Filipinos who suddenly acquired the Aussie twang just because they went on vacation to Australia, or the British accent ( to- mah- to as opposed with American to-may-to) just because they stayed there for a month.

Sadly, there are some Filipinos who are not really proud to speak Tagalog and would rather much prefer speaking in English. Yes, English is the most spread language and the more common language of people but it doesnt necessarily mean that we should forget Tagalog.It's part of who we are, our identity as Filipinos. We pride ourselves to be an english speaking nation (and sometimes) to a point where we shun our own language. Don't get me wrong though, I don't have anything against expressing oneself in English ( heck! I do it too!). There is also nothing wrong in knowing how to speak Tagalog and showing it.

If I remember it right, this line from a famous Pinoy commercial says it all...
--->magpakatotoo ka!

Posted by duke at 11/16/2005 12:51:00 AM

25 Comments:

Señor Enrique said...: I went to nyc after graduating from high school and came back to manila about 4 years ago. I can say I practically grew up in nyc 'cause I lived there for more than 30 years. Pero hanggang ngayon alam ko pa tagalog ko kahit karamihang barkada ko sa college at iba pa puros english speaking. Actually, tagalog helped me whenever I was in Puerto Rico. Dali ko ma-pick-upSpanish.

Cheers!; 11/16/2005 04:21:00 AM
tin-tin said...: duke, so true! i don't know what's wrong with speaking tagalog. sana mag-tagalog na lang ang iba than trying hard to speak in english. diba? :); 11/16/2005 04:28:00 AM
Jeruen said...: Magandang obserbasyon ito Duke, lalo na doon sa bahagi na hindi nagiging mala-Hapon o mala-Intsik ang salita ng mga Pilipinong tumira sa mga bansang iyon.

Bagaman maraming mga konsepto na wala sa salitang Tagalog, na mayroon sa Ingles, ipinapakita rin nito ang kawalan ng pagsusumikap ng mga awtoridad na linangin ang atin wika para magkaroon ng mga salita sa mga konseptong bagong pumasok sa ating kalinangan.

Siyempre, kung hindi malilinang at mamomodernisa ang wika, matatamad ang mga tao na mag-code switch palagi. Mas mabuting buong wika ang palitan para ang mga konseptong bago ay mapag-usapan. Occam's Razor. Mas simple ang magsalita ng banyagang wika na makakapagpadaloy ng mga bagong konsepto, kaysa sa manghiram ng manghiram bawat ikalawang salita.

Ang napansin mo ay hindi lamang nakikita sa mga tao na umalis ng Pilipinas. Kahit ang mga nasa loob ng Pilipinas ay kakikitaan nito. Noong nasa UP pa ako, may mga kaklase ako na hindi nag-ta-Tagalog. Nakakatawa nga, dahil kinakausap ko sila ng Tagalog, pero Ingles ang sagot nila.; 11/16/2005 05:03:00 AM
UNCLE FOTO. said...: aykow henday mahruonhong mag taygailhog. sahbee khuo "ouch" keysah Airaiy; 11/16/2005 05:16:00 AM
silentmode_v2 said...: siguro na-carried away lang sila the way english speaking folks talks sa kanilang pinagbakasyunan...

"you know, seeing those bling bling, speaking poh-tay-to, poh-tah-to and stuffs...hehe"; 11/16/2005 07:52:00 AM
Anonymous said...: KOREK KA JAN!

Pero ayoko talagang mag tagalog. Mas gusto kong mag BIKOL (pasaway). Most of the time I love talking in English, it's like a daily thing to learn to pronounce the word correctly. Pero syempre, depended kung sino yung kababayan natin ang kausap mo. The typical pinoys na pa english english ka ibig sabihin mayabang ka na nun - hehehehe. Lam ko mga gumagawa nyan mga taga...

Dibale I like OZ and British accent btw. I immitate them and it's fun!

*singing "Pinoy Ako" by Orange & Lemon*; 11/16/2005 08:13:00 AM
Abaniko said...: In the States, I spoke Bisaya with fellow Bisayas; Tagalog with Tagalogs. I'm one proud Pinoy.; 11/16/2005 10:34:00 AM
Gayzha said...: Hi Duke, tama ka jan... sa totoo lang ang sarap pagsampal sampalin ng mga pinoy na kinakausap mo na in Tagalog ay patuloy pa rin sa trying hard na Englisera na yan...ewan ko ba. Anyway, to each his own na lang. Basta ang importante ay hindi nilait lait ang Pilipini ane?; 11/16/2005 11:02:00 AM
Anonymous said...: ewan ko ba sa mga yan, nakakahiya pa, ingles ng ingles, mali mali naman ang pinagsasabi. hindi bagay sa "recently acquired accent" nila. my 12-year-old sister speaks tagalog, kapampangan, english, and french (inggit ako) fluently to think na wala pa siyang 7 years old noong nakarating kami dito. tapos yung iba sasabihin nila after a couple of months vacation na nakalimutan na nilang managalog? lelang nila.; 11/16/2005 11:08:00 AM
Anonymous said...: I find these pretenders to be utterly pathetic. My reaction, when I come across people like these, is to move to the opposite side of the room - far, far away from them.

-kala; 11/16/2005 11:16:00 AM
Anonymous said...: To jhaya: LOL@pagsampalin. APAKAN mo kaya?; 11/16/2005 02:41:00 PM
duke said...: Señor Enrique - I wish there more Pinoys like you.Sadly, some choose to forget talking tagalog and would prefer being know to be dollar spokening ;)

tintin ok lang mag english wag lang masyadong trying hard. Eh kung tagalog ang mode ba't kailangan mag english di ba?

Isay hahahahaha sarap sapatusin nung kausap mo ha!Maybe he was trying to impress you! lol; 11/16/2005 03:41:00 PM
duke said...: LIW Sana nga lang meron tayong tinatawag na "pride" sa pagsasalita ng Tagalog. Ngayon,kung ang alam mo lang na wika ay Tagalog bilang isang Pinoy, ikaw ay tinuturing na nasa mababang antas na lipunan.Kung marunong kang mag English mataas na agad ang tingin sayo ng iba.

baka kaya hanggang ngayon hindi pa rn magkaintindihan ang mga Pinoy. Kausap mo ng Tagalog ang sagot sayo English!
ano ba yun!; 11/16/2005 03:48:00 PM
duke said...: Air milikay oh my! I can't reach you ---> di kita maabot! lol :D

jeff aba! ba't di sila na carried away ng magbakasyun sa Singapore la hehehehhehe

K ok lang naman mag English basta babagayan yung taong kausap mo. Eh kung nasa palengke ka at bumibili ng isda. Di naman ata kailangan mag pa slang slang sa pagbili no?

I know someone who got hired in a company because she had the British accent when speaking English. She acquired it while studying in England. People at work find her accent funny though kasi kausap na ng Tagalog pag sagot English pa din...

Abaniko good for you! feet still on the ground :D
Cheers!

Jhaya Tama ka dyan.. Sabi nga ng PLDT commercial...Kung san ka masaya, suportahan ta ka!; 11/16/2005 03:59:00 PM
duke said...: karen hahahahah pano nga kaya nila nakalimutan magTagalog bigla? memory loss? amnesia? o napagod mag switch from english to Tagalog?

kala That's the best solution! I wouldn't wat to be caught laughing at them either... and knowing myself, I sometimes just can't help it especially with the f and p mix ups!

K grabe! apakan ba? lol; 11/16/2005 04:02:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Bwahahahaha@palengke. Dito ata sa palengke ng HK ako nabobo dahil hirap silang maka intindi ng english. Kapag nag try ka magchekwa sa kanila, eenglisen ka nila na nakakatawa, kapag nag english ka sasagutin nila "kaw choo wah um sec ley chong man", nak ni Zuma. Sa Bikol ini-english ko sila to humor myself na aba marunong na pala akong mag english? hehehehe.

May isang pinay, tini-test ko lang, aba mas magaling pa sa akin mag english at nakikipag away pa sya sa bf nyang puti pero nakakatuwa kasi ni-translate talaga ang dating. Gaya neto:

Pinay: Are you finished talking? (tapos ka na bang magsalita?).

Typical translation.

Actually dapat sinagot nya: FOOK YOU!

hehehe.; 11/16/2005 04:28:00 PM
UNCLE FOTO. said...: plug lang ang gerona site ko. duke eto na bago haybol ko. Gerona; 11/16/2005 05:40:00 PM
nixda said...: sinabi mo pa!!! mga taong hindi marunong magmahal sa sariling wika ay mahigit pa sa hayop at malansang isda sabi nga ng ating pambansang bayani.

meron din namang mga Pilipina dito na deutsch ang pagsagot dahil hindi sila gaanong marunong ng Filipino. Epekto rin ng iba-iba nating dialekto. kaya siguro nag-e-english na lang ang iba para hindi mahalata na galing sila sa probinsiya.; 11/16/2005 08:29:00 PM
JO said...: its sad that some pinoys dont want to be recognize as pinoys... kahit na halata naman sa pag-e-english nila na pinoy sila... malakas lang talaga ang influence ng mga kano sa mga pinoy.

i feel sad that my kids dont speak tagalog anymore, even though they can understand the language and even though hubby and I speak tagalog at home all the time... but the influence of peers is stronger than the parents. :-(; 11/17/2005 01:33:00 AM
Anonymous said...: I was hopping from Abaniko's.

Alam mo totoo. Napansin ko rin yan.

And what's ironic is...madami na rin akong nakilalang mga Fil-Am (?) or pinoy na lumaking US na paguwi ng pinas naman, subok talagang inaaral ulit mag-tagalog kahit magkabaluktot na ang mga dila nila. Nakakatuwa tuloy sila... Habang ang iba naman pilit na kinakalimutan. Anakng... ~e; 11/17/2005 12:01:00 PM
Airwind said...: TRULY .... dito nga lang s trabaho namin sa call center. kahit nasa labas na nang opisina kong magsisi-ingles kala mo mga estranghero. *sigh*; 11/17/2005 08:48:00 PM
Anonymous said...: ikinararangal ko't ipinagmamalaki nag ating wika, kaya nga't kahit 6 na taon na akong nandirito sa gitnang silangan ay mahina pa rin akong mag Arabic. English is our medium of communicating both in business and to other nationalities but talking to fellow Filipinos I prefer our language no more no less...San ka pa!!!; 11/18/2005 10:07:00 AM
tintin said...: This is common and sad, whenever I see examples. I try to focus on those I can be proud to call kababayan.; 11/18/2005 07:39:00 PM
MrsPartyGirl said...: i agree. and its not only in the way they speak, even yung mannerisms (and manners na rin!) and pati yung porma pa, nag-iiba rin! nakakatawa na nakaka-awa talaga.; 11/19/2005 12:49:00 AM
maila said...: Hello duke..it sbeen awhile i havent visited your blog. Anyway...I can very much relate with your post. Like you I have met some pinay/pinoys who dont speak tagalog anymore. Theyve been here for a couple of years and all of a sudden they forgpt to speak our mother tongue. I myself been here in the US almost half my life and im very proud to say that I still speak tagalog fluently..di sila makapaniwala that i still speak fluent tagalog. Take care..; 11/24/2005 10:05:00 PM

Confessions of an Expat's Wife

November 16, 2005

Pride and Language

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