When Filipinos Use English
by Filipino English, in its true sense, is not incorrect. It is just different.
Not a few mistake me for Chinese, Korean or Thai even in my own country. But when I begin to speak English, they surprisingly remark, “Pinoy ka pala!” (So, you’re Filipino!). How does Filipino English sound anyway?
Listen to Filipinos speak. The words are spoken carefully, free of American colloquialisms, idioms and slang. Syllables are clearly defined. They don’t run together as when Americans speak. Sometimes, foreigners find it difficult to determine if Filipinos are even speaking English. Similarly, Filipinos listening to Americans find it hard to tell where a sentence ends and another begins. But this is no surprise as everyone’s English is different. Australian English sounds quite different from American, British or German English.
When it comes to written English, Filipinos’ use of English may also be different. On the internet, Westerners sometimes use Philipino or Philippino to mean people from the Philippines. We use Filipino or Pinoy (slang term) in reference to ourselves. Notice too, that the adverbial phrase, every now and then which means occasionally to Americans, is used by Filipinos to mean the opposite which is, often. It is one of the peculiarities of Filipino English. Filipinos also use English along with Tagalog in a unique language blend known as Taglish. Though it sounds awful to the untrained ear, it is accepted in the Philippines as a language culture in its own right just as American English or Australian English is. Hence, scholars claim that excluding errors in standard grammar and spelling, Filipino English is correct here just as Australian English is correct there.
Now, what about our English proficiency? Someone recently posted this in a Triond forum. “You know, the Wikipedia page for the Philippines doesn’t mention that the country’s primary export is wannabe bloggers. I must rectify this at once.” Obviously, he was sarcastic about how bad Filipinos were in written English. The Philippines is the third most populous English speaking country in the world, after India and the United States. Admittedly however, Filipinos have deteriorated in the use of English which is the official medium of instruction in schools since American colonizers introduced the language to our education.
A US ambassador once remarked on the Filipinos’ poor use of English in relation to their global competitiveness. Our educational system is readily blamed for it. But I say, we have not only deteriorated in English education but in education in general. Government is not so keen in improving the teaching profession. I believe that we must educate not only in English but educate per se! We cannot blindly accept the concept of powerful nations that development must be equated with the proficient use of English. We must master not only English but Math, Science and other forms of advanced learning. Japan and Korea are not English speaking countries but lead the world in technological innovations. If we kowtow to Western dominion in tracking our development as a nation, we lose our identity as Filipinos.
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Post Commentishinimrod
On October 17, 2010 at 11:04 am
A very nice article ate kong malikahin…
SuperMember
On October 17, 2010 at 11:08 am
great share
Francois Hagnere
On October 17, 2010 at 11:11 am
I personally feel your English is excellent! A great to the point post. Well done Likha, mt friend.
Mr Ghaz
On October 17, 2010 at 11:26 am
Very interesting! Nice share!
Rhodora Bande
On October 17, 2010 at 11:43 am
Likha is back with a BANG. Thanks for saying something. I’m a “wannabe blogger” and I’m going to stay. No one is going to tell me I should stop writing.
By reading and by studying everyday, we learn. Our English may not be perfect but we’re getting there.
amanda casey
On October 17, 2010 at 11:45 am
Great article! Your English is perfect. Truthfully, I didn’t even know you were from the Phillipines.
But, I admit it’s good that comments are in writing because if I had to say comments aloud, nobody would be able to understand me. Everybody says that I run my words into each other and I speak too fast. My mom is the only person who can understand me. At least most of the time =) Sometimes she has to ask me a few times to repeat myself.
papaleng
On October 17, 2010 at 11:57 am
Should I put my comment in English, Taglish or in our local language. Very well said Likha. Saludo kami at sila sa iyo.. Mabuhay Pinoy..
awesome11
On October 17, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Wow, that is wonderful information
Jimmy Shilaho
On October 17, 2010 at 12:45 pm
This is interesting. You are the second person that has made me think Filipinos may be very different from the rest of the world.
lindalulu
On October 17, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Very interesting article…
giftarist
On October 17, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Well said and thumbs up!
Brewed Coffee
On October 17, 2010 at 8:05 pm
You’ve done justice expressing our sentiments. Very well-said, friend. You’ve nailed it. I can say that I don’t speak or write “perfect” English, but like many of us, not just Filipinos, we strive to do the best we can to express ourselves in a foreign language. As we would say here, “wala nang sasarap pa sa sariling wika” But we have to communicate outside our country and English is the global language (for now). Who knows, someday, we may have to learn Mandarin
Ni hao!
overclocked
On October 17, 2010 at 8:52 pm
everyone has the right to blog…we are all free to express ourselves even if we try hard to write or speak in English. Bilib pa din ako sa pinoy kahit hindi perfect ang English. Mas mahalaga pa din na maipahayag natin ang ating mga niloloob sa buong mundo. =)
Melody SJAL
On October 17, 2010 at 9:31 pm
This is such an interesting and enjoyable read. Nice to see you back.
bryeunade
On October 17, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Excellent post Likha. This speaks for many of us.To me English need not be perfect English per se, as long as the message is clearly defined.
crisdiwata
On October 17, 2010 at 10:30 pm
You are absolutely right maam. Koreans are not fluent in English I even met one who told me that in their country when they see foreigners speaking English they would run away to avoid them for they will might ask them something that they cannot answer. Pero bilib daw sya sa pinoy kasi tayo pa mismo ang lalapit para tanungin yung foreigners kung may maitutulong tayo sa kanila. We Filipinos have a lot of things to share, so what’s the big deal with our English. We are not them, yes we are also great immitators but then at the end of the day we are still Filipinos. English is not the ultimate rule in the land, culture is what’s more important for it defines our roots and what we are, without knowing it we cannot distinguish the apes from the humans.
Eunice Tan
On October 17, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Well written.However english is not our mom language.
rutherfranc
On October 18, 2010 at 12:15 am
MsPatriciaDV
On October 18, 2010 at 12:52 am
ang galing ng pagkakagawa. good observations.
nobert soloria bermosa
On October 18, 2010 at 6:32 am
mas magaling pa rin ang mga pinoy kaysa mga puti dahil kaya natin mag-english—–e sila kaya ba nila mag-Filipino?????
Kaye TM
On October 18, 2010 at 11:22 am
nice work! interesting write. very good perspective. love it!
Gilberta Z.
On October 18, 2010 at 11:29 am
very interesting! thanks
Michal Dorcak
On October 18, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Interesting information. I didn’t know much of this stuff.
Richie Montalbo
On October 19, 2010 at 12:18 am
Kapag maraming bunga ang puno, saka binabato.
Dee Gold
On October 19, 2010 at 2:52 am
What is good about us is that we can understand English and speak it,even if we are not that fluent or our accent is not perfect.
Ang ibang dayuhan medyo mahihirapan intindihin ang salita natin dahil wala silang subject na Filipino.
Brewed Coffee
On October 19, 2010 at 3:05 am
revisiting
Likha
On October 19, 2010 at 3:15 am
Thanks so much my fellow Pinoys and foreign friends. Let’s all help one another on here. It’s one world we live in. Maraming salamat.
The Soul Explorer
On October 19, 2010 at 5:28 am
Ate, good discussion. Thanks!
sandcastle
On October 24, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Nice post, Likha.
Adelnica Amor R. Izon
On November 1, 2010 at 8:19 am
And the tribe has spoken!^_^
English is not the only language in the world.
And not knowing English does not make one less of a person!
English is not, and will never be the only medium that could measure one’s intelligence.
It’s just a part of it.
Mabuhay mga noypis!
pruelpo
On November 1, 2010 at 11:22 am
Ang ganda nitong artikulo mo Ms. Likha.
Yan ang Pinoy.
I am proudly Pinoy.
Joseph Scott
On November 4, 2010 at 11:21 pm
You expressed your points well here and in perfect English. People here in the states butcher their own language by texting so that shows their own lack of cultural pride. I think it’s ridiculous that someone said that English is the rule to an educated community.. that’d just ignorant. Good work Likha!
gaby7
On November 11, 2010 at 8:24 am
I definitely like Filipino accent!
rgjimenez
On November 14, 2010 at 12:06 am
Very well said!!!
Elma Sandoval
On November 16, 2010 at 8:46 am
Our ability to speak English does not define us as a people. It is that we strive to understand and be understood in a world that continues to lose boundaries in an effort to become one human race. Still, we Filipinos, must take it as a challenge that we can respect a language that is not our own, but one which we have learned to embrace in order to reach out and break barriers.
lovestar2010
On December 4, 2010 at 10:27 am
great share
V rank
On April 1, 2011 at 11:32 pm
basta ako… keber lang sila… hehehe… patuloy natin to… nothing can stop us now…
V rank
On April 2, 2011 at 12:12 am
inulit kong basahin… at parang mas nainspire pa ako… And I somehow felt guilty sa “blogger wannabe”… Ouch yon.. But who cares…? I do care kaya nga I will not stop being a wannabe, whatever they call me… Inay, This is moving and provoking and at the same time inspiring…
brbsoul
On April 2, 2011 at 1:02 am
NICE ENCOURAGEMENT…To quote you…”We all need to grow on here. The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none. You can prove your superiority in English to people who don’t even give a damn if you do. But more importantly, you must learn a very basic lesson in English spelling–that “universal peace” starts with “u”.
So I must continue and be more careful this time…..LOL
No Share
On April 2, 2011 at 4:49 am
Got a free time from work, so I’ll just use it wisely and comment on this thought provoking topic. People from different places have different tonalities, heck, even Texans sound different from New Yorkers. The cadence, the rhythm is different. We are subjected by different forces, and the language has evolve throughout the years. Who is to say they are right, and who is to say that we are wrong?
lian rosa
On April 2, 2011 at 11:52 am
I noticed that Microsoft Word has included English (Philippines) as part of its Language Choices. Its developer Microsoft Corporation is one of the leading publicly listed American Companies that develops various products related to computing. If one such international giant recognizes the uniqueness of the “Philippine English”, why do we need to bother about a few who rants against how we speak English? They might continue to rant but the computing world including that of the internet will continue to recognize our existence. Masuya na lang sila. Let us continue to enjoy the recognition of a much larger part of this community and focus on positively using such recognition. Kumbaga pa outliers na lang ung nagrereklamo dyan.
mtrguanlao
On April 7, 2011 at 10:47 am
As usual,you were again flooded with comments inay! I honestly admit that I’m not that good in english but I’m trying to express it even in simple english words. I onced asked a friend who is great in speaking English if I am right about my grammar,she just said for as long as the thought is there and it is understandable,it’s fine. She even said that Pinoys are far better than other foreigners when it comes to this so I should not worry about it,hehe!
AJ Garcia
On May 8, 2012 at 8:25 am
I love this article and I dearly love the writer.