The Never Ending Battle… for Language
May 16th, 2008 by cocoyLike clockwork it goes, the never-ending battle for what language to use, to teach Filipino children, Math and Science and whatever. The debate on language is as volatile as the debate on Religion. What’s your opinion?
Once upon a time, I would have said, go English— simply because I learn better using English and simply because just about every reference material and new discovery in the world is in English. There are expressions from English that lose itself in the translation, the same goes for Filipino to English and just about every other language in the world.
On one hand, Math is a language unto itself. It has its own expressions and it is the language that Science use. Mathematics does not care whether or not you speak English, Filipino, Japanese, French, Yiddish or l33t, or if you know all of those languages like a native does. For example, PI is still 3.14 yada yada no matter what spoken language you use.
Perhaps, the questions worth considering is how does a teacher convey the lesson and how well does the student learns it. Does it matter if the teacher expresses herself in a combination of English and Tagalog? Does it matter if the teacher expresses herself in Cebuano or gibberish?
Whatever works, you know?
E=mc^2 is still mass-energy equivalence in any language and understanding that still would depend on the teacher’s understanding of Einstein before he or she can properly convey it to the student.
Then again, as @lord_dracula on twitter pointed out, like English v. Filipino, people have been debating computer languages for like forever. There are even song parodies about it, as Julia Ecklar’s song goes:
“For God wrote in Lisp code
When he filled the leaves with green.
The fractal flowers and recursive roots:
The most lovely hack I’ve seen.
And when I ponder snowflakes, never finding two the same,
I know God likes a language with its own four-letter name.”
The debate on the never-ending battle for language continues and will continue on and on. Like many before and would continue to persist. I join others in saying, “Cocoa is awesome,” but should ‘hello, world’ be written twice, I think I know enough of “Python,” to say that it is also great and would suffice. The same goes for English, which I prefer, but Filipino works too or vice-versa. “Whatever works,” you know?
May 21, 2008 at 5:40 pm
benign0,
And as such, because language is constantly in flux; constantly evolving, I think it is utterly unfair to judge a language’s perceived value in its current content.
Granted that perhaps “efficiency” really is absent from the current culture, one cannot just dismiss a language as incapable of facilitating ideal concepts and features on the basis of such ideals’ absence.
And so a question more important than language use crops up: how do you turn a subsistence culture that gives more premium to mundane industrial-revolutionesque concepts like job security and minimum wage (where people occupied with such would clearly be hard-pressed to exhibit concern for esoteric values like efficiency) as opposed to giving premium to creating value and contributing to the advancement of society, an ideal whose prerequisite is achieving things such as efficiency?
Clearly, you must know that language takes time to evolve, just as culture takes time to evolve. You cannot just shove English down our collective throats because clearly, it hasn’t worked entirely as planned in the past century of doing precisely that (what, nobody’s noticed that we’ve been shoving English down our own throats for that long?).
English is undeniably good, but forcing it on people at the expense of indigenous languages, or “useless” pretexts like culture and identity, wouldn’t help either.
May 21, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Actually, back when I was in gradeschool, it felt more like Tagalog being shoved down our throats. The memory of those multi-syllabic talasalitaan words that we had to memorise after every Genoveva Edroza-Matute short story (Jeez, what a name!) still chills my spine to this day.
When we were taking up the Noli and Fili in hi-school in our “Pilipino” class, English versions of that novel were selling like hotcakes in the campus black market. The Tagalog version was just too infested with those talasalitaan words we memorised (but failed to internalise) over the years.
Which brings us to that aspect that you seem to have missed in this whole battle-of-the-language thing that, as Cocoy mentioned, “never ends”; and that is: English as a means to access the vastly broader body of information churned out by societies with VAST track records of scientific, economic, and cultural achievement RIGHT NOW (a better option to the alternative you propose — which is to sit around like Juan and wait for the glacial evolution of the concept of efficiency to complete its course within our society AND THEN reflect this in our no-results native languages).
My thoughts go back to the sight of otherwise brilliant Mapua-educated Pinoy engineers in my first job who glumly sat tight-lipped as the fate of their budget was debated by English proficient “management trainees” from UP’s school of Business Administration (who were, by the way members of AIESEC — where the lingo facto is English) with our boss who just as easily preferred to speak in English (being of the generation of Manglapus’s relatively English-proficient 1960’s Philippines).
Kawawa naman. If they had been raised to be English-speakers (or at least had English properly shoved down their throats in their formative years in their respective schools), they would have made minced meat of those bozos.
Kawawa naman talaga ang Pinoy. We need to appreciate the poignancy of the idea of a mind imprisoned by languages that fail to deliver on its promise to access information and opporunity for its speakers.
May 21, 2008 at 6:35 pm
you know it really shames me to admit that I suck at reading and writing in Filipino. Heck, my cousins joke about it sometimes because quite frankly I don’t know half of the deep tagalog words that they use. Guess, i’m out of practice since most I read and most I write are in English. But that’s my problem.
if you go across the country, Filipino isn’t just Tagalog, it is a mixture of Cebuano, and other dialects. I think FIlipino the language is as much like Filipino the People and Filipino the Culture, it is a teenager and it is still growing up.
I found it really surprising and I was quite happy to learn a few years ago during a trip to Malaysia that their word for Bayad is the same as ours.
I believe that Filipino isn’t a dead language or would be a candidate for one anytime soon. For example, blogs like Jon’s and Kapirasong Kritika> are writing in Filipino and in so doing, are raising the intelligence of the language. There are others out there doing the same, especially in academe that people here can point us all to.
May 21, 2008 at 7:04 pm
May pagkakaiba ang isang wikang binale-wala upang magbigay-daan sa wikang banyagang itinuring na mas nakahihigit at mas mahalaga kaysa sa isang wika na walang kakayahan na magbago at maipagyaman.
Sa tingin ko, hindi kasama ang Filipino (pansining hindi ko sinabing “Tagalog”) sa mga wikang iyon.
Napakabata pa ng wikang Filipino (pansinin ding hindi magkapareho ang Pilipino at Filipino — pormal na itinatag ang “Filipino” noon lamang 1987, kasabay ng ating Saligang Batas) upang masabi na wala itong kakayahang magpahiwatig ng malalalim na konsepto, lalo pa’t wala namang nagbigay ng sapat na pagkakataon sa unang anyo nito (Pilipino) magmula nang mahumaling ang karamihan ng Pilipino sa kultura, wika, at asal ng pamumuhay ng mga Amerikano.
Hindi ba’t bahagi ng ating pagbabago ang paggising sa katotohanan na kahit kailan ay hindi tayo magiging mga puti? Hindi ba’t bahagi ng problema sa lipunan natin ang matinding pangmamata sa ating mga sarili dahil kumbinsido tayong wala tayong kakayahang pantayan ang kakayahan ng mga banyaga?
Sa tingin mo ba, may iba pang dahilan ang mga management trainee sa paggamit ng Inggles maliban sa pagsasamantala sa paniniwala ng iyong mga kasamahan na “mababang uri ng wika” ang Pilipino at kaya nilang takutin ang mga kasama mong inhinyero dahil “matalino” ang dating ng isang taong nag-Iinggles? Malamang ginamit nila ang Inggles na mayroon pang “slang” at “twang” kahit wala namang saysay ang kanyang mga sinasabi.
Itanggi mo man benign0, bahagi ng suliranin ng mga Pilipino ang matinding pangungutya at pagpapababa sa sarili sa lahat ng aspekto ng kultura nito, pangunahin na ang pagpapalagiw ng paniniwalang mababang uri ng wika ang Filipino, na iyo pang inihalintulad sa isang bilangguang gumagapos sa kakayahang mag-isip at maghubog ng mga ideya ng mga gumagamit nito.
Malungkot nga lang na, sa pagkakaroon ng naturang konklusyon ay mistulang wala ka nang pinagkaiba kay Adolf Hitler na nakarating din sa konklusyong salot sa lahing Aryan ang kultura at gawain ng mga Hudyo.
Hindi ako magtataka kung makarating ka rin sa konklusyon na ang Final Solution ay ang pagwasak sa kultura at kasaysayang Pilipino, maliban pa sa pagwasak ng mga wika nito.
May 21, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Cocoy, there’s no need to be ashamed. You’re in good company, mate. ;)
Jon, wala akong dota na may malisya ang mga AIESEC kids na yan sa paggamit ng inggles. May twang pa para siguro nga ma-intimideyt ang mga kawawang Mapua boys.
Ang punto ko nga ay dahil kaya nilang gawin yan. Di mo naman sila masisisi. Ginagamit lang nila ang lahat ng kasangkapang nasa disposal nila para i-purder ang kanilang adyenda. Inggles na may twang ang isa na sa kanilang (at ina-admit ko aking ring) mga paraang maka-rami. Sori na lang siguro ang di maka-palag. E ganyan talaga buhay e.
May 21, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Benign0 (at 6:03pm), from your own (and your classmates’) school experience, it does seem that you’re alienated from Tagalog. Maybe it boils down to your school (or your home) not teaching (or at least its appreciation) Filipino well. That’s not the case with other Filipinos where they are more comfortable with the language. Try to put yourself in their shoes.
My Dad inculcated in us the importance of learning English but he also subscribed to Liwayway Magazine and ‘Balita’ newspaper because he said he wanted us to be proficient in the National Language.
Cocoy, you have no need to be ashamed
as long as you don’t mispronounce ‘bangungot’ (a-la DJ Montano) :-D Seriously, i wish the purists would focus on writing Pilipino as it is actually spoken. The writers of tabloids (like Xerex Xaviera) don’t seem to have that problem.
May 22, 2008 at 10:00 am
This is false. I know this teach this in schools, but this is not true. Filipino is just Tagalog. Not a mixture of languages. You see, a native Tagalog speaker does not need to learn Filipino in order to understand it; whilst the Cebuano or Ilocano need to learn Filipino in order to understand Filipin0 and when they learn Filipino, they instantly learn Tagalog. The Tagalogs, when they learn Filipino, they do not automatically learn Cebuano or Ilocano.
Even the present KWF commissioner admitted(FINALLY!) that Filipino is just the same as Tagalog because they share the same grammar, vocabulary, idioms, etc.
We worry much about English is the Philippines yet we pursue the Tagalogization of the non-Tagalogs even if they are against it. Tagalog is shoved down to the throats of the non-Tagalogs yet tagalogs do not even take other Philippine languages even as elective and we complain about English.
Darn, this really is a country of double standards.
BTW, if Filipino is really a mixture of local languages, how come Filipino, up to date, does not have a specific term for husband and wife? In Iloco, husband is lakay, wife is baket.
May 22, 2008 at 11:32 am
Amper,
Precisely why if you read up to a previous comment of mine up there, I said that what should be encouraged is the use of the local language (assimilating English words were required or appropriate) in discussions, NOT Tagalog, because as I stated likewise, Tagalog is just as alien to Visayans and Ilocanos as English is.
As for the lack of gender-specificity, this is a peculiar characteristic of Tagalog, apparently:
brother/sister = kapatid
son/daughter = anak
husband/wife = asawa
he/she = siya
May 22, 2008 at 6:54 pm
“As for the lack of gender-specificity, this is a peculiar characteristic of Tagalog, apparently”
Nope. lack of gender-specificness is common among Austronesian languages. So it is not peculiar to Tagalog.
I was merely questioning the claim that Filipino is a amalgamation of local languages–reason why I gave asawa as an example.
Sana before discussing the role of English in the Philippines, let’s discuss the issues about local languages war because compared to Tagalog, English holds a neutral place. Same goes with Spanish. If we make either English or Spanish the unifying language, I won’t disagree with it. It’s just fair because everyone has to learn it unlike having Tagalog as the unifying language whereas the Tagalogs have the advantage because it is their birth language.
May 22, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Amper,
The irony being, I feel dumb sometimes knowing only Tagalog because even if I go back seven generations, our clan has always been in Manila. Beyond that, I have to go to mainland China, and again, a totally different language. ;)
My wife hails from an Ilokano-speaking part of Pangasinan, and I’ve learned a few of the words though I still couldn’t even begin to speak it.
May 22, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Excellent points are being raised here. I still have to contend that at some point, both local, national, and the English language can still go hand in hand..
Progress need not be impeded merely on a technicality. The youth may already be better placed in the job market by knowing both languages proficiently, and I am certain that both can be learned side-by-side without taking away from the other.
What is there to lose, if you learn both? I can’t even see why knowing more languages would even be an impediment to any youth or college student, or even adults..
May 22, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Amper, hmm.. my understanding was that a few words were being included into Filipino from other dialects and thus is a combination but i guess my memory is faulty. it has been a number of years since college and i concede that most words in Filipino are from Tagalog.
well i suppose technically speaking, English is the country’s secondary language and that other than tagalogs, people are more comfortable using that when communicating with non-local-dialect speaking folk.
Nick yeah. And I would venture to suggest that wouldn’t it be nice if our schools would teach the main languages and dialects most of our people speak? Ilocano, Cebuano, Spanish, English, Tagalog, heck throw in Mandarin since we have a sizable Chinese population etc. Perhaps by doing so, encourage greater understanding and appreciation of our people’s diverse cultures.
May 23, 2008 at 4:27 am
Learning any other language should be a PRIVATE initiative. But in terms of allocating SCARCE public funds, well, I think they should be directed towards initiatives where there is a CLEAR return on investment.
So the BUSINESS question as far as allocation of public funds is concerned becomes:
Which language brings home the bacon for Pinoys? English? Or Tagalog?.
May 23, 2008 at 4:57 am
Benign0, the example of Japan, China, Korea and Vietnam shows that you have framed the question wrongly (i.e. simplistically), specifically by putting the cart before the horse. These countries that have took off economically did so with their own native languages which means that proficiency in English was not the key ingredient.
Besides, you are a walking example of how preference for English (at the expense of Filipino) can be counterproductive to the goal of developing the Philippines. As it stands, do you think we can afford to have more and more people love the Philippines less? What kind of investment in scarce public funds would that be?
May 23, 2008 at 9:34 am
Chuck
Here is an excerpt from Page 5 of my book which is my blanket response to typical arguments such as yours:
Note the text in bold, dude.
When peering down your proverbial electron microscope all day, try to come up for air once in a while. ;)
May 23, 2008 at 10:08 am
Well, between an astronaut orbiting in space and a guy peering down an electron microscope, I’ll choose Indiana Jones, I think.
May 23, 2008 at 6:56 pm
“Amper, hmm.. my understanding was that a few words were being included into Filipino from other dialects and thus is a combination but i guess my memory is faulty. it has been a number of years since college and i concede that most words in Filipino are from Tagalog.”
Like 1 % and it’s not even really used. You see, both Cebuano and Ilocano have their term for wife and husband, why can’t Tagalog adopt it.
Granting that Tagalog aka Filipino ‘loaned’ from other LANGUAGES(not dialects. E.g. LAnguag=Engalish; dialect: American, British, Aussie) it does not make it different from Tagalog. English is still English despite largely borrowing from other languages like Greek, Latin, Japanese, Spanish, Nahuatl, French…and even Tagalog. But it’s still English. Why because the grammar is still the Anglo grammar.
Filipino is Tagalog. Look at the grammar, they’re exactly the SAME. Cebuano vocabulary is 25% Spanish, but it’s not really considered creole or Spanish dialect because it’s grammar is still Cebuano.
You get it? But I don’t blame you for thinking that Filipino is a language separate from Tagalog which largely borrowed words from Tagalog because that’s what they tech in school. Miseducation. Deception. Internal colonization
“Nick yeah. And I would venture to suggest that wouldn’t it be nice if our schools would teach the main languages and dialects most of our people speak? Ilocano, Cebuano, Spanish, English, Tagalog, heck throw in Mandarin since we have a sizable Chinese population etc.”
Apparently, this is the problem. Doing so is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. If it isn’t we’re probably learning our own respective languages, not a foreign language–Tagalog
BTW the way, they’re not dialects, they’re languages. DIALECT would pertain to the same language but different variant but still, remain mutual intelligibility. I gave an example above.
“What is there to lose, if you learn both? I can’t even see why knowing more languages would even be an impediment to any youth or college student, or even adults..”
True, but sadly our society have become notoriously…almost nazi-thinking people. ‘Tagalog only’ policy
“Nick yeah. And I would venture to suggest that wouldn’t it be nice if our schools would teach the main languages and dialects most of our people speak? Ilocano, Cebuano, Spanish, English, Tagalog, heck throw in Mandarin since we have a sizable Chinese population etc. Perhaps by doing so, encourage greater understanding and appreciation of our people’s diverse cultures.”
Indeed, the Philippines has a sizable Chinse population but think it’s ridiculous to ‘force’ Mandarin. In the first place, the Fil-Chis are mostly Hokkien with Cantonese minority. Most hardly speak Mandarin but most can speak Philippine-style Hokkien
May 24, 2008 at 6:55 am
Amper,
Your animosity towards Tagalogs (not only against the language it seems) gives me the impression that you are the one on the Nazi-style offensive.
However it does not diminish your points, though as a more open-minded Tagalog who isn’t anti-promdi, I’ll summarize, again:
* Children, especially during early education, are more effectively taught in the language they grew up with, whether it be Tagalog, or English, or Cebuano, or Ilokano, or Hokkien. This makes for a much easier transmission of basic concepts, many of which are language agnostic — especially math.
* English should become more intensive as a child moves up in their education. This serves to prepare the child to access the vast amounts of information that are readily accessible in THAT language.
* Bi/tri-lingualism should be encouraged. Having one or two tongues flowing in one’s head gives for a much broader perspective in informational, emotional, and cultural aspects of language.
May 24, 2008 at 9:23 am
“Your animosity towards Tagalogs (not only against the language it seems) gives me the impression that you are the one on the Nazi-style offensive.”
Animosity towrds THE Tagalogs? Did I even say the Tagalogs are like this like that, bad people? I’m just pointing out how many of our laws and politicians are having Tagalog as the ‘Filipino identity’ at the expense of the other languages and the identity of their people. I do not have anything against the Tagalogs but the LAWS that are putting the Tagalogs into the advantage and the others into the disadvantage. The government keeps on saying that Filipino is a mixture of Tagalog and different languages, but why can’t “Filipino” adopt a specific term for husband and wife, which apparently, is present in other native languages? That is BS, As I said earlier a native Tagalog speaker does not need to learn Filipino in order to be fluent and have high comprehension, while the others HAVE TO.
Lupang Hinirang in Tagalog, Panatang makabayan in tagalog, Filipino as the only subject about our native languages here. Isn’t that clearly internal colonization? Doing these in one’s non-Tagalog language is unconstitutional. The constitution clearly implies this. Pambansang kasuotan(for me) Barong TAGALOG.
The government wants to add Mandarin because of the economic boom in China but it never thought of doing so with the other native languages in their respective lands.
“* Children, especially during early education, are more effectively taught in the language they grew up with, whether it be Tagalog, or English, or Cebuano, or Ilokano, or Hokkien. This makes for a much easier transmission of basic concepts, many of which are language agnostic — especially math.
* English should become more intensive as a child moves up in their education. This serves to prepare the child to access the vast amounts of information that are readily accessible in THAT language.
* Bi/tri-lingualism should be encouraged. Having one or two tongues flowing in one’s head gives for a much broader perspective in informational, emotional, and cultural aspects of language.”
I agree but sadly, hardly anyone is pushing this, even the so called nationalists out there. They even question why is English being taught as early as grade one. Why there are schools that encourages speaking English. The answer is not complicated, English, as DJB has pointed out, is part of the Filipino identity and you cannot be fluent in a language unless you create an environment for speaking it.
May 25, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Kung Ingles tayo ng Ingles, ine-espiya tayo ni Politikal Malaking Kuya eks-kolonizer Amerika, at ibang bansang nagsasalita ng Ingles. I am still baffled why our multiple (albeit related) dialects from every province still hinders nacional unidad. Regionalism still prevails. So, anong ibang bansa ang mayroon pa ring language differences at regionalismo? Cite real examples.
May 26, 2008 at 12:48 am
India
May 26, 2008 at 12:51 am
…also the ‘United Kingdom’.
May 26, 2008 at 11:53 am
China has Mandarin as its official, plus there’s Hokkien, and Cantonese. Saudi Arabia has a lot of tribal languages but Arabic was enforced thru the propagation of the Q’ran.
I wonder if the absolute number of languages involved has any bearing in this argument.
June 26, 2008 at 5:49 pm
una para sagutin ang tanong sa itaas (ang layo na kasi ng tinakbo ng usapan), ano ang dapat gamitin na wika, ang wikang bernakular para sa mga unang baytang ng pag-aaral, at Tagalog sa iba pa (kung may gustong matuto sa Ingles maaari namang gawing opsyunal). dito ang tinutukoy kong Tagalog ay kabilang na ang Pilipino at Filipino dahil iisa lang naman talaga ang tinutukoy nito, gaya ng nabanggit na. may pag-aaral na ang UNESCO (kung hindi ako nagkakamali) na mas madaling matuto ang bata kung gagamitin ang wikang bernakular para sa mga unang baytang nila sa paaralan, kahit pa Math at Science. bakit? dahil sa malinaw na dahilan na mas madaling matuto ang bata sa unang wika niya. sanggol pa lang siya, ito na ang naririnig niya. kaya sa paaralan, maiintindihan niya kung ano man ang sabihin ng guro (hindi ko pa tinutukoy dito ang mismong paksa na itinuturo). pero kung wikang Ingles kaagad ang gagamitin, matatali ang estudyante sa pag-intindi sa mismong mga salita na binibigkas ng guro at kaya malayong matutuhan nila ang mismong paksa na tinatalakay. bukod dito nalilikha rin ang mainam na kundisyon para sa bata dahil nagiging mas madulas ang transisyon para sa bata mula sa puro sa bahay lang sila tungo sa iba pang mga lugar na magiging malaking bahagi na ng kanilang mga buhay.
ngayon, bakit kailangan isunod ang tagalog/pilipino? para mapaunlad ang wikang pambansa. at bakit kailangan pang paunlarin ang isang wikang pambansa? para maging ganap na isang bansa tayo. esensyal ang wikang pambansa para sa isang bansa (o sa Ingles “nationhood”). at sa pamamagitan nito, maaabot ng wikang pambansa ang tunay na katayuan bilang isang wikang pambansa. sa ngayon hindi pa ito naaabot, kaya nga mismong mga nagbabalangkas ng mga alituntunin sa paggamit ng wikang pambansa nagtatalu-talo pa rin, dagdag pa diyan ang protesta ng mga di Tagalog. at sa hanay ng mamamayan, hindi pa laganap talaga ang paggamit ng wikang ito, bagamat malawak na ang saklaw ng mga gumagamit nito. bakit tagalog ang magiging wikang pambansa? dahil ito ang ginagamit na salita sa sentro ng bansa, Maynila, at sa iba pang sentrong bayan sa mga lalawigan. pero hindi nito ibig sabihin na papatayin nito ang iba pang wika sa Pilipinas. mananatili pa rin ang iba pang wika bilang pangunahing wika ng mga gumagamit nito kaya nga dapat gamitin sa paaralan. at ito ang magiging matibay na pundasyon para mas madali nilang matutunan ang ikalawang wika, sa kasong ito ang tagalog/pilipino o wikang pambansa. lumabas din kasi sa pag-aaral na mas madaling matuto ang isang tao ng pangalawang wika kung matibay na ang pundasyon ng unang wika niya. napatunayan na hindi nakabuti ang sistemang bilingual. sa sistemang ito, sa halip na matuto ng dalawang wika, lumabas na naging mahina ang tao sa parehong wika na ginagamit sa paraang bilingual, kahit sa unang wika niya. kaya dito mapapansin ang nakakatawang paggamit ng mga taong pa-sosyal kunwari sa pa-Ingles-Ingles nila o mas kilala bilang konyong salita. lumilitaw ang kahinaan nila sa parehong wika, tagalog/pilipino at ingles, kaya papalit-palit sila ng ginagamit.
at para sa impormasyon rin, hindi ingles ang unibersal na wika. maaaring marami sa mga nagsusulat dito ang gumagamit ng Ingles. magagaling pa nga sila. pero libutin ninyo ang buong mundo, makikita ninyo ang napakaraming wika ng iba pang bansa. dito natin makikita ang kaisipang kolonyal na itinanim sa ating mga isipan, lalo na ang labis na pagpuri sa mga Amerikano. kaya tuloy ang akala natin ang wika nila ay ang pinakasuperyor din na wika. maaaring sila ang pinakamalakas na bansa ngayon pero malayong mangyari na maging unibersal na wika ang ingles at mamatay ang iba pang wika. hindi rin tutuo na kailangan sa Ingles tayo mag-aral dahil dito nasusulat ang mga kaalaman sa buong daigdig sa iba’t ibang larangan ng syensyang panlipunan at pangkalikasan. halimbawa ang wikang Latin, dahil nabanggit na rin naman ito sa itaas. noong unang panahon, Latin ang gamit ng mga pilosopo at iba pang great thinkers ng sinaunang panahon. nang sinakop nila ang EUropa, ito rin ang ipinalaganap nilang salita. pero nang mamatay ang Latin bilang wika, at umusbong ang wika ng bawat bayan (dito, makikita na hindi mamamatay ang isang wika ng isang bayan kahit na masakop pa sila hangga’t ang mga tao doon ay maggigiit ng sarili nilang identidad), namatay rin ba ang lahat ng kaalaman ng tao tungkol sa mundo na nasusulat sa LAtin. hindi. ang ginawa ng mga bansa, isinalin nila ang mga kaalamang ito sa kanilang mga wika at mula noon naging bahagi na ng kanilang karunungan.
ganito rin ang dapat mangyari sa ating bayan. sa halip na patayin ang mga wikang katutubo at lumipat na lang sa ingles, ang kabaliktaran ang kailangan nating gawin. ang problema lang kasi, tamad ang mga taong nakakaunawa sa mga karunungang ito na nakasulat sa ingles na isalin ito sa tagalog/pilipino para maipalaganap sa buong bayan at maging bahagi na ng ating karunungan.
July 4, 2008 at 6:14 pm
World languages are meant to be respectively preserved, spoken, written, and read to where they are found and maybe even evolve with some adulterations and coinage that would meet the practical purposes of the day. In our present educational setting, the mastery of English over our native tongue should not be construed as mastery of one’s whole chosen field of study unless the guy’s majoring in English. In the lower levels, one’s student command of the English language would not assure him/her academic dominance over the other students who happen to absorb the subject matter at hand in their own native tongue. We should try not to holistically equate economic, social, and educational progress with the emergence and hegemony of a certain language. Education with its processes of course depends on a spoken tool of communication weather it be Arabic, Altaic or English and it has never been prejudicial of them. Scientists, mathematicians and teachers who speak, write, and read in Filipino are as good as their kind who use other languages.
January 5, 2009 at 9:18 pm
tagalog muna ang dapat unahn kc ind k amn mtu22 kng ind nu ga2mtin ang sriling wika…..
peo kng enlish ang ga2mtin ders mani waiting oppurtunities 4 u but b4 learning english,tagalog first….
you can’t learn english if you.urself doesn’t understand tagalog….