filipino english
'English-only zones' set in Manila - INQ7.net
Starting this month, PLM's 10,000 students would have to speak in English in designated "English Zones" and at given English-speaking hours.
So-called "Free Zones," where students may speak in any language they wish, have also been designated.
"We would like to create an environment where if you speak in Filipino in English Zones, you will not get an answer," PLM president Benjamin Tayabas told the Inquirer.
English-only zones? Sure, Filipinos are way better than Thais or Singaporeans when it comes to the English language... but to put students in a structure where you won't get any answer if you say something in Filipino? Talk about going overboard.
I was once interviewed by an Indian Creative Director here in Thailand, and she was a bit puzzled. She found it a bit strange that my portfolio contained stuff that was 90% English, with only a few minor stuff written in Filipino.
I realized then that unlike Thais who sometimes stubbornly shun learning English, Filipinos would rather wholeheartedly embrace anything American. Sadly, a lot of us are more well-versed in a foreign language we bravely call our second language, but are poor in our own native tongue. I guess it has its advantages and disadvantages -- more call centers that generate jobs, less Filipino literature/culture afficionados.
Forced English is yet another thing to contend with. Thanks to the SMS/text skills of pinoys, a lot of friends write to me in truncated English that takes a bit of practice to decipher. It is really annoying when people do that -- didn't our teachers always say that since the medium (i.e. e-mail) is print, you have freedom of space to use the right spelling, punctuation marks, and grammar? When someone writes or texts "lunch muna me" -- is it really that hard to just say "lunch muna ako" (the difference being 1 letter/character)?
Then again, maybe I'm just old-fashioned, or I just haven't caught up with colloquial and current conversation styles. Ugh what a horror -- someone shoot me if I start writing dito na me in Manila.
Ok back to the English Zones bit... if restrictions such as that provide conservative English grammar, syntax, and all that comes with it... then it might be good. BUT if it continues to produce people who say "I don't friend you", then we might as well forget it.
Just the other day I was blog-hopping and found the blog of a Beauty Editor from a famous youth-oriented magazine. To my horror, she didn't even know the correct use of their and they're. To think she's supposed so be a rank higher than a contributing writer?
I do not claim to be a guru, nor do I look down at people who label themselves as writers. I just feel that if you do have the title of Writer, Editor, or What-Have-You, then you absolutely HAVE to be better than the rest of us schmucks who think we have the right to print space.
All you need is Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style".
Starting this month, PLM's 10,000 students would have to speak in English in designated "English Zones" and at given English-speaking hours.
So-called "Free Zones," where students may speak in any language they wish, have also been designated.
"We would like to create an environment where if you speak in Filipino in English Zones, you will not get an answer," PLM president Benjamin Tayabas told the Inquirer.
English-only zones? Sure, Filipinos are way better than Thais or Singaporeans when it comes to the English language... but to put students in a structure where you won't get any answer if you say something in Filipino? Talk about going overboard.
I was once interviewed by an Indian Creative Director here in Thailand, and she was a bit puzzled. She found it a bit strange that my portfolio contained stuff that was 90% English, with only a few minor stuff written in Filipino.
I realized then that unlike Thais who sometimes stubbornly shun learning English, Filipinos would rather wholeheartedly embrace anything American. Sadly, a lot of us are more well-versed in a foreign language we bravely call our second language, but are poor in our own native tongue. I guess it has its advantages and disadvantages -- more call centers that generate jobs, less Filipino literature/culture afficionados.
Forced English is yet another thing to contend with. Thanks to the SMS/text skills of pinoys, a lot of friends write to me in truncated English that takes a bit of practice to decipher. It is really annoying when people do that -- didn't our teachers always say that since the medium (i.e. e-mail) is print, you have freedom of space to use the right spelling, punctuation marks, and grammar? When someone writes or texts "lunch muna me" -- is it really that hard to just say "lunch muna ako" (the difference being 1 letter/character)?
Then again, maybe I'm just old-fashioned, or I just haven't caught up with colloquial and current conversation styles. Ugh what a horror -- someone shoot me if I start writing dito na me in Manila.
Ok back to the English Zones bit... if restrictions such as that provide conservative English grammar, syntax, and all that comes with it... then it might be good. BUT if it continues to produce people who say "I don't friend you", then we might as well forget it.
Just the other day I was blog-hopping and found the blog of a Beauty Editor from a famous youth-oriented magazine. To my horror, she didn't even know the correct use of their and they're. To think she's supposed so be a rank higher than a contributing writer?
I do not claim to be a guru, nor do I look down at people who label themselves as writers. I just feel that if you do have the title of Writer, Editor, or What-Have-You, then you absolutely HAVE to be better than the rest of us schmucks who think we have the right to print space.
All you need is Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style".
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