English Only Please. The Struggle is Real! (My Story)
Above are the strong words from a person who we, Filipinos honor as our National Hero. This molded the Filipino culture for a very long time.
Until, we got too consumed with first world culture, westernization, Americanization and whatchamacallits.
When before, children only got to speak English in school mainly because the mode of instruction was English, nowadays, in some, if not most households, English is clearly becoming the first language.
In my opinion, it somehow came about in the recent years because the Philippines has been “exporting” manpower overseas where they can earn higher wages and potentially alleviate their way of living. Hence parents started to add leverage to their own children by raising English speakers – then there will be no or little language barrier if ever these children would have to live abroad in the future.
There are lots of other reasons why parents (not just Filipinos) would decide to raise multi-lingual kids.
There are parents whose native tongues are different hence they have in one way or another, teach their kids their respective languages. Japanese dad, Filipino Mom. Spanish Mom, American Dad. The list can go on.
Makes sense. I have no issues with that.
Errr…. Actually, I have an issue!
I have English speaking kids with whom I am having a hard time teaching Tagalog , the native Philippine language.
I do not know if we would be in the same situation if we are raising our kids in the Philippines (because of the reasons I mentioned above).
Here are the reasons why (I think ) we have English speaking kids:
- They were born and are being raised currently here in UAE. I think it is but appropriate that they learn the common language for ease of communication with other people around us.
- My eldest had language delay – he did not speak full sentences until he was 4 years old. This was about the time when he came back to live with us here after almost 4 years (from 8 months to 4th birthday) of living in the Philippines. There may be other reasons for the language delay but I thought he may have been confused because from 1- 8 months, when he was basically collecting words in his “language bank” he was mostly hearing English. Then the sudden change of environment when he came to PH where people, basically my mom and dad plus others in the neighborhood mainly speak in Tagalog. I know it does not make sense, but still. LOL
- Because of reason number 2, when we had baby number 2 and 3 we decided to focus on one language only whilst they are still young. Evidently that is English.
- Oh well, I am somehow also guilty of letting TV baby –sit them. I mean, occasionally. I believe a lot will agree when I say that TV has lots of influence on people, kids especially.
My Problem:
Being Filipinos, I know that these kids NEED to learn our native tongue. Time will come when we will have to settle back down in PH and I don’t want them to feel isolated just because they cannot speak Tagalog.
Though I mentioned in my earlier posts that we will soon be homeschooling, we will still be adapting the Philippine Curriculum. Meaning, Filipino subject is mandatory. Four years in school and I know that my eldest struggled with the subject. Since a lot of other Filipino kids here also speak mainly English only, the teachers struggled too!
Being non-native English speakers, there are just some things that we feel are better explained in our Mother Tongue.
NOSE BLEED
This is an idiomatic expression we Filipinos say when we are struggling with English – whether speaking or just listening.
And boy, do I nose bleed all the time!
English in the office.
English at home.
Meet other Filipino kids outside and my, more English!
Oh yeah, not to mention steemit!
(I am now thinking of writing an article in Filipino and ironically, I suspect it will be more difficult)
English at home.
Meet other Filipino kids outside and my, more English!
Oh yeah, not to mention steemit!
What we are doing now?
They clearly do not have any issues speaking in English anymore. I am pretty sure my youngest, 19 months is an English speaker too! Thus we try to speak to them in our native tongue and encourage them to revert in the same medium.
We used to have The Filipino Channel (TFC) on cable tv and they seemed to understand some of the programs.
We are off to a slow start, but hopefully we’ll get on track. They can actually understand us when we speak to them in Tagalog, but they cannot speak yet. With more effort, hopefully soon!
Thoughts?
I know there are lots of other parents out there who are in the same situation as we are. Your ideas and suggestions are most welcome. We would like to hear from you!
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Well what can i say? Hehehe... Even my english is really not good compare with my kids. Ahahaha...
You can really say that again. Hahaha
I grew up in a Korean and American household. At a very young age my father was stationed in Seoul, Korea and I was fully immersed in the Korean culture because my aunts, uncle, and grandparents were always around. Even my two great-grandmothers! I remember speaking Korean fluently. And then we moved back to the U.S. I was 5 and I didn't fit in. Half & Half. Glasses. Shy. Stutter. Broken English. I was teased every day for something. So, at the age of 5 I rejected all things Korean (except my mother). I did not want to speak it. I even tried to reject Korean food. Looking back, I was a fool. But in my young mind, it was the only thing I had control over.
And now that I'm older, I wish I had that second language and I intend to learn it again. I want to have good conversations with my mother in her native tongue. That would be so fun. :)
Aneong @merej99! 😀
Hmmm, Sad you had to go through that... yeah, if it were me I think I would have done the same.
I was thinking, after 5 years and a child "loses a languange" , would it be difficult to re-learn it? I am pretty sure though that you can still understand korean?
On a side note, once upon a time a got addicted on Korean tv series. They are very famous in PH because of their great story lines, and the movies are fantastic too. They are also being shown on local tv dubbed with Filipino. 😅
I don't watch anymore because I may get addicted again. Cant afford that. Too much going on here and there, so I need that extra time. Lol
Oh my gosh, I love Korean soaps. LOL I don't even have to pay attention to the English subtitles and I laugh or cry! Oh, COFFEE PRINCE. LOL It's one of my favorites. My husband looks at me like I'm crazy. I can pick up on some words and phrases, sometimes follow along with a conversation and kind of understand.
I think when I concentrate and find people who will speak with me, I can learn it pretty quickly. I hope so!
Oh, envy you don't need the subs. Indefinitely do and there's where I lose the time. Imaging focusing your eyes on the screen all the time just to catch the conversations. 😅
And yeah, coffee prince! 😆
I think these days they are showing The Goblin in PH. I have heard great comments but I dont want to put my head into it yet. I cant afford to get addicted to something more this days. steemit already has me. Lol
I connected with the language confusion piece. I used to teach English Language Learners, mostly students who came to the US from Mexico. I remember one young lady who had not learned her native language well enough to be able to connect it to English words to be able to learn in either language. It's called language confusion and it's so hard to work through! They say the key to fixing language confusion is to work on the native language so that they have the word bank and experiences to then connect to a second language. If they are understanding you when you speak your native language, then hopefully speaking is next for them! It can take many years (3-5) to learn to speak socially and then even more time to learn to speak academically.
I can't speak to your situation specifically... but I am Danish and grew up there, but my parents had both lived in the US for many years before returning to Denmark... and insisted on teaching me English and we spoke English at home. It became a bit problematic when I actually had to learn Danish in order to go to kindergarten.
Although people in Denmark speak Danish, English is taught from 2nd grade on... but I get the dilemma of not knowing your native language.
I see that with my grade school kid too. On the PH curriculum we have a Filipino subject where they teach about grammar, literature and lots of stuff. Personally I find Filipino grammar more difficult than English so I just try not to expect too.much from him academically. However at his age (8), I'd really prefer if he can speak it. Now he tries a little bit so I am keeping the faith!. 😉
Great article - and insight into the struggle! Nosebleed had me lol-ing. :)
Lol. Glad i was able to make someone lol.
😆
"Nosebleed" is kind of a joke amongst us Filipinos when someone speaks in a different language, most of the time English, which becomes too hard for us to process. Like brain overload
Haha
That's hilarious. Did you know that 'nosebleed' in english usually means the seats in a stadium that are so high and far away that you get a nosebleed from sitting up there? Like the cheap tickets at a baseball game all the way at the top is the 'nosebleed section' hah!
Haha. Thanks for that. Never knew that. Now I have something to share to my friends. 😉
Here's all you need to know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosebleed_section
Cool! This is really something new. Haha
I can only say that it will become harder and harder. If you'd like to see a change, the solution is a simple as tough - move back to the Philippines. I hope you get my message right, you you won't be offended in any way.
I don't know what to say really. I think we are almost missing the point where a return to the roots of the good old traditions is possible. It will become bigger and bigger challenge to remain authentic in this century.
Thanks for the insight @steemfluencer, no offense taken.
We are not yet in the position to come back home due to work and other obligations but who knows, someday soon?!
Yep, it's always the obligation and the work... I know it by experience unfortunately .. :( Well, try establishing your presence on Steemit and that day might come sooner than you've initially thought! I'm serious.
Thanks for that @steemfluencer. I was really about to insert that -steemit would be a great step for me to get more financial freedom. 😉
I love what I am doing here and I am always thinking about how much more I could contribute should I not be working fulltime.
This post has received a 0.57 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @arrliinn.
My kids speak english and tagalog but do not know cebuano or bisaya.Maybe the more you let them talk with someone in Tagalog they can improve.hehe. cool steemmoms tag is new to me.
#steemmoms by @thatsweeneyguy 😆
No one to speak in Tagalog much unfortunately. They are stuck with us and TFC. hehe
hahaha TFC then
wahhh.... nose bleed!!!! hahahah
Wahahaha. The struggle is real.
Hi @arrliinn! I think it depends a lot on what your main language is.
I have lived in Spain fro 14 years, so my language has always been Spanish. My mom was dutch, and she spoke dutch to us. I speak/understand both spanish and dutch.
With my own daughter, I have always spoken to her in spanish, even though she was born in the USA. It was natural to me, and I have made it my goal for her to speak to me in spanish. She is trilingual, which helps her learn another language quicker. She tries speaking english with me, but knows I only respond in Spanish.
So, it depends on you and what your goals are. What language are you most comfortable speaking? Do you want them to be bilingual or trilingual? The younger they learn, the more they pick up and the quicker they learn.
Have a great day! :)
Right now I think my kids would not "unlearn" English anymore so I am really very keen on them learning our native language. As I said on my post my eldest had a speech delay so I thought that exposing him to multiple languages was the reason. Aparently not because the other 2 started really talking around 18 months and they understand Filipino. My girl is already trying to speak a few Tagalog words when communicating with us so I hope that is the start.
I would love for them to learn basic Arabic also since we are here in an Arabic country...
That is great! I had my daughter take mandarin for a semester. She didnt want to continue, but she got exposed to it. I will try french this school year :)