Speak English

Published in Cebu Gold Star Daily




I remember during my grade school days when I would run up a wide ramp to get to the second floor classrooms. As you reach the wall facing the ramps, you would see a sign in bright bold red letters against a white background saying, SPEAK ENGLISH. Back then, that was the entire school’s expectation. Back then, that was the law. One who violates this command would get a screeching reprimand or be fined twenty-five centavos to be tossed into the class fund. Like having a school-wide swear jar, this was the educational attitude we had during the 80’s and 90’s (and perhaps even up to this day). As if speaking your native tongue was actually identical to cussing.


I admit, I am a proud Cebuano. But it occurred to me that when it comes to my native tongue, I have the vocabulary and grammar skills of a first grader. Here are three instances that prove this point:

1. I attempted to write two songs in Cebuano and was successful only after consulting three of my friends about the lyrics.
2. I went to Davao last December to conduct a paralegal seminar for six indigenous Mindanao tribes and I had to give all my lectures in straight Cebuano. I had such a difficult time that I was corrected many times by the participants and had to substitute many words unbeknownst to me with their English equivalents. It turned out to be a successful seminar, but it gave me the feeling that I was a foreigner among my peers.
3. Yesterday, my boss asked me to translate a six-page script into Cebuano and it took me the greater part of two hours to finish my task.

It is because of this realization that I am working hand-in-hand with legislators and teachers to pass a new law -- one, which promotes multi-lingual education. It encourages the use of multiple languages, especially the native tongue of the locality, for teaching. It also provides for mandatory formal education on the native tongue. This is above and beyond the subjects already taught for English and Filipino. 


I know what many of you are thinking – “Will this not make English proficiency suffer?” U.P. Diliman linguistics professor, Dr. Ricardo Nolasco says “No”. In his book, 21 Reasons Why Filipino Children Learn Better While Using Their Mother Tongue, he reveals that studies in many countries have shown that students who learn using their native language outperform those who learn using a secondary language. First language learning allows children to develop solid foundations for literacy and paves the way for learning multiple languages.


Like many people who are products of the Filipino private school system, English is my first language. It is the language in which I am most proficient. It is the language I use to count and the language in which I think. This is a fortunate (or unfortunate) reality for me and for many of my friends. But the majority of children who do not have this initial exposure to English adapt the native tongue as their first language. It may be Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Chavacano, Ilokano, Kapampangan or the many other languages of these islands. This burdens them with a tremendous disadvantage in the learning process and teachers get such a headache just trying to get them to learn while using English as the exclusive medium of instruction. 


This is one of the reasons why many Filipinos remain illiterate -- why the dropout and repeat rates rise. These children are not stupid. They just were not given the same opportunities on a level playing field. They lack confidence because they cannot articulate their ideas in the way expected of them. In effect, their grades suffer and their self-esteem plummets -- all because they were brought into a learning system that forces them to become something other than their natural selves.


Education should be liberating. It ought to come naturally. Forcing children to learn what is alien to them in the onset will trigger a long-lasting aversion to learning. This is not to disregard the importance of learning English. In fact, it should be taught with greater intensity and depth. Learning English is our gateway to the rest of the world – but this should not be done at the cost of abandoning the rich wisdom and knowledge of our foreparents.


Local languages face extinction even as they are passed down by oral tradition. Few people know how to use our native languages correctly and use it well. What little we know now is a bastardized version of its former glorious self. Isn’t high time we reclaim our past and solidify our understanding of our cultural identities. 


Many fear that this will cause division. On the contrary, it will encourage interaction and multi-literacy. It will send a message to the rest of the islands that the national government values their cultures and uniqueness. It fosters unity in diversity because of mutual tolerance. To deny that we are multi-cultural people is plainly delusional. We must embrace this diversity by celebrating it in our schools.


The more children learn their own languages, the more poets, novelists, screenwriters, actors, songwriters and artists we will have in a very wide range of languages. It will enrich and develop our culture. Music and art will flourish and it will shepherd in a Filipino renaissance never before seen in history. I look forward to this period in our future.  


Panahon na para mag-bag-o ang ato-ang panan-aw sa kalibutan. Panahon na para ibalik ang ato-ang kultura ug kaalam.