Comments on: English Proficiency: Japan vs. the Philippines

By: Toni

Toni — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:58:26 +0000

I am currently a Filipina exchange student here in America, and I think the English skills I acquired from home are very, very helpful in my living here. I think the edge that Filipinos have on English proficiency is that we have an English-speaking environment, or should I say a bilingual environment. We have American TV programs, English advertisements, English media in general, and that has a big impact on a typical Filipino’s life. We still do not forget the Filipino language though (absolutely!) because we speak it everyday at home and with friends, so I think there’s a great balance there. We do not just study English, we actually use it.

Meanwhile my Japanese friend says in Japan, they learn English to get passing/excellent grades and rankings, and of course for college admissions. It seems to me that they are forced to study English for school/job purposes, but they do not really naturally learn it. Or I mean, they do not mean to really use the language. They still have all Japanese media, Japanese TV, commercials, etc..

I hope that makes sense.

By: Pooru

Pooru — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:29:01 +0000

as a Filipino studying in a Japanese school, i myself admit that I am not that fluent in English. I often have some grammatical at spelling errors when speaking and writing essays (XD). I really don’t get it on why would you say that we Filipino’s would forget the language FILIPINO (Tagalog is not that national language of the Philippines) when in fact the first language that the children learn IS Filipino or in my case my vernacular language Bisaya (which i think is still part of the Filipino culture). Filipino and the child’s vernacular language is what they often hear and this what we call imprinting~.

By: 1234

1234 — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 02:14:26 +0000

If you read the Philippine constitution, BOTH English and Tagalog ARE THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES of the country. So English is not a second language there.

By: Steven Nishida

Steven Nishida — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:28:13 +0000

Hi Marco: Thanks so much for your comments. Very insightful stuff. You have a very clear grasp of the important issues, and a mature perspective on the ebb and flow of cultural/linguistic dominance in transitional societies. On a personal note, the reason I ended up in Japan is that my grandparents’ generation stopped speaking Japanese–completely–during World War II. Their children (my parents) weren’t even taught the language. It was a price that had to be paid in order for the younger generations to flourish. As you so rightly point out, it is fruitless to harbor regrets or resentment in such situations. If it is important to you to acquire–or reacquire–a language/culture, the only thing to do is make it a priority. So here I am, still in Japan, raising my child bilingually (and taking a stab at introducing him to Spanish as well).

By: Marco

Marco — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:50:24 +0000

I really enjoyed reading this discussion. I’m a Filipino exchange student here in Korea, and the case of English education in Japan is rather quite similar to that in Korea. Koreans, as I have read, spend trillions of won a year just to learn English, while we Filipinos need not go bankrupt to acquire English as a second language. I always think that probably Koreans, as well as the Japanese, fail to develop fluency in English because they don’t have an “English environment”. For example, in the Philippines, media (television in particular) have a very strong impact on people’s lives, and English is the preferred language by advertisers. By constant exposure to media, Filipinos learn English, even to just a small degree. In my observation, here in Korea, it’s totally not the same. TV programs and commercials are seldom in English; even internet websites, books, and international magazines are translated in Korean.

About the effect of learning a second language on the proficiency in the first language, I should say I’m one of those victims of “L1 declination”. I grew up in Manila, and everyone speaks Filipino or English or often both. The ability to speak both languages is a must in a Manileño community, but as one reaches the higher levels of education, the importance of one’s proficiency in Filipino somehow diminishes. I feel embarrassed when I ask people the meaning of certain Filipino words that they use, even those that are very simple. It also feels weird correcting each other when we make grammatical errors in spoken Filipino. I think Filipinos are now more concerned about being an Anglophone. It saddens me.

And it’s not exactly just the “status symbol” that forces us to be good at speaking English. It’s more of the “social dictate”. It’s tough, but that’s how our nation is. I don’t regret being part of it, and I don’t blame anybody for causing this thing to happen. I guess that’s just how nations grow.

By: Steven Nishida

Steven Nishida — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 05:33:10 +0000

Melissa: Thanks very much for your question. I’m afraid I’m not informed on the topic of English proficiency test in the Philippines. Perhaps someone else can help us out here?

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:55:41 +0000

Just curious about the English proficiency tests that are used in Philippines for things such as job placement. From your knowledge, are they valid?

By: Steven Nishida

Steven Nishida — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 11:00:38 +0000

MARTIN, Alyssa, wlmarc: Welcome, and thanks for joining the discussion!

MARTIN: Yes, it’s true that it’s not really possible to have an intelligent discussion about English education in the Philippines without commenting on the history of the region. It makes sense that colonization by an English speaking country would lead to wider adoption of the language. There are certainly countries in which this is not the case, however. I’d be very interested in reading such a discussion, but I don’t have enough background knowledge on the topic to comment on it now. Anyone?

Alyssa: You’re right about the widespread adoption of loan words threatening the authenticity of languages. This becomes especially problematic when two languages are shared by the same group (country) of speakers. I’m not sure that this is avoidable, however, if we are going to allow the any language to become the international standard. Also, I’m no authority, but it seems to me that Tagalog (or Filipino, as my EFL/ESL colleagues call it) lost its authenticity long before English became widely adopted. While staying with Tagalog speaking families I was able to follow conversation topics just by listening for the (little) Spanish that I know! As my host told me, “The Philippines has been invaded by all of our neighbors, but they never succeed in controlling the archipelago, and they always leave new elements of culture and language behind.”

wilmarc: My friends in the Philippines voiced many similar concerns. I don’t think the maid-race stereotype is as prevalent as it once was, though it really depends on where you go. Recently, the Philippines has gained wide attention as a hotbed for dental and medical training. Unfortunately, in the media, this attention is muffled by stories of the booming call center industry. I’m afraid that some care will have to be taken to avoid the long-term image that the Philippines is a destination for low-level telecommunications jobs. I suppose that’s a step up from the ‘maid-race’ brand of prejudice, but it certainly doesn’t do justice to the skill and education level of the Filipino work force.

Thanks again for all your comments.
Steve

By: Steven Nishida

Steven Nishida — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 03:30:53 +0000

(Imported from old blog site.)

MARTIN // November 27, 2007 at 9:11 am (edit)

The topic seems so interesting, the Philippines adopt the english as second language during the colonization of america. Filipinos adopted it easily making them master of their skills. Japan had many things to offer in terms of technology and innovation but not in english as their second language.
#

Alyssa // November 29, 2007 at 8:56 am (edit)

Indeed it is true that the Philippines adopt English as a second language and are using it more and more frequently as the years go by.

However as a fellow Filipina, I noticed the development of “Taglish” (the combo. of Tagolog, the true national language & English). Nobody speaks true Tagalog anymore. Slowly but surely Tagalog will disappear along with Filipino’s unique culture because of the overusage of English.
#

wilmarc // November 30, 2007 at 7:19 pm (edit)

just a thought. i think that us filipinos being able to adapt english as our second language shows how dependent we are on english-speaking powers, e.g. u.s.a.

don’t get me wrong, in any way. i have never been to other countries, but i can see how they flourish using their own language.

i just hope that the image of filipinos being a maid-race may soon be vanished together with other stupid racist stereotypes and generalizations.
#

By: museditions

museditions — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 19:05:44 +0000

When I was in high school, we had 3 languages to pick from: French, German, and Spanish. Most of us had had some Spanish earlier. We didn’t take learning these too seriously, though, unless we needed one of them for a “college thing”. Many of my friends, whose cultural background didn’t include the above languages, were sent to language school after regular school by their parents, i.e. Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Russian school. I still remember my best friend saying “I can’t go to the concert, I have to go to Cantoneeeeese school”. (The “eeeee” still rings in my ears!). These parents, though, were helping to maintain cultural identity in the “melting pot” and we all just took it for granted. It has become a political issue, now. I hope that all of us will remain open-minded about diverse cutures and their expression. Cheers, keep up the good work. I enjoy reading it.