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I enjoyed reading a a blog post recently published in ProPinoy.net authored by a certain “bill” (quoted as it appears on the site — not capitalised). In his article, “reThinking Soriano“, “bill” makes an intriguing statement that got me thinking… So the question is not, “English or Filipino?” The question is how to live...
William “The Chair Wrecker” Esposo of Philstar.com has joined in the debate about the Philippine national language (or lack of it) in his recent column. This was in response to the controversial and now removed article written by James Soriano from Manila Bulletin. While Esposo rabidly defended our constitutionally mandated national language, Tagalog, he...
The answer is simple, Tagalog is a language. Why make such a simple question into something so complex? I believe that the answer lies in the confusion between the definitions of a language and a dialect. We all know what a language is; it’s what we speak everyday to communicate, so let’s take a...
Lots of people seem to have, at best, a rather shallow understanding of what I mean when I keep harping about the lack of a concept of “efficiency” in the Tagalog dialect. My simple explanation is that the lack of a concept of efficiency native to (or long embedded in) Tagalog reflects the inherent...
Whatever it was said by whoever this James Soriano is, if it is the truth about the utter lack of intellectual tools Tagalog provides its speakers, then no apologies are needed to be given to those who take offense from these words. A Manila Bulletin column published on August 24 titled “Language, learning, identity,...
According to Miss International 1979 title holder Melanie Marquez, she will “support” Miss Philippines-Universe candidate Shamcey Supsup if she will speak in Tagalog in the coming Miss Universe 2011 beauty pageant to be held in Brazil on the 12th of September this year. Tagalog is a southern Luzon dialect that was branded as the...
Score so far in this game of clever marketing that Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is playing on the Filipino people — three. As in three catchy slogans that have so far proven to be effective in its stickiness to the Filipino psyche: - Use of the Yellow pedigree platform and its symbols...
I’ve always made the assertion that proficiency in the English language is the Filipino’s ticket to success. Being a good English speaker is the key to upward social mobility in Philippine society where a persistent and deeply-ingrained colonial-mentality continues to imprison the Filipino mind. More importantly, the vast majority of information and knowledge critical...
