what's the worst misconception about your country?
By kayedanda
@kayedanda (1850)
Philippines
August 14, 2008 3:46am CST
i live in the Philippines, and over the years that I have crawled the net, I sometimes get into heated arguments about really bad misconception regarding our people. like this super pompous man on yahoo answers, who, in his haughtiest manner said that Filipinos can hardly speak the English language, much less understand it. well, i never!
another American who looks down on ESL (English as a second language) writers like me said that any drunk American can tell I was an inferior ESL writer from two miles away. if i had not been as open-minded, i would have generalized the whole American lot and declared them to be the arrogant and self-righteous race that this particular person portrays his nation to be. good thing I'm not half as narrow-minded as he is.
anyways, to get to my point, i say that the Philippines has suffered a lot of unfair misconceptions from people around the world, but we are not alone in that situation. so i ask you people, what's the worst that's been said about your country?
2 people like this
10 responses
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
15 Aug 08
Well, first I wish to compliment your english, it's better than mine and it IS my first language, lol.
Lets see, misconceptions about my country:
We're war mongers out to run the world
We have a violent society
We're arogent
We are the cause of everything that goes wrong in the world
we are a nation that doesn't care about it's poor
We invade countries to take their oil
We support Israel because we hate muslums
We are a nation rampant with racism
we think we're better than every one else
We don't want anyone immigrating to our country
I guess that does it for now, I could fill an entire forum with details of all of these and go on to list so many more, but, you get the idea.
2 people like this
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
14 Aug 08
i wonder why other people say that we're the only ones having difficulties when it comes to the english language. here in sweden, there are many who would not understand me when i talk to them in english. i could not even get a proper job unless i finish learning the swedish course.
anyway, i am from the philippines as well. been living here in sweden for a year with my swedish boyfriend. everything goes well actually. however, there are those who look down at me thinking that i am just here to get better opportunities and be more financially stable.
they don't know me much that is why i am hurt. there are those who judge people by their color and that's insane.
2 people like this
@kayedanda (1850)
• Philippines
15 Aug 08
hey. i feel for you :)
i hope that one day you can prove to those who say bad things about you that you're not there just for money :)
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
14 Aug 08
well, i can say that many bad things had been said about my country as well... people said that my country is a corrupt country, high crime rates and bad traffic jams... also polluted and it is too crowded... well, i can't say that it is misconceptions as they are true at some points... but sometimes people just tend to exagerrate it a little... take care and have a nice day...
2 people like this
@thundero14 (29)
• Philippines
14 Aug 08
The worst misconception about the Philippines is that we are a country of maids. I think there is even a notion that if you go to Hong Kong to work, people tend to believe that you will be a maid there. Some rich nations look down on Filipinos and think that we are worth nothing. Sometimes I can't blame them, i base this on how our President always bow down to what other leaders want.
1 person likes this
@femmefatale_moi (79)
• Isle Of Man
14 Aug 08
i know what mean... in hk they thought we are all maids, in japan they thought we are entertainers ... luckily on my side of the world they have high regards to Filpinos, they thought we are all nurses... a number of patients have said it before, where would the health service be if not for Filipinos...our night manager actually said one night, that if not for us the hospital would have closed that night... obviously its a weekend and all our brit collegues are attending church in their favorite pubs.
1 person likes this
@tapnaroy12 (875)
• India
14 Aug 08
Hi kayedanda
Its not only your country, but all countries do suffer. It is because of our immatured mentality and illogical complexity.
But that portion of people is really very much negligible. In mylot, i haven't faced such a person yet.
None of us are perfect in all senses. So none of us has any right to hurt or -vely criticized others. If we do that we simply prove ourselves idiot.
1 person likes this
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
14 Aug 08
that's true kayedanda. almost all the people here in myLot are understanding. they don't care much about where you're from or who you are. they just accept you as who you are.
tapnaroy, true. it's not only in the philippines but all over the world. almost everyone suffers from it. perhaps most people are just shallow in many sense.
1 person likes this
@femmefatale_moi (79)
• Isle Of Man
14 Aug 08
that sorry sod is just a disgrace in human race... surely he is only envious of you because english is the only language he could speak and it's not our problem that he is soooo thick.
our ability to speak in english does sum up who we are... there is just so much in life to worry about grammar. Most of my english friends are as bad in spelling or worse than i am. They use grammatically incorrect english on a daily basis and no one worries about it... may be you should have reminded that American that English actually started in England... and he doesn't own it...
@desireetoro (12)
•
14 Aug 08
Im half Filipino and I have heard many of the misconceptions you have spoken about. I think some people just refuse to accept people that are different from them. I have heard things like filipino women like to take married men from other women t that they gossip too much but I think personally the last one is just certain people that I have known throughout my life. I can tell you the truth I have run into many people of many different cultures that do both. Especially people in the US. I am so sorry those people were so closed minded and ignorant to the fact that even though some may learn english as a second language most of those that do, speak better english than those that actually are born here. I personally think my mother speaks and writes in english beautifully and we have only been here since 1991. Hopefully you meet more open-minded people that you can learn a lot from.
1 person likes this
