ENGLISH LANGUAGE: A basis for status, capability and knowledge?

Actually, it is the level of confidence that is exuded by the individual.In our country also, [I have seen in some cases] people sound more confident when they can speak English fluently. Most interviews are conducted in English and this has been an accepted practice too. But mere talking in English with shallowness inside would show itself up soon. So, ultimately one's skills would fetch returns. First impression may be necessary but people generally look for skills and performance and this would be eventually found out/proved. Fluency in the language helps in initiating the good impression, but sustaining it takes real quality and capability , along with good presentation.

Well, my idea about this is simple: Filipinos have colonial mentality. And since English is the Universal Language, I think, we are all forced to learn the subject as to get across the world and any career that you will choose. When it comes to making career, it's also important to have a great communication skill since it's gonna be your edge aside from your capability to perform the tasks given to you. But of course, we can never judge a person just because he / she cannot speak English well. We should remember that diligence and action is alot more important than speaking alot.

Well I am English, so it's best that I speak English. From your writing, it doesn't look like you used a translator, so if you speak how you have written here, you seem to have better English that some people who live in England. As long as you speak your own language so the people in your country can understand, I don't see why they should pick on you for not speaking English.

English as a basis for status, capability and knowledge? Definititely not. Look at France. Its people are not so adept in the English language yet it has produced some of the world's renowned intellectuals or philosophers who wrote in their native tongue e.g. Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Emile Durkheim, Jacques Derrida, and many others. Like what you said, Japan is a "world power" yet its people are "generally" not English speakers. It is also sad that some Filipinos here in mylot are apparently posting comments just to let others know that they have a good command of the English language, yet their posts have no sense or meaning at all. Worse still, some of these "Pinoy experts in the English language" are using their "language skills" in posting comments meant to ridicule other fellow Pinoy posters. Just check the Philippines section and you can tell who these people are.

Hi, rodelbulan, Language and intelligence are related, that is why Intelligence Tests test one's ability to understand and manipulate language. But it does not mean English Language. Anyone who handles any language comfortably, possesses the basic capability of Intelligence. But unfortunately widely publicised Intelligence tests are available in English only. Hence Intelligence becomes synonymous with knowing English [B]well[/B]. Then you have asked a question on "knowledge". You have also provided exmples of Good English speaking Philippinos being rather average in terms of knowledge and poor English speakers being very knowledgeable. This is true in our country too. There is a widespread belief that education in Mother Tongue gives one the best understanding of a subject. Though there might be a lot of evidence for this in the literature, and one could cite several examples for this, I am somehow not convinced that this is necessarily the case. I have had several arguments with proponents of this theory, but I have not been convinced by the fact that the reason for Germany or Japan to have been great technological giants has to do with Education in Mother Tongue! All that is needed is that if you need to study a particular subject and the best books at the state-of-the-srt level are available only in English then one should make it a point to learn English rather well. Then and only then will your knoweledge measure up to your efforts. Otherwise you will be stumped by the usage of the language in which the subject is taught. However, generally, scientific subjects use a language that is not too flowery therefore I must say the expression used may be culture free. But if your area of interest is the arts and you're using English to "learn" then you might come across difficulties due to the cultural nuances of the English Language as used by a native speaker, should you only choose to use a book written by a native speaker of English. What your colleague(officemate) would have meant is that the "knowledge" at current levels in your area of work is available only in English and if you are disadvantaged with the language you are at a loss. The first repondent for this post checked if you were in a call center where main goal is to communicate with a target audience and therefore, you must not only know the language's native idiom but also know it in its native accent! But in reality knowledge is truly encoded sublingually in your brain, which means that true knowledge has nothi8ng to do with a particular language.

Hello, I am a Filipino too, but personally I believe you are a good speaker of the English language. It's quite sad that most Filipino try to link the fluency in English language with your personal ability in doing other things. Personally, I believe that Filipinos should be fluent with the English language, since according to the Phlippine constitution, English is one of the Official Languages of the country, and hence every Filipino should at least be able of communicating well in the said language. Don't get me wrong here, what I mean is that being fluent does not necessarily equate with being perfect in grammar. One can be fluent but sometimes grammatically incorrect, where I consider my case to be in. Being fluent for me is the capability of the person to be understood, as well as the capability of the person to understand the language, and of course speak straight using that language despite some deficiencies. Consider this. In the United States, people are considered fluent in English, but most of the time they are grammatically incorrect. Have you heard them say, "Wanna, gonna," and many other language slangs? Yes, they are fluent but in the manner they talk, but they are inconsistent. Here in the Philippines, where Filipino is the national language, very few people speak the grammar correctly, but they are fluent in Filipino. How many times have you heard a Filipino say, "Nakain ka na ba?" especially in the Batangas region. According to the Commission of the Filipino Language (KWF), it is incorrect, but it is often used and speakers are considered fluent. However, as a basis for status, capability and knowledge, it does not immediately correlate. In fact, people who don't speak much often has more knowledge than those who do.

Yes,i also experienced such things in my country.I am from India and here the new generation people is giving much importance to English and there are good in English In India,each state has its own regional language,plus our national language Hindi.We use english for official purposes and rarely speak english.So i want to improve my english.If we use English regularly,then it is easy to master this language.I think mylot is a nice place to improve our english and communication skill.Here we can duscuss all matters with out any hesitation.After joining this site,i improved my english a lot.

Well, if you work in a call center then your officemate is trying to help you get better at work. But if speaking or communicating in English is not your primary mode of work then I don't think it should be considered as the basis for your intellect.

I don't feel like talking English makes you smarter. But, it seems like people that are good in English, are more intelligent than those who doesn't speak English that good. At least, it seems like that. Most people that get bad grades in English, would probably get rather bad grades in all other subjects too.

It is derogatory to judge a person by the fact whether he is good in a particular language or not. Yes, English is important in today's world cause' it is THE Business language but definitely it is not a parameter to judge or form an opinion on someone. I think to nurture and to feel proud of your ownself and culture is the most important thing. We should be proud of our own mother tongue and culture, and then only we can respect our ownself as an individual.

well, english is all around us and used as the common language of the world. Ofcourse people will respect you more if you command a language used around the world. but this doesn't mean that if you don't know english you are incapable of good work or has no abilities. a good command of english is an added asset but not an overall judgement of one;s ability

OMG. Who is this officemate? Anyway, I think that we use the English language most of the time because it is the universal language. It is the language most people in the world are familiar with. But of course it is not primarily about speaking English, but speaking with SENSE using the language. We cannot avoid people's perception that if you don't know English, they will look down on you, especially here in the Philippines wherein colonial mentality is present. For some reason in the Philippines, most of the working atmosphere is using the English language, probably to show professionalism. But I also believe that you should also learn and love what is truly yours to begin with -Filipino language. So there. Try to understand those kinds of people who look down on you. :)

precisely my friend...as i am a filipino too...those hypocrites feels like they are the only perfect ENGLISH SPEAKING PERSON when they criticized or hear other people speak English with wrong grammar..HMP!!!! when they themselves cannot speak our own mother tongue nor can speak other dialects akala mo kung sinu na sila pag nag english =p

I agree that ability and capability of a person does not solely rest on one's command of another language, English. But you should also realize the fact that if the country is recognized for it's people being good at it, then there's surely more opportunities for the ones that mastered the language. Japan and Germany did not progress by speaking their language alone. They've interacted with other countries, and I bet a few of those are English-speaking ones.