Pinoy Children who speak English

I don't think that children who speak English rather than Filipino are un-nationalistic. Most of us don't really speak just one language at a time, we tend to mix them all the time so English is a useful language to learn. Almost no one speaks straight Filipino anymore. As for the kids you say that don't know any Tagalog or Bisaya word, try stepping on their toes and I am sure you will hear a few chosen curse words in the vernacular. Also, the conclusion that English-speaking kids have an air of arrogance is more of a conclusion. I don't hear that tone. You may have pre-judged them because of your assumption that English is a superior language. I think kids should be taught to speak fluently in any language - be it Tagalog, English or Bisaya because speaking fluently is a sign of coherence in thought. Although I agree that Filipino is a beautiful language, we have to accept that at this time, bilingualism is a useful skill in the global village. Learning another language is simply a matter of adapting to the world. Children are like sponges, and the earlier you teach them a language, the easier for them to learn. For me, people who refuse to teach their children Tagalog or their dialect are the un-nationalistic ones because they are setting their kids up to be segregated from the rest. Language, whatever it is, is a uniting factor. On the other hand, there is merit in your argument that some parents teach children English because in their minds, their English-speaking children are superior to other children. They may be deluded but that is their loss. However, speaking the language is not a sure sign of strong sense of nationalism. We are a fragmented country, and Filipino was just agreed upon as the national language. My point is that, just because it was legislated as a national language does not mean that it is indeed the national language. Take the Cebuanos for instance, most of them are not fluent in Tagalog and are embarassed to speak it. This does not make them un-nationalistic. My point is that the spirit of nationalism is more than speaking the language.

Oh man, thank goodness I'm not alone! Whenever I hear Pinoy children doing that, I would really get annoyed and sometimes, I comment "I pity Rizal" followed by quoting "One who doesn't love his own language is worse than an animal and a stinky fish (tried to translate it & turned out pretty silly, lol)". If only I could punch the parents, HAHAHA, joke! The thing that ticks me off more is as you mentioned, the accent. Recently, I'm pretty disappointed that the English proficiency of most Filipinos, especially children, is degrading and is not what it used to be in the past. I believe that there should be something done about this to make the children competent...but not in the way that they speak it when not needed and not to use it to flaunt social status (of their parents lol ). One time, I was in a computer game store and two boys came in. While browsing, I suddenly heard one of them say the title of the game then said "That is so cool!" or something like that. Come on! It's the first time I heard a Filipino child say that. That's not the usual exclamatory expression of other "ordinary" Filipino children. Again, poor Rizal. Parents of "spoken in dollar" children, have you no shame? Argh!

Hello inkyuboz, I am also sad about this since not only we are divided due to our own language barriers but also divided in abroad like most of the Fil ams because they were not taught even mere tagalog language. this is something that we should all think of doing something some day. though, i have a toothache, if i think now my ache is gonna hurt more than it should. We divided now a days, and this kind of problem is rising with out others being unaware. tagalog is a combination of filipino and spanish while others are the true filipino native tongue.i hope one day things will turn around.but am glad that being the filipino that we are still exist abroad, and it doesn't have to be language.

Very interesting topic. There's that kind of colonial mentality that children who can speak English are a lot better than those who are more adept in Filipino. This is a sad thought because this isn't true at all. Having to speak another language other than Filipino is 'believed' to be of the rich ones only since they are the ones who can send their kids to good universities and/or private schools that teach or encourage children to speak English more often than Filipino.Thus, speaking the English language is synonymous to being rich. So, many are trying so hard to teach their kids to speak the language in order to be lifted in that 'upper class'. But if you look closely, Filipinos' comprehension the said language is deteriorating, according to latest statistics.

Hi inkyuboz. I agree with you. My nephews dont know how to speak Tagalog at all. They have grown with an English tongue thanks to the purple dinosaur, the periwinkle blue dog and duh duh duh dudorah! Are there Batibot DVDs available in the market to balance the children's language? And now, my sister (their mom) is having so much difficulty in teaching them Tagalog. Take for example, the word "uod." They would pronounce it as "yu-ode!" Oh my goodness gracious! Some people may laugh at that error but i would be so afraid. Tagalog is dying! Speaking english doesnt mean one is smart or rich or have a cutting edge either. Hello?! "Yayas" of today can speak english fluently. Whenever i hear my nephews speak english, it only makes my eyes roll in disappointment, not to mention epistaxis.

I do understand your feeling as a lot of our kabayans (fellow filipinos)feel superior if they speak English. This is maybe because of the filipino thinking that anything american or anything made in usa is very good. But if I have my own children I will also train them to speak English as this is the international language. My English language skills is my asset in my job, this is where I earn my living. But it doesn't mean that they should forget our national language, they should at least learn how to speak Filipino. And if I have children, I will train them to speak more languages like German or French. These are the languages that Filipinos should feel elite if they have the skill, not English. I'm already an adult when I learned German and French and I also learned arabic but did not prosper due to unavailability of advance class. For me I feel sorry for these parents who feels in a high society class just because their kids speak English. They speak good English, fine, but do they understand the language? Do they understand what compose the English language? Do they understand the grammar and sentence structure? They don't. You're right, shame on them. English is nothing special in the Philippines. Most Filipinos speak English even the mountain people in Cordillera, they can not communicate in Filipino but they communicate in English.

I'm American and therefore the only language that I've ever been fluent with is English. That said, I do think that for people that are from other countries to never have been exposed to their native tongues is a sad thing. Yes, the world is becoming a much smaller place these days because of the advent of the internet and easier global travel. However, I also think that it is important for people to understand where they came from.

I am annoyed at them at times too- especially if English is the only language hat they can speak. Parents should teach their children to speak the language of their country, since sooner or later they may come back to the country- Filipinos, or anyone for that matter should never forget where they come from.

This also makes me sad since it would mean the Filipino language is dying. I hope our government does something to remedy this. Despite being know for having good English speaking skills we should never forget our own language. Another thing that saddens me is the fact that both languages are being mixed and making the Filipino language even more broken.

Yes, that i notice too. Speaking English is now being equated to being rich! Rubbish! I really get irritated too seeing and hearing those children speaking English, when all the while their father and mother are pure Filipinos and they live in the Philippines! Yet, they don't want their kids to be kidnapped! And hello! Almost every parent wants to be called Mommy and Daddy by their kids. For me, Mama and Papa or Nanay and Tatay sounds more endearing. Am sorry but that's just my opinion.

I also feel the same thing. I am thinking that these children were thought to not to embrace our own culture. But sometimes, I feel that i just envy them. I think English is a must to learn language. With the English language, we are able to communicate to each other. Those children may be speaking English all the time. But they still know how to speak Tagalog or any Filipino dialect. Most or all of the television shows here are using Tagalog language. Still, those children are in their homeland. The arrogance depends on their social manners, not to the language they speak I guess. Have a nice day to you!

Only rich families and child of celebrities and kid who grew up abroad does that but i do admit Tagalog is not my first language. I learned Spanish and English before I learned Tagalog because I was born in Peru. I was able to develop an American accent because I grew up watching American shows because I cant stand soap operas. But I can speak tagalog like a pro, I even write poems in deep obsolete tagalog.

To be honest, there's nothing wrong in learning English and even embracing it as the country's 2nd language (SINCE it is the international dialect). Also, congratz to Philippines since it is the 2nd biggest English-speaking nation in Asia. But heck, just to be relevant (and to express my own feelings as well), I do find it annoying. Heck, some of these kids 'abuse' it and I just wonder sometimes: Should I laugh or should I be amazed? Here's why: Amazed, because of their 'willingness' to continue speaking the language even with wrong grammar and bad pronunciation. And Laugh because of the arrogance they still get to carry along with them while speaking the language with bad pronunciation.

I just want to say that I'm happy to see someone who shares the same sentiment as I am. I wasn't brought up to speak straight English. My parents talk to me in Tagalog. It was in school that I actually learned English and I don't think it made a difference. It just saddens me that Filipino parents would bring up their kids in such a way just because they want their kids to be "superior" over other kids. Well, English isn't a measure of superiority. It's just a language everybody could understand. I mean, there's nothing wrong with kids speaking English but teaching them to have an accent and have them acquire an air of arrogance as a result? I don't think so. I'm as annoyed as you are, inkyuboz but I guess this results from the colonial mentality of Filipinos. We always think that we're inferior to other races that's why we always try to be like them. But where would that take us? Where would that take our children? I just hope this doesn't go on forever or else, we'll just be a colony of another country and not a country in itself.

Let's just pray that the parents of these English speaking kids (complete with accents) will be able to afford to send them off to good schools so as the kids will not lose their English speaking habits. I know because I was one of those kids who never spoke a word of Tagalog as a kid because I was so exposed to "Sesame Street" and my mother encouraged me to speak straight English. I remember when I would play house as a kid, I spoke in English to my dolls. But all of this changed when my family fell on hard times and I had to go to a private but not exclusive school. That's why I had a traumatized childhood because kids thought that I was being arrogant because I spoke straight English and I did not come from the US. So don't fret, all of that will change once the child goes to school. Unless the parents can afford to send them to DLSU or Ateneo or Miriam. I am also saddened that a lot of our culture is slowly being eradicated because our next generation is more keen on adapting cultures from other countries.

For me it depends on how parents inculcated values to them. I mentioned values because for me, nothing is wrong to teach filipino children to learned proper english, but not like what you said that you feel them like making them arrogance of what they have attained. I'm in favor of teaching them english for I noticed in one occasion that most kids enjoy what the speakers said to do while kids who did not understand just staring and don't know what to do. Maybe it's just the way they have to rear having the chance of having that privilege. I have a relative in foreign country. When I saw their kids, they speak fluent english when they are around people who needs to speak the same language, but when the kids speaks with us, they surprisingly speak tagalog well as we expected being filipinos, and they even never forget to use "po" and "opo". Their parents want them to speak tagalog when with filipinos but they also have to study and learn other language properly for them not to be boastful but rather to be able to mingle and not to be cheated or mislead.

Hi! As a kid, I spoke English really well. There was no rule at home that I was aware of banning the Filipino language but I just knew I was trained to speak English at a very young age. That doesn't mean I didn't speak Tagalog/Filipino though, because I do and I did as a kid too. For my parents and elders, I don't think they did it on purpose or to have an "air of arrogance" about me. It was merely one way to bring up kids, much like some parents choose to include spanking in their style of disciplining their children. When I started going to school, having known english made it easy for me to cope up with school work. It was a leg up. I don't think it alienated me from other kids nor did it give me a feeling of being better than everyone else. for me, Arrogance and elitism comes with more than just the language one is using. Maybe your annoyance towards kids who speak English well comes from a deeper and bigger bias.

I totally feel the same way. I am alright with parents teaching their kids to speak English but the should never forget to teach them how to speak Filipino too. They are still Filipino and it's a shame if they don't even now how to speak their own language. Even some pure Americans now how to speak our language, why can't they.Like Billy Crawford, he speaks both English and Filipino since his mom taught him to.

Teaching children how to speak english doesn't make them less Filipino. It's always an advantage for someone to speak a second language since you have an edge over those who don't. However there are parents who are overdoing it. Teaching them english so they can excel in school is fine but teaching them to the point that the child no longer knows how to speak Filipino is what raises my eyebrow.

i do feel the same way, i get amazed to hear children speak fluent english. more fluent than me, i sometimes envy them. but still, parents should teach their children the language in their place like Tagalog, Filipino, Cebuano, Waray, etc. It does not annoy me but it's kind of awkward for me to answer them in English when I usually speak in vernacular.