I want to point out that I TOTALLY DISAGREE to James Soriano's following statements:
"Filipino, on the other hand, was always the ‘other’ subject
— almost a special subject like PE or Home Economics"
"Filipino was a chore, like washing the dishes; it was not the language of learning.
It was the language we used to speak to the people who washed our dishes."
". . . It was the language of the streets: it was how you spoke to the tindera when you
went to the tindahan, what you used to tell your katulong that you had an utos,
and how you texted manong when you needed “sundo na.”"
"For while Filipino may be the language of identity, it is the language of the streets.
It might have the capacity to be the language of learning, but it is not the language of the learned."
" It is not the language of privilege."
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I may not be well-versed in terms of writing Kathang Filipino as a student since I really suck
at composition writing (may it be Filipino or English) but I'm quite aware of how important it is
to learn one's own language. I understand where his thoughts are coming, I know because I deal
with people like him. People who come from the upper class who consider Filipino subjects as a burden.
This is nothing new to me in the 3 yearrs I've spent with my previous job. It's an everyday scene.
Kids conversing in English and using Filipino only towards their drivers or maids.
What irks me is how he belittle Filipino language and the people who use it.
Ang matuto magsalita ng Filipino hindi lamang upang makihalubilo sa mga taong nakikita mo sa kalye
or sa mga kasambahay, kundi na din sa pakikipag-usap sa lahat ng klase ng tao sa lipunan na
nakakasalimuha sa pangaraw-araw. Hindi lahat ng mga Pinoy ay natututo sa wikang Ingles lalo
na yaong mga salat sa buhay.
I think it's absurd to be a Filipino living in the Philippines unable to even speak a Filipino phrase,
that's why I always tell my students to as much as possible learn and speak Filipino.
That's WHO you are. Your roots. Your identity.
I may have my own language deficiencies due to my exposure to 3 langauges (Tagalog, Cebuano and English)
at the same time as a 7-year old girl , but that was not a hindrance for me to learn.
Each individual has his/her own wy of learning and coping.
Learning influenced by both internal and external forces.
So if reading, writing and thinking in English is as natural as breathing to you Mr. Soriano,
then reading, writing and thinking in Tagalog, Cebuano and English is also natural to me
- depends on the situation I'm caught in.
Do not generalize something based solely on something subjective and experiential, that's automatically NULL.
Well, not unless your hypotheses have undergone a reliable and valid testing.
Until then, keep your HYPOCRISY unto yourself.
