Hi! I’m Joei. Kamusta, kaibigan?
I have a question for you. Do you love Filipino?
Growing up, I learned Tagalog through my everyday conversations but admittedly, I loved English more. I would choose Dickens over Balagtas. When I pondered why, I realized it’s because English was living for me. Filipino was not. My parents filled our home with books, ranging from novels to Christian books to encyclopedias. Our family car had lots of cassette tapes of fairy tales and Sunday School songs. All of these are in English.
I soared in my grades in English but I did not fare that well in Filipino, especially in high school when the novels were part of the required readings. It’s ironic that in the Philippines, Filipino kids are not taught our beautiful language in a manner that is interesting and living for them.
When I passed UPCAT, I chose Linguistics. I initially did not know what I will learn but I know it will be about language. I have always loved languages. I am amazed at how one speaker can mix and match words to convey meaning. I love how it evolves over time and how speakers of the same language interpret certain words differently. When I was studying Linguistics, I thought I will only learn about languages but I got more than that. I realized how important languages are. Especially Filipino.
- The Filipino Language is Our Culture.
According to UNESCO, “Cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.”
When a people group stops using a language, their culture starts to diminish. Imagine Philippines with diminishing oral traditions, no Filipino plays or people who do not know what binatog is. Filipino parents should teach children our language not only for good grades, but to preserve what we have for the generations to come. The English language is very fortunate. It has multiplied itself in different nations. Its written documents are extensive. This language is celebrated throughout the world, especially in the digital age. Filipino is not as lucky. We have only a number of Filipino publishers. Worse, our own people do not speak the language.
2. The Filipino Language is Our Identity.
Unfortunately, in my daughters’ generation, the speakers of Tagalog are decreasing in number. The ironic part is, Filipino kids who do not speak Filipino reside in the Philippines. This is why I am motivated to teach my daughter our beautiful language one step at a time. She is not as sharp in Filipino as she is in English, even if that’s the language we use at home. I am going with her pace in learning the language and I’m in faith that she will learn to love Filipino. To learn how you can teach Filipino to your child at her own pace, check out our e-books!
Denying our children the language of their native land is akin to denying them a big part of their identity. They will be disconnected to their community and family members who do not speak English.
3. The Filipino Language is Our Legacy.
When we teach our children our language, we teach them our past. If we won’t teach our language to our children, they will have gaps in her understanding of our stories. She will not share in the joy of being a Filipino. The saddest thing is when our kids grow up not caring for our legacy as Filipinos. They will not be able to pass it on to the next generation of our family.
Filipino is a beautiful language, along with the other 180+ languages in the Philippines.
Let us learn to love our own roots and help our children be proud that they are born Filipinos.