From English Growth — and Backlash — in Korea:
English education is big business in South Korea. The nation spends over $3 billion a year on various forms, ranging from rudimentary language school courses to Ph.D. programs. South Korea, despite having a population a third the size of Japan’s, spends more than three times as much money as Japan does on English education.
I’m a Filipino and for many years English has almost replaced the lengua franca of my nation. A big portion of our lives is spent studying English. It’s the primary language used in schools. It is also one of the advantages that Filipinos have over other Asians.
However, such glorification of a foreign language has overshadowed the beauty of the national language, Filipino and the native dialects. Many of my fellow Filipinos mimic even the street slang used by Blacks and Hispanics in America. The westernization of our culture has gone beyond language use and into our lifestyle choices.
We tend to dress and act like Americans. We are changing our bodies so we can look fairer and have more Caucasoid features.
And like the South Koreans, Filipinos look at English as a measuring stick of intelligence and level of education. It is the language of the rich and the intellectuals. Thus English is a symbol of privilege, power and beauty.
The unwashed masses are not so blessed as to use English in communicating their protests and suffering. And so the social activists tend to use Filipino, particularly Tagalog, to express their disgust at society’s ills.
View Claire Bretana's profile
Oh man i couldnt agree with you more! dito sa america mga filipino na kinakausap ko ng tagalog english ng english ang sagot, lalu na mga uneducated filipino english ng english grabe!
Hindi alam ng mga pinoy sa pinas na karamihan ng mga kano dito bulok mag english, mali mali grammar. hehe.. oh well.. what can we do, but educate. Mga educated naman nde trying hard mag english
That is so true, Rommel. When I was working as a call center agent I had some difficulty pretending to be an American because I speak perfect unaccented English. That is so unrealistic!
Americans had a hard time guessing what State I came from, or from which region. Am I from the North? The East? Obviously I’m not Southern. Soon enough they’d realize I’m neither American nor someone calling from the States. And it makes many of them uncomfortable. Added with the fact that I’m a telemarketer, it makes me a vulnerable target for discriminatory insults and the most vitriolic invectives they could think of.
When I look back I am somewhat amazed at the creative use of English when the aim is to cause someone emotional pain. It’s plain abuse. Not of me, but of a language many use but do not appreciate as much as it should be.