senseinoeru63

Writer's Block: Secret Ballot

2008-11-05T03:06:47Z

It's hard to ignore the fact that today is Election Day in the U.S. If you went to the polls today, tell us what it was like. Long line? Free stickers? Hanging chads? We want the details.

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Well I'm not American but people outside the USA are interested to know what's going to be the outcome of the US election this year. Like the USA, the Philippines, my country, adheres to democracy and Election Day is something we look forward to as Filipinos. During voting time, we queue in, wait for our turn, look for our names if it's in the list, vote, and go out of the polling precinct feeling proud that we have once again exercised our right to choose our leader. The Americans know who won the election after one day... The Filipinos know who won the election after a month or two depending on election protests. But no matter what, this is the beauty of democracy where people can air their protests and exert their efforts up to their very last drop of blood until they get what they want. So, long line? free stickers? hanging chads? These are okay so long as we live in a free country. Happy election Day, USA. We will have ours in 2010.

Writer's Block: Reality TV Your Way

2008-08-04T00:25:59Z

If I decide what reality show to make, it will be about meeting people through the net that will eventually end up in "eyeballing" - a term we have here in the Philippines for those who have met electronically and will have to meet live in person. Then, as soon as they meet, they will be engaged in a match-making type of thing a la bachelor/bachelorette.... and from there, the show ends up with the guy proposing to the girl... hahaha, this sounds ridiculous but worth watching I guess!

Writer's Block: My favorite memory

2008-03-18T14:35:19Z

What is one of your favorite memories?

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One of my favorite memories is being with my American friends. The Americans can be hilarious at one time and extremely serious the next. They are the most frank people I have ever met. I remember vividly one time when two of them including myself jogged one early monday morning. We jogged and we walked and jogged and went home afterwards. Then, in the room while resting, one of the two americans said talking to himself, "Geez, I think I stink. I gotta take a bath." The other American quickly answered, "Yeah man, I think you need to take a bath, honestly, your armpit smells badly." I was, "oohhh, that's mean." If that was a conversation between two Filipinos, they will definitely hurt each other with words and with fists. But I was surprised, not these Americans! The one whose armpit stinks only said, "Oh, really? Okay." then he went to the shower room and bathed. I thought, "hey that was uhm, ah, peaceful, hehehe."

From Keys Me to Ken Lee

2008-03-18T14:11:58Z

(Two Testimonies of Why We Should Not Push L2 Learners to Speak English to the Limit)

I f you click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leW9nn8ZCAM&feature=related at youtube, you will watch and listen to a song sung in one entertainment show in the Philippines. You have to listen intently to the performer’s version because she’s singing the song exactly with these lyrics:

Keys me, beat in the verdict valeey, nightlee

V-side the green green grass

Swing, swing, swing the spinny stef

You vur the shoez, and I will wear the dress, ohhh

Keys me, v-neat the miilke twalay

Leeep me, al-out the moonlit floor

Leaf your open hand, strike entebend

End make d parflays dance, sylvimousse is barkley

So keys me

Keys me, down by da flow can 3 how

Twin vee of funne hungee tay

Bring, bring, bring the flower head

Will take dachay make on your father’s melt

Ohhh, keys me v-neat d milke twalay

Tixt me al-out the moonlit floor

Leaf your open hand strike entebend

End make d parflays dance

Sylvimousse is barkley

So keys me

Now go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQt-h753jHI and this time watch and listen to another woman in her Bulgarian Idol audition. She said the title of the song is Ken Lee and the lyrics are as follows:

No one ken to ken to sivmen

Nor you clees toju maliveh

When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more

New yonooz tonigh molinigh

Yon sorra shoo, yes ee shooo, ooo

Ken leee

Tulibu dibu douchoo

Ken leee

Ken leee meju more

Did you understand the lyrics of the two songs? The first song (Keys Me) is courtesy of a Philippine sexy star named Alyssa Alano singing a Sixpence None the Richer hit Kiss Me. The second song (Ken Lee) is by a Bulgarian Idol hopeful Valentina Hasan as she sings her version of Without You by Mariah Carey.

Now what do we have here? It is very clear that the two singers’ first language is not English. Alyssa’s first language is Tagalog, the leading language in the Philippines. Her father is Australian but she has lived in the Philippines all her life. She speaks Tagalog at home, at school, and anywhere around the country. Meanwhile, Valentina’s first language is Bulgarian and obviously, she doesn’t know how to speak English. In the case of Alyssa, she understands English quite well but couldn’t speak the language fluently (as is the case of most Filipinos nowadays). In terms of accent, Alyssa has a thin accent, most of the times interchanging her f with p and v with b. Phonologically the Filipino language is abundant with b and p so the phonetic sounds v and f are alien to them. The same is true for s versus z where s is native to the Filipinos while z is alien. As for Valentina’s language which is Bulgarian, it is thick and most of the letters have diacritical marks thus making the sound of a certain letter unique from that of the English letters. The Bulgarian alphabet uses the Cyrillic like that being used in Russia and other Eastern Europe countries. While the Filipinos have 5 vowels like the English does, the Bulgarian language has six vowels. Every Bulgarian letter has an English equivalent sound (like most languages around the world) close enough to give you a clue as to its pronunciation. But you need to know how to read the phonetic transcription so that you can follow the way to say each letter correctly. The Bulgarian words are abundant with thick sounds of v, z, zh, etc.

I discussed a little about the languages of the two singers because I found out the same thing that happened to them: they became the laughing stock of their own people – Alyssa by the Filipinos and Valentina by the Bulgarians. Before we all laugh at the way they sang their songs, we have to remind ourselves about not being judgmental. But this is not the point. The point is that the two poor women’s fault is that they only relied on their ears to interpret the song and as they do, they also relied on their cultures. A country’s language is also part of its culture. We can’t blame Alyssa and Valentina because when they listened to the song, they were listening as Filipina and as Bulgarian. Definitely, they thought that they are hitting the right lyrics because perhaps they relied too much on the sounds of the English language being produced by the original singers (Sixpence None the richer for Alyssa and Mariah Carey for Valentina) who are certified English speakers.

So before we mock people for their shortcomings, let us remind ourselves that we all have different cultures and we cannot inject one’s culture to another one’s language. What if the English speakers sang a Filipino song or a Bulgarian song?

Below are the original lyrics of Mariah Carey and Sixpence None the Richer’s songs. I invite you to listen to Mariah and Sixpence and the way they “spoke the words of the song.” Then compare these with the way Alyssa and Valentina pronounced the words of the songs. What can you say?

I Can’t Live (If Living is Without You)

Popularized by Mariah Carey

No I can't forget this evening Or your face as you were leaving But I guess that's just the way The story goes You always smile but in your eyes Your sorrow shows Yes it shows

No I can't forget tomorrow When I think of all my sorrow When I had you there But then I let you go And now it's only fair That I should let you know What you should know

I can't live If living is without you I can't live I can't give anymore I can't live If living is without you I can't give I can't give anymore

Well I can't forget this evening Or your face as you were leaving But I guess that's just the way The story goes You always smile but in your eyes Your sorrow shows Yes it shows

I can't live If living is without you I can't live I can't give any more I can't live If living is without you I can't give I can't give anymore

Kiss Me

Popularized by Sixpence None the Richer

Kiss me out of the bearded barley
Nightly, beside the green, green grass
Swing, swing, swing the spinning step
You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress.

[Chorus:]
Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor
Lift your open hand
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance
Silver moon's sparkling
So kiss me

Kiss me down by the broken tree house
Swing me upon its hanging tire
Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat
We'll take the trail marked on your father's map

(Repeat Chorus)

Writer's Block: In this perfect world

2008-03-16T14:14:15Z

Do you mean utopia? A perfect world sounds good but it's too good to be true. I still believe that for as long as this world is being ruled by leaders who think only of their personal interests, we can never achieve such.

What is your idea of a perfect world? Why do you feel this way?

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Thoughts on Janina's English

2008-03-16T13:27:00Z

The scenario was the question and answer portion in the 2008 Binibining Pilipinas Beauty Pageant, the leading pageant for women in the Philippines. Miss Janina San Miguel of the University of the East, 17 years old and Candidate No. 15 was the next to answer the traditional Q&A. The question came from one of the foremost Philippine socialite, Vivian Tan.

Vivian said,

“Good evening, the question is, What role did your family play to you as candidate to Binibining Pilipinas?”

Janina San Miguel answered,

“Well, my family’s role for me is so important. Because, there was the… their… they was the one whose… very, [giggles], oh I’m so sorry, uhm, my pamily, my family, oh my God, I’m… [Paolo Bediones, the host, tells her to relax] okay… I’m so sorry… I, I told you that I’m so confident, eto, uhm, wait, [more giggles]… uhm, sorry guys because this was really my first pageant ever, because I’m only 17 years old, and, [another giggles]… I did not expect that I came from one of the taf ten… uhm… so… but I said dat my family is the most important persons in my life. Tenk you.” (Original transcription by this author)

Several minutes after, hosts Paolo Bediones and ex-beauty queen Charlene Gonzales – Muhlach announced the top five winners. And surprises of all surprises, Janina hit the top spot: Binibining Pilipinas – World 2008. She will represent the Philippines in the Miss World beauty pageant to be held in Ukraine sometime in November this year but to some Filipinos’ discontent and to most Filipinos’ taunts.

To people living in countries around the world, Janina’s answer is not a big issue. But as one politician puts it, the incoherent answer of this newly-crowned beauty queen is a reflection of the Filipino’s present level of English proficiency. The Philippines claims to have the best English speakers in Asia and thought of as one of the best in the world. In fact, our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) are hailed abroad primarily due to the fact that they can speak English well to their foreign employers who do not have much difficulty communicating with them.

Consequently, what happened that night will prove to be one of the most unforgettable bloopers of a Philippine beauty queen. Of course, Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez remains on top of the list but she always says, “Who cares, do not be judgmental. Let’s be compassionate.” Incidentally, my opinion is the same as that of Miss Marquez. Filipinos should not gauge a kababayan’s intelligence by the way he or she spoke English. True, if Janina was from Venezuela, Mexico, Japan, or from other countries whose first language is not English, her answer will not draw too much reactions from the public. But look at how the Philippines’ meticulousness in speaking English is taking a toll on the confidence of each and every Filipino. Why did the Filipinos not applaud the poor girl for at least trying to speak English before thousands of crowd that fateful night? Again, we can say here that the Filipinos have easily judged their kababayan. Instead of giving her their comforting words, they added more insult to Janina’s injury by sending her (in)famous answer to friends through text messages. How mean!

Sadly, it will take a long time before the Filipinos realize that English is just their second language and they don’t have to be that fluent in speaking this foreign language. Thus, they have to understand that committing mistakes in speaking English is not a gauge of a person’s intelligence. One’s English proficiency may be low but hey, this is English, not even a national language. It’s about time that the entire Filipinos learn the fact that English although a lingua franca of business, education and international communication, should not be forced to be learned traditionally the way Filipino teachers do it in Philippine schools. Rather, it must be reintroduced to the young generation in a friendlier manner where the students should not be put under pressure by asking them to speak fluently in English or if they don’t speak English, they will have to pay fines or they will have to get the ire of their teachers. Yes, this is the present scenario in the Philippine schools. This is exactly the reason why the confidence of the students to speak English has nosedived. Who wants to pay fines if one doesn’t have baon (money) in the first place? Who wants to get the ire of one’s teacher? Surely, all students want to impress them. So, what happens is, they rather keep quiet and not speak. As the old adage puts it, “Less talk, less mistake.” Psychologically, however, these punishments have an adverse effect on the Filipino students. Hence, the result is when the poor students speak English they will resort to mentally translate their answers from Filipino to English just to make sure that they are speaking English correctly. But sadly, the mental translation produces a bad effect on the speaker. Why? Because the grammar structure in English is not the same as the structure of another language, in this instance the Filipino language.

Obviously, this is what happened to Janina that night. Her mind was panicky and she was grasping for words to say. Also, she was under great pressure to impress the judges and the crowd by speaking English. On one hand, she failed to win the crowd’s heart. But on the other hand, she was able to capture the compassionate hearts of the judges. Personally, I hail the judges’ decision to just forget about Janina’s English and give her what she rightfully deserves. Indeed that night, the judges might have sent a quiet message to the Filipinos: it’s not just how one speaks English; it’s also about how one courageously faces a situation under pressure.

So my dear Filipinos, stop dreaming about English fluency. That can never happen unless you and your family circle speak English, and all your friends and the people in your community are speaking English as well. But in case you want to speak English correctly and proficiently, give your full heart and mind to learning how to speak this international lingua franca. Then perhaps, you will be able to learn. But don’t expect your English to be perfect, because it will never happen.