I've been listening to too many Pinoys twanging away and I have to say, PUWEDE BA, TAMA NA!!! It's BANGOONGOT not bangieungiuot. The surname GO is pronounced GO-h--short "o"--sorry hindi ako marunong maglagay ng tamang, er, accent. It's not "gow" as in punta. Ok, so it serves me right for tuning in to that blog, but the Gorrell blog is a phenomenon that says so much about Philippine society today that you cannot ignore it, even if you don't agree with it. But that's another entry. Right now, I'm griping about the ameriken ahksen. Hay, sorry but I can't stand the pretension. Hindi naman tayo Amerikano. Ok lang if you grew up there or even lived there for decades, but I don't see any other reason for anyone to twang. Speak! Speak the way you learned to. You can speak English the Filipino way. I love hearing Pinoy English spoken properly. It has its own distinctive quality. All this twanging says so much about us as a people. On the one hand we rail at people's pretentiousness, all the while twanging as if that were our native tongue. Newsreaders love to twang. FM radio broadcasters love to twang. Basta English na ang language, TWANNNGGGGG! Why? When people hear my children speak Tagalog (and not just everyday Tagalog at that), they think it's such a cute thing. It is cute but I think it's cute only because it has become such a novelty, when it is so important for every Filipino child to speak his language well. Just a few months ago, I giggled when I observed my son looking wistfully into the distance. He was there for a while before he noticed me watching him. Comic that he is, he shook his head, smiled and said, "Nalingat ako." Now that's charming. Wersh, wersh? Not. Speaking with an affected and forced twang does not make you come across as being or having "more". Some people are so busy twanging that they can't get their thoughts across because sustaining the twang already takes too much effort. Anything that is unnatural does. What's the point of affecting a twang when you cannot really communicate because every ounce of you is focused on keeping the twang away from the giant slide? If you did not grow up or live abroad and are speaking with a foreign accent, it only says you are totally without identity. Or, worse, that the identity has become commodified. Now that is scary. That means the imminent death of your authentic self and your chance at an authentic, well-lived life. Is that twanging worth all that?
5 comments:
When I met Nico, he was with a Fil-Am cousin studying in Baguio and boy, was he twanging away (and quite well at that).
Like you, I like Filipino English spoken 'properly' (something between the long As of the Americans and the Ahs of the Brits), so I asked him, "Why do you speak that way?"
When he realized that some folks like me actually find it un-'cool' he immediately stopped. So thanks for this post -- letting folks know that it is so inauthentic.
With the Philippines relying on call centers for jobs for our graduates, I see ads in the major dailies actually offering courses on learning the American accent!
When our countrymen answer complaints from irate American customers, they are actually told, "I want to speak to a REAL American!" Could it be that, for Americans, the twang is a sign of higher intelligence.
How intelligent is that?
Hi Panjee! I meant to email you to --what??--express my admiration??--certainly not congratulations (or condolences! ha!) bec if you have principles, what is there for me to congratulate you for??--on your resignation from the Star.
BUT me being low tech, I deleted your link. But Im glad I got this from someone else.
Growing up Chinese in the Philippines, we had to learn both languages plus English plus if you lived outside Manila, I guess the dialect.
We had to learn Chinese for the simple reason that we ARE CHINESE!! Forty years ago, you couldnt even pay people to learn Chinese, let alone go to Beijing or Taiwan which was a punishment for bulok Chinese students. And there were MANY! Now everyone wants in.
Regardless of where they live, I think it is imperative for a child to learn BOTH the languages of his parents whether it was Spanish or Swahili. AND the language of the country you live in.
At yung mag pa- French French, sosyal, alta sociedad, ek ek chuvalu.. sa totoo lang Froglais is a dying language which will probably go the way of Latin and when you go to a US Post Office or EU hotel, you're gonna have to be able to speak Tagalog so you can buy nice stamps and get extra chocolate! Ayan!
(I can say that bec I also live in France which is a THIRD WORLD country like Spain!)
Ok---spanish we still need bec there is still a big Latin American economy.
Yan lang pow...
Hi Lisa and Kitty,
Thanks for the comments. They make me feel like a legitimate blogger. Tee hee.
Tama, kung Chinese ka, e di may Chinese ka. Kung Pilipino ka, mag Tagalog ka. And if you speak English pa, gow---este--go! But make it your own English!
Thanks again for dropping by!
Panj
How you say it is more important than what you say, eh?
Or is authenticity the other way around?
great great great...
Post a Comment