Philippine English

[Jake]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_English Hey guys, The link above may give you some guide lines when conversing with a Filipino in English.For example, the words: already, bold, blowout, drive-in and holdupper.....etc, etc havetotally different meanings coming from a Filipino. So study the definitions -- test tomorrow.....he, he.

[Bruce]

I have trouble with 'if ever' and 'reaction'. To me, 'if ever' means not a good chance of it happening. To my woman friend, it simply means....... when. And 'reaction' to me as a nurse is a bad thing..... but to her, it means the medicine is working. And lets not forget our old friend 'avail', which is rarely used in English but is used quite often by Enlglish speaking Pinoys. Or 'scheme' which in English means dishonest or illegal method. But is used daily as a substitute for the word 'plan' as in Financing Plan A.

[Old55]

I'm not saying anything. :as-if:Nope.....Just quietly sitting here keeping my mouth shut. :lol:

[Art2ro]

I'm a Fil/Am and I don't have any problems speaking or understanding Philippine English!I just don't know the other Filipino dialects spoken except for Tagalog or Taglish, the basic language spoken in the Philippines! :hystery: :lol:

Edited September 19, 2011 by Art2ro

[JJReyes]

I came across two Philippine English examples at a Metro Manila Mercury Drugstore during my most recent trip. The clerk did not know, "nail clippers." The local term is, "nail cutter." A request for, "band aid" resulted in a flurry of consultation with other clerks and supervisors. They finally realized I needed, "plastic strips." Aloha - JJR

[Bundy]

For me, it's more so the accent which gets me into trouble. It's ok for you yanks coz your english sounds just like Filipino english but for us Aussies, geez we gotta be extra careful. Being from country Australia, we often talk in ways which can be highly insulting to anyone else but another Aussie so i always find that within days of arriving there i have to start doing my best to speak very slowly and clearly, otherwise i can't even accomplish a simple thing like ordering my Jollibee. As for specific words which can have different meanings there are many and especially when trying to order food, if i get a bemused look and a reply "sorry sir, no stock" then i know it's time to let the missus do all the talking. Tried ordering a light coke once for the wife and the response was " sorry sir we only have coke light " :thumbsup:

[Steve & Myrlita]

2 different things are against you. 1 is Filipinos use only 5 vowels where we use 10 (5 long, 5 short). They use only the 5 short so their pronunciations are different. 2nd thing is that Filipinos were educated by strict memorization and not analytical as we learned. Their brains can't analyze the difference so they revert to the "No Stock Sir" to save face. Last year when I taught college, I spent two whole days teaching the kids how to analyze things. Did it help them? Can't tell yet. Hard to overcome a lifetime cultural teaching.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Steve & Myrlita

[JJReyes]

2nd thing is that Filipinos were educated by strict memorization and not analytical as we learned. Their brains can't analyze the difference so they revert to the "No Stock Sir" to save face. Last year when I taught college, I spent two whole days teaching the kids how to analyze things. Did it help them? Can't tell yet. Hard to overcome a lifetime cultural teaching. Not quite accurate. Knowledge (memorization) learning is taught by public schools, but most private schools in the Philippines subscribe to inquiry (discovery or analytic) learning. Surprisingly, some American public school districts are now switching from inquiry to knowledge. One reason is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the annual testing requirements by the federal government. While I personally think the inquiry method is superior, there are many educators who believe that the knowledge method is necessary to achieve universal education for the masses. The debate goes on. Some of it is pretty racists. Aloha - JJR

[ekimswish]

2nd thing is that Filipinos were educated by strict memorization and not analytical as we learned. Their brains can't analyze the difference so they revert to the "No Stock Sir" to save face. Last year when I taught college, I spent two whole days teaching the kids how to analyze things. Did it help them? Can't tell yet. Hard to overcome a lifetime cultural teaching. Not quite accurate. Knowledge (memorization) learning is taught by public schools, but most private schools in the Philippines subscribe to inquiry (discovery or analytic) learning. Surprisingly, some American public school districts are now switching from inquiry to knowledge. One reason is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the annual testing requirements by the federal government. While I personally think the inquiry method is superior, there are many educators who believe that the knowledge method is necessary to achieve universal education for the masses. The debate goes on. Some of it is pretty racists. Aloha - JJR

I've taught in Korea and Taiwan the last seven years, and it's definitely memory based, but that doesn't mean they can't analyze things. That's definitely the stereotype, and they even promote it, but I think it's human nature to inquire of things. What really promotes inquisitive thinking is poverty in the Philippines, where they have to invent ways to go about tricky situations where us with money would just buy an appliance or a new part. When you can't pay someone else to do it for you, the last thing you can afford is not to figure it out, whatever "it" is. That all said, I grew up in five different neighborhoods of the same Canadian city, all ranging from different income and cultural backgrounds (wealthy, middle class, white trash, indian "ghetto", and mixed white/indian, neighborhoods as well as secular and Catholic schools). At some schools, learning was a priority. At others, it was a stigma. Edited September 30, 2011 by ekimswish

[Bruce]

I think that all education must combine both formats. Inquiry does not help if asked what year was the war of 1812? Or what year was the 1812 overture written? (hint" It warn't 1812) Math tables (2x2=?) are also memory. So students need to do their memory based learning, just to learn the skills needed to work in society and the inquiry format is icing on the cake that means the difference between eating rice and bangus vs. rice and steak every day (gotta have that rice.....or so I have been told)