English: The Lingua FRanca of the World
English: The Lingua Franca of the World
I’ve heard it once before but I was too young then to understand and sound the alarm. Now that I’m older and able to understand, I’m clanging the alarm bells as loud as I can: treat as if he has the plague any one who belittles English, especially one who claims it’s foolish to aim for proficiency in it.
I remember in my youth the tempest created by those who actually tried to remove English from our schools, claiming our being Filipinos demand no less than the use of Pilipino in every aspect of our lives. That’s how “salumpuwit” and “salongsoso” came to be used in favor of the more familiar “chair” and “bra.” (Imagine what these people could have come up to replace “men’s briefs.”) I recall my attempts to hide my contempt at what seemed to me like demented attempts to create something ex nihilo. Not since God created something out of nothing has the feat been attempted. Why the “nationalists” of my youth apparently believed they could escapes me. I mean, why ram Pilipino down Filipinos’ throats when the language isn’t even palatable to three-fourths of the population? Conversely, why banish a perfectly sound language as English just to promote a deficient national language?
Alas, the whole world was turning red then, the so-called wars of liberation were raging everywhere. In our country at that time, “nationalist” was in, “foreign” was out. The crazies won, English was banished from our schools.
Friends, we are right now witnesses to the folly of those “nationalist” mountebanks. Those who are still alive today probably want to slit their throats in remorse, as they scan the horizon and see nothing but the anguish of their victims. True, many Filipinos still believe their English is superior to that of other non-native English speakers, but that’s wistful thinking. The truth is, our English sucks.
Our spoken and written English remains at the level of a sixth grader. We should be doing all we can to check the decline, not falling over ourselves trying to throw it overboard. To claim that we should ditch English in favor of Mandarin simply because more than half the world’s population speak Chinese is irresponsible. Don’t get me wrong—Mandarin will probably become another global commercial language. I believe that Mandarin, simply because of the hseer number of people speaking it, will ultimately become another lingua franca of the world. Already, futurists see the ascendance of Mandarin. In fact, Cambridge recently started offering British students a Mandarin course in anticipation of such development.
But (and that’s a big but) not in another fifty years, and by no means will it mean the death of English. No, not by any means.
It’s likewise foolish to point out the economic hegemony in Asia of the Chinese and the Japanese, both lousy English speakers, as if it’s their being non-English speakers that’s the cause of their economic success. Come on, now, let’s be serious. In fact, all one needs to do is to look up “teaching English in China, Japan, and Korea” to be completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of schools in these countries offering English courses. And look at the Koreans- they’re coming in in great numbers just to learn English. Don’t these two tell us something? If English is not important, why would there be so many English schools in China, Japan, and Korea, and why would the Koreans bother to come over?
Finally, ask the thousands who--despite the almost P10,000.00 fee (not to mention the P5,500.00 review) -- take the IELTS test. If a band 9 score will not instantly open erstwhile closed corporate doors in Europe, Australia, Japan, the USA and elsewhere, why do you think would these young men and women bother?
English is here to stay. The sooner we try to get up steam and regain the English proficiency that we have lost, the better it will be for us.
I’ve heard it once before but I was too young then to understand and sound the alarm. Now that I’m older and able to understand, I’m clanging the alarm bells as loud as I can: treat as if he has the plague any one who belittles English, especially one who claims it’s foolish to aim for proficiency in it.
I remember in my youth the tempest created by those who actually tried to remove English from our schools, claiming our being Filipinos demand no less than the use of Pilipino in every aspect of our lives. That’s how “salumpuwit” and “salongsoso” came to be used in favor of the more familiar “chair” and “bra.” (Imagine what these people could have come up to replace “men’s briefs.”) I recall my attempts to hide my contempt at what seemed to me like demented attempts to create something ex nihilo. Not since God created something out of nothing has the feat been attempted. Why the “nationalists” of my youth apparently believed they could escapes me. I mean, why ram Pilipino down Filipinos’ throats when the language isn’t even palatable to three-fourths of the population? Conversely, why banish a perfectly sound language as English just to promote a deficient national language?
Alas, the whole world was turning red then, the so-called wars of liberation were raging everywhere. In our country at that time, “nationalist” was in, “foreign” was out. The crazies won, English was banished from our schools.
Friends, we are right now witnesses to the folly of those “nationalist” mountebanks. Those who are still alive today probably want to slit their throats in remorse, as they scan the horizon and see nothing but the anguish of their victims. True, many Filipinos still believe their English is superior to that of other non-native English speakers, but that’s wistful thinking. The truth is, our English sucks.
Our spoken and written English remains at the level of a sixth grader. We should be doing all we can to check the decline, not falling over ourselves trying to throw it overboard. To claim that we should ditch English in favor of Mandarin simply because more than half the world’s population speak Chinese is irresponsible. Don’t get me wrong—Mandarin will probably become another global commercial language. I believe that Mandarin, simply because of the hseer number of people speaking it, will ultimately become another lingua franca of the world. Already, futurists see the ascendance of Mandarin. In fact, Cambridge recently started offering British students a Mandarin course in anticipation of such development.
But (and that’s a big but) not in another fifty years, and by no means will it mean the death of English. No, not by any means.
It’s likewise foolish to point out the economic hegemony in Asia of the Chinese and the Japanese, both lousy English speakers, as if it’s their being non-English speakers that’s the cause of their economic success. Come on, now, let’s be serious. In fact, all one needs to do is to look up “teaching English in China, Japan, and Korea” to be completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of schools in these countries offering English courses. And look at the Koreans- they’re coming in in great numbers just to learn English. Don’t these two tell us something? If English is not important, why would there be so many English schools in China, Japan, and Korea, and why would the Koreans bother to come over?
Finally, ask the thousands who--despite the almost P10,000.00 fee (not to mention the P5,500.00 review) -- take the IELTS test. If a band 9 score will not instantly open erstwhile closed corporate doors in Europe, Australia, Japan, the USA and elsewhere, why do you think would these young men and women bother?
English is here to stay. The sooner we try to get up steam and regain the English proficiency that we have lost, the better it will be for us.
posted by Abraham V. Llera at 12:14 AM
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