While riding a jeepney, two mothers beside me started to discuss about a topic that I completely have some gripes on – teaching their kids English.

Mother A is very passionate telling stories about her kid that she speaks English with. That the language they use conversing in there house is all English. She even boasts that her kid sometimes has difficulty understanding Tagalog words.

Mother B on the other hand is in awe with mother A’s stories. You can see her looks kind of shy about her side because it’s not as fancy as what mother A story is. At their household, they speak Tagalog. So she teaches her kid how to speak and converse in that dialect. She says that they are teaching her “po” and “opo”. “Minsan pinapagalitan ko at sinasaway sa salitang naiintidihan niya…minsan may  konting English din naman pero tagalog pa rin kami.”, mother B continues.

I have nothing against English. Hey, I am writing in English right? But what I don’t understand is why parents nowadays are teaching their kids, at a young age, to speak, write, and think only in English. Feeling ba nila nasa Estados Unidos sila nakatira at ‘yun na ang tinuturo sa kanilang mga anak? O kaya ang makakakasalamuha ng mga anak nila mga kano lang o kaya hindi mga pinoy. O baka naman nakikita na nila na magiging isang call center agent ang anak nila kaya ngayon pa lang tini-train na nila.

There is nothing wrong teaching kids English. But we should first need to teach them their native language. Other language should just be as a  second tongue.

Again, there is nothing wrong conversing or talking in English. That’s our edge as Filipinos compared to other nation. It enables us to be known in the international community because we speak the universal language. We can converse with such good diction and pronunciation that sometimes when we are talking on the phone we are sometimes thought of Americans or Englishman. However, do we need to forget to teach our kids about our native dialect and just let them learn other language as early as they are able to speak?

What I believe, as a parent, is that kids can easily learn things such as tamang pa-uugali, respeto sa nakakatanda at sa kapwa and many other things that would define them as a good person in life if you teach them in your local dialect as this is what they see you speak and all other people initially around them. Matututo din ‘yan ng English kapag lumalaki na at nag-aaral na sa skwelahan.

When you ask two kids about something and both will respond to you differently, which one is most likely will let you think that shows good qualities? A kid that says – “Yes, that’s right!”. Or a kid that says – “Opo, tama po ‘yan!”. I’d say the latter.

To each is their own as to what they want their child to learn or speak. But my point is, we should not forget what our nationality is. We are not americans, not latinos, not italians. We are Filipinos. We have our own language, culture, and personality so live by it. And having the knowledge and skills with another dialect is just a plus. Huwag mo isipin na porket nag-iingles ka eh sosyal ka na at mataas na pinag-aralan mo. O kaya naman may kaya na kayo sa buhay. Huwag maging feeling. Kung pinoy kausap mo magsalita ka ng salitang pinoy.

This is just my own opinion so walang dapat masaktan. Iiwanan ko na lang kayo ng konting quotes.

“Ang hindi marunong magmahal sa sariling wika ay higit pa sa mabahong (bilasang) isda” – Jose Rizal

“How well a person can fluently converse in English should not be a basis of one’s intelect” – MgaEpal.com