Why Many Filipinos Are Losing Their Edge In English Proficiency

This isn't surprising. While I usually take stuff from the local news networks such as ABiaS-CBN and GMA-7 with a grain of salt -- this one should be a real eye opener. GMA News had just revealed it yesterday that English proficiency isn't as good as it used to be. More and more Filipinos are indeed losing their English proficiency -- it should be very alarming, right?

The problem has to be the over-emphasis of Filipino thanks to Tagalog imperialism. The problem has become how one's proficiency in Tagalog has been overemphasized in contrast to one's proficiency in Mathematics, any field of science, foreign languages that's widely used (such as Mandarin and Nihonggo) -- should the intellectual greatness of a Filipino be measured by the ability to speak Tagalog? I would say no because you can't use Tagalog when you apply for better paying jobs abroad, to entertain foreigners and while the language itself is part of the Filipino identity -- you need to ask on how helpful is Tagalog proficiency in contrast to proficiency in other subjects?

I remembered my life as a troubled teenager where there was this article about pseudo-nationalists. They are fighting the use of English with statements like, "We're not in Britain and America." There was also this overemphasis of Tagalog where parents complain that the Filipino subject had become too hard. I remembered how I hated to study Filipino and desired to move to the U.S. so I didn't have to study said subject. I also nearly flunked first year high school and hated my elementary years because of the Filipino subject and some more people I knew nearly flunk because of well... FILIPINO! We could understand if the subject that was holding them back was either Mathematics, Physics or Chemistry because these are difficult but vital courses. Filipino? Why are we too focused on Filipino? Sure, learning Tagalog is part of ethnic identity but we shouldn't let learning it become a reason why we're not seeking to improve our English. 

I have noticed that there's even the problem where you even have Filipinos who even swear and cuss on FOREIGN WEBSITES in Tagalog or other Filipino languages? I remembered how the death of the three drug mules in China caused quite an outbreak. Some even cussed at the Chinese speaking in Tagalog. Why don't they cuss in Mandarin or English? At least the Chinese can understand Mandarin or some limited English! But Tagalog? The only Chinese that can understand Tagalog are usually either Filipino-Chinese (who are still considered Filipinos) or Chinese citizens who have long immersed with the Philippines. But they were cussing at CHINA which makes it all the more pointless. Then some of them may consider the Chinese "inferior" for not understanding Tagalog -- hmmm how would they like it if Chinese called them stupid for not understanding Mandarin or Cantonese?

There's also the other problem of dubbing everything in TAGALOG. Sure, I can understand if foreign shows that aren't in English are getting dubbed because they are NOT in English. But why are we dubbing English shows into Tagalog when the Philippines is an English-speaking country? Is it because we want to overemphasize again on Imperial Tagalog (which the Tagalistas may call as the language of nationalists) while saying English is the language of imperialists? This is really that annoying such as when I remembered why I even stopped watching ABiaS-CBN's broadcast of foreign shows -- the bad Tagalog dubbing! Worse, even movies that are in English are now in Tagalog. The result has been that more and more Filipinos (especially among the lower income ones) are struggling to speak better English. Sure, learning Tagalog isn't bad and having your own dialect isn't bad -- it's just that too much Tagalog (and NOT Tagalog) itself is a cause of deterioration of English proficiency.

That song "Ako'y Isang Pinoy" (I'm A Filipino) should be banned from schools because it's discouraging Filipinos from learning foreign languages that could help them. Why even mention Jose Rizal when that guy mastered several languages plus that guy was a Filipino of Chinese descent? The song itself is really encouraging the Tagalista stupidity. So what if Filipinos are fluent in Tagalog? That can't help overseas Filipinos either get a job. It would also reduce the Philippines' edge in teaching non-English speaking Asians how to speak proper English such as Koreans, Chinese and Japanese if more Filipinos lose their English fluency. Koreans, Chinese and Japanese come to the Philippines to learn English and so who's going to teach them if there are very few Filipinos now who can teach them? Just talk about how much opportunity costs have arisen because that stupid song is continuously sang at schools. 

Here's some simple ideas that I propose should be done as a countermeasure to the decline in English. The Filipino subject should be removed from College because it's already in middle school and high school. Shows that are in English should be shown in English -- maybe even better to dub as many foreign shows in English to help in English proficiency. While speaking English should be restricted in non-English speaking classes (ex. Filipino and Chinese classes) but it should be heavily encouraged to help strengthen one's English proficiency. It's all about making sure Filipinos can speak the basic English properly even if they don't become all so fluent at it!