English speaking KIDS

[twelvth_goddess]

My 8yo's first language is English but she is also conversational in Tagalog. When people speak to her in Filipino, ganon din sya sasagot, same with English. Pinaka ayoko ng Taglish especially because the school where she goes to has been quite infamous for Taglish. Also, kahit nung mas bata pa sya, cino correct naming lage grammar and and pronunciation mapa English or Tagalog pa yan and we make her repeat it for retention.

[madame_ekis]

My friend who's a teacher at an international school told me that most parents no longer consider teaching their kids Filipino.  The thing is, most people in Manila think na teaching Filipino or any local language to their kids is useless.  Most think that speaking in English makes them more intelligent, ahead, and "sosyal".  This is very sad.
The problem here is once these kids start going to school they are struggling with Filipino subjects. 
Since Filipino grammar is very different from English grammar and structure they just can't cope up.
It would have been a great advantage if these kids were taught Filipino first then English (Filipino spoken at home while English is thought at school) since kids are like sponges especially during their early years. 

Recalling my experience as a kid (and as per Mom), we were exposed to Tagalog nursery Rhymes, and Tagalog books on top of the entire family speaking mostly Tagalog so by the time I was 9-10 months old I was singing Bahay Kubo and speaking in Tagalog, I was practically a chatter box then.   English followed when I went to school.

I guess if you really want your kids to have English fluency on top of Tagalog look for schools that really teach and practice good English.

[Len0523]

My take is, kahit ako hindi pa rin ako fluent sa english to think na working na ako for a longtime.

[swtgrl_bee]

Grabe naloka naman ako sis madame_ekis doon sa part na "sosyal"  Pero kung talagang ang plano ng parents ay i-enrol ang kid sa traditional school dapat talagang turuan ng Filipino. Sa class ng anak ko meron nag-iiyak kasi instructions palang hindi na niya mabasa. Kawawa naman ang bata. Sa daily conversation with other people kasi magagaling na talaga mag English ang mga tao. Mabibilib ka nga kapag manood ka sa CNN, all walks of life marunong talaga mag English dito sa Pinas compare sa ibang Asian countries.

[madame_ekis]

Grabe naloka naman ako sis madame_ekis doon sa part na "sosyal"  Pero kung talagang ang plano ng parents ay i-enrol ang kid sa traditional school dapat talagang turuan ng Filipino. Sa class ng anak ko meron nag-iiyak kasi instructions palang hindi na niya mabasa. Kawawa naman ang bata. Sa daily conversation with other people kasi magagaling na talaga mag English ang mga tao. Mabibilib ka nga kapag manood ka sa CNN, all walks of life marunong talaga mag English dito sa Pinas compare sa ibang Asian countries.

Yep sis its true kahit na shocking. 
Leaving mostly abroad, maapreciate mo talaga ang advantage natin sa English pero hopefully we don't also forget our heritage.  We are still Filipinos and should speak our language.  Most especially if you live in the Philippines.  Nakkahiya naman kung doon ka nakatira at lumaki tapos di mo alam yung local language.   Just take the French for example they love their language they prefer it than English.   

[twelvth_goddess]

Yup it's true. May mga ganon talaga. The funny thing is, it doesn't matter if the child grows up speaking in English kung mali mali naman grammar and pronunciation. Siguro atupagin din ng magulang na I-tama or aralin ang tama kesa puro pasosyal ang unahin. Kahit naman sa Filipino, we also make sure na tama.

[kaythrielle]

Masarap pakinggan ang salitang Tagalog. Makathain ang tunog, Ngunit subalit datapwat malabong mangyari ang ganitong adhikain. Maaaring hindi na ito nakasanayan ng mga kabataan sa ngayon. Moderno na masyado at ang hirap ah my goodness mas madaling mag-english hehe

On topic: Kids are like sponges. They?ll be able to pick up any language as long as they hear it all the time. Exposure is the key.

English naging first language ng mga anak ko because they grew up in foreign countries. But since they hear their parents speak Tagalog, ayun natututo na rin sila. They are able to understand the language and speak a little Tagalog. Before, they can understand and speak Mandarin. But now they are not exposed to the language; they are still able to recognize a few characters and words though. Now they know how to speak French because they are learning it in school.

So if you?re living in the Philippines, don?t limit your kids to just English language. It is good that they know how to speak english, but even better if they also know how to speak Tagalog.

[rics]

Isn't it better if kids are bilingual?
We took great effort to teach our kid the Filipino language and so far he has learned to use it well. May konting twang but very comfortable siya using Filipino when conversing with other Pinoys.

Once, we met a (sosyal) Pinoy family in a resort in the South, the kids were all English speaking, however, mali mali ang grammar and pronunciation. The way they fake the accent is cringey.

[FayeP]

sa totoo lang di ako impressed pag may batang English speaking, tapos sablay sa Filipino at pag tinanong mo mahina comprehesion...madami kasi maski dito sa office, magagaling magsalita ng English (I'm working for a BPO) pero sabaw...

mas important sa kin na turuan ng tamang pagsasalita ng Filipino ang mga anak ko kasi pakiramdam ko, good grasp of your own language is the foundation para mas matutunan mo ang ibang bagay, like pagsasalita fluently (and with sense) ng English at iba pang aralin...

kaso sa panahon ngayon di maiiwasan, mas natuto mag English ang mga anak ko sa kakanood ng TV at videos...In fairness to my kids, may P and F, B at V, saka SH at TH ang mga dila nila, di sila bulol...yun nga lang ang mga tanong nila ngayon is "ano tagalog ng ___" instead of "ano English ng____" kasi mas nasanay sila sa English...at yung panganay ko who's 7yrs old, mas mabilis siya at naiintindihan nya ng matino yun English books kesa sa Filipino books....

[Len0523]

Mas OK na rin marunong sa English, marunong din sa tagalog.

[FayeP]

sis Len, yun ang ideal goal, pero bilang mga bata parang sa isang language pa lang nila kaya magfocus...my 2nd son is in daycare sa baranggay, so madalas ini-english nya mga kaklase nya...di siya gano naiintindihan kaya kako wag siya mag english sa school unless english tinuturo ni teacher...

[Len0523]

Regardless na lang. Ako kase aminado ako nag encouraged ako sa anak ko rin kahit paano na matuto mag english kase sa school lahat naman halos sila english speaking, all books naman english instruction so kung tagalog lang mahihirapan ang bata sa comprehension.
Yung intention ko is not about being "sosyal" pag nag english. More of maging conversational. Di ko maintindihan bakit pag tinuruan ang bata mag english ang bashing agad is "pasosyal". Sana hindi ganun. At the end of the day, gusto lang natin yung best para sa mga kids natin.

[rics]

The idea about teaching kids to learn to speak and understand the English language is advantageous, however, leaning the English language should be side by side with learning the vernacular as well.

Case in point, we live abroad in a community with a predominant population of Chinese and a small mix of other nationalities in between. Majority of the kids in my kid's school, speak their parent's/grandparent native tongue. I know since I bring my kid to school most days and I hear these kids talk to their parents/grandparents.  My Chinese neighbor's kids are fluent in Cantonese (the dad somehow told us in a chit-chat that their family was originally from HK so I thought they were speaking Cantonese although that could be Mandarin also), but my point is, a lot of the young kids born here were thought how to speak their mother /fathers tongue. So I kinda ask myself, bakit itong ibang nationalities like Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, etc. mga anak nila marunong magsalita ng wika nila pero pero pag mga pinoy na bata dito bihira lang ang ganito. Another example, I had an Egyptian co-worker, she brings her kid to work sometimes, when the kid talks to her mother, its their native language, tapos pag kami nagtanong, agad switch to English. Another co-worker, came here when when she was very young, she still speaks Bahasa, another co-worker with the same background in Farsi.

We just attended an all Filipino youth basketball league, mga bata doon, majority yata English speaking. Even my kids teammates wala nag tatagalog, kami lang ng anak ko nag uusap ng Tagalog. I don't know, it could be a cultural thing also.

[[-c-h-a-]]

^Exactly what I've been telling my husband! How is it possible na other nationalities can do that but not Filipinos? My sister in law is Vietnamese, she migrated here when she's younger like my brother in law (my husband's youngest brother). She's so fluent while my brother in law cannot speak Filipino. He blames his parents, and he's quite vocal about it too! Bakit daw di sya kinausap ng Tagalog and lagi lang sya iniingles. Tawa lang in laws ko.

My daughter's classmates (Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Greek, Italian) are also ALL fluent in their native tongue and they were all born here in Australia.

Meanwhile, I attend Filipino parties and I see kids running around, English lang daw alam. Huh?? Even more confusing, they migrated here 2-3 years ago. Adults as well, pansin ko pag kausap daughter namin, instantly from speaking Filipino, nagiging English?? "Hi baby, did you eat na?" Bakit parang may switch sa utak ng mga Pinoy na pag bata kausap, English na? Haha even my own brother does it. It's so weird! I call people out when they start talking to her in English. I just go "Tagalog..." gently naman not sternly.

We're visiting Manila for the holiday season and I'm sure this will continue. Our daughter is super galing mag Tagalog talaga and proud ako kasi ang hirap nya. It's really a conscious effort for my husband, especially, to only talk to her in Filipino.

[snikity]

Agree ako diyan^^^

Hindi na nga marunong ng proper Filipino, hindi rin marunong ng proper English.

Kung Pilipino, mag salita ng Filipino, ang English, madali nang matutunan. Unahin ang sariling wika.

[xtine]

I have lived here in SG for many years and also worked in the US for few months.  I really don't appreciate pinoy kids who speak in English because they are filipinos.  They are bound to learn english in school, tv and internet like we did.  Nowadays, kids does not know what taghiyawat means and i cringe.  I love hearing filipino kids, especially those who are based abroad speaking tagalog with its pure accent.  But they can also converse in English because of their school.  For me, its not sosyal.  Let's appreciate our own language as we are very lucky to have one.

[exquisitegem]

We are talking to our daughter using Filipino, Ilocano and English. Buong sentence din namin kinakausap hindi taglish, ilocanotagalog. Sabi nila parang sponge yung brain nila kaya they will be able to grasp at early age. Gusto ko maintindihan nya at matatas sya magsalita para pag nagbakasyon kami sa Ilocos, makakapagsalita sya ng Ilocano.

[swtgrl_bee]

^Ay ang galing naman matatas din siya mag Ilocano.

[exquisitegem]

^Hindi pa sis kasi  more than 1 year old pa lang siya. haha 20 mos old to be exact. hahaha Kaya sinasanay namin. Naiintindihan naman na niya pero di pa siya nakakapagsalita masyado.

Pero gusto ko matatas siya sa Ilocano. Parang yung niece ko, ganun din.

[france321]

I have lived here in SG for many years and also worked in the US for few months.  I really don't appreciate pinoy kids who speak in English because they are filipinos.  They are bound to learn english in school, tv and internet like we did.  Nowadays, kids does not know what taghiyawat means and i cringe.  I love hearing filipino kids, especially those who are based abroad speaking tagalog with its pure accent.  But they can also converse in English because of their school.  For me, its not sosyal.  Let's appreciate our own language as we are very lucky to have one.

I agree with this! They have to learn the native language para d sila ma lost lalo na pag nasa pinas sila at di maka relate sa ibang kids. But it's also good that kids know how to speak fluent English to prepare them. Mas ok na marami silang alam na languages, because they will be able to use it in the future if not now.