Should we make fun of Chinglish?

Due to the fact that English is considered the universal language of the world and the medium used in communications, science information technology, business, entertainment and in others, there is a great demand for every country to learn the language.

China, having been categorized as one of the leading countries around the globe and having an uncontrollable growth of tourists nationwide, has this necessity to be knowledgeable with the language. As a result, Chinglish is formed. Chinglish is the term applied in any ungrammatical or nonsensical English in Chinese contexts, and may have unpleasant connotations, reflecting the attitudes of those who used it. Others call this cultural phenomenon “Chinese English”, “China English” and “Sinicized English”.

Here are some examples of Chinglish. Most of them are sign boards, instructions, restaurant menus and others.

Translations from Mandarin Chinese to English are undeniably shocking and surprising especially that these are used in public places and even in places where tourists often go. I don’t know if these are made intentionally or not, but it creates humor to everyone, to the tourists specifically.

Though very entertaining to foreigners, these grammatical and typographical faux pas are an embarrassment to government officials. That is why soon after the International Olympic Committee selected Beijing as the host country for the 2008 Olympics and prior to the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China's top government officials deployed an army of youngsters to rub each city, correcting out all instances of Chinglish. The results were largely successful, at least until the Olympics and Expo were over.

The acceptability of mistake-ridden Chinglish translations has been widely debated. Many laugh at it and tend to point out that this is merely a great epitome how foolish Chinese people are. In my opinion and according to what a blogger named Sasha Small said, we should not make fun of Chinglish or to the Chinese people, and we should never look at it as an emergence of idiocy, for they have learned English in an imprudent way. Also, unfortunately, many English language textbooks in China contain basic mistakes, which totally decline Chinese people's understanding of English, and severe the problem of Chinglish. With this imperfect foundation of the language, it is no surprise that mangled Chinglish interpretations are so pervasive. Chinglish is a unique and intriguing phenomenon, which provides us with fascinating insight into the way the native Chinese people think about the language. Chinglish should be appreciated. It serves as a light-hearted reminder not to take mistakes and imperfections too seriously.

Correcting mistakes or errors is a good thing, but we should always be mindful of others’ feelings and emotions.

References:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-497544/Chinglish-Hilarious-examples-signs-lost-translation.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinglish

Sasha Small

Victims of Faulty Grammar

I was with my friends on a jeepney, and we were excitedly exchanging stories until something disturbing crossed my sight. 

The “No somoking” sign behind the driver’s seat amused all of us. I will be honest; the fact that the misspelled word proved illiteracy didn’t bother me at that time. It was pure entertainment for me.

After some time, I realized if someone noticed it and informed the driver. I’m guessing, no one is courageous enough to do it or people hardly notice it since it looks like it has been there for quite a long time considering the dirty-white color of what used to be a white cloth. 

Public advertisements and signage are some of the most common victims of faulty grammar.

Some people might notice these errors but some might not. Some might be too ignorant to think that these signs were approved by officials or anyone who has the power to do so that’s why their grammar is not flawed, or some might just ignore them; whatever the reason is, it all boils down to the minimal knowledge of the English language.

The Philippines is one of the leading English-speaking countries in Asia, yet some of us, Filipinos, still do not get proper training of the English language. Some are fortunate enough to be enrolled in schools that have regular english classes while others are not. 

Majority of the people who are not privileged to have proper training of the English language acquire knowledge of it through advertisements, public signage, and television shows; this being the reason why advertisers, actors and actresses, TV show hosts, others who post in public, and everyone should be cautious of their grammar. Also, correct grammar should be properly observed so as not to mislead the reader.  

 

Language - a barrier or not?

The emergence of English as the universal language in our society has a continuing effect on us. 

According to a columnist named James Soriano, Filipino was the language of the world outside the classroom. It was the language of the streets and not a language of the learned. It was how you spoke to the tindera when you went to the tindahan, what you used to tell your katulong that you had an utos, and how you texted manong when you needed sundo while English is the language for the learned.

Let us admit it. When an individual is good and fluent in speaking English, he or she can create an impression of being smart, more reliable and can make him or herself belong to a higher society. On the contrary, an individual who does not know how to speak English well can be typecast as a not clever and a dense person.

In my opinion, speaking in English does not make one resistant to idiocy. Language should not be the test of being classified as a learned person. Having English language as one’s mother tongue is a benefit. However, that does not imply that one is more intelligent than the other individual who does not speak the English language well.

A person can succeed regardless of his or her mother tongue; therefore, verbal communication should not be blamed. One can excel in life using any other languages. It is the fault of how the Filipino language is being taught to us; as a result, we are not competent to use it well in all aspects of our daily life.

Posting Postponed This Weekend (Aug. 4-5)

...to allow everyone to focus on reviewing posts and comments in preparation for the 1st long exam on Tuesday. Kindly check back on Sunday for my comments.

Good luck, everyone!

Update (Aug. 4): Going over all of your posts and comments now and noting errors I see along the way.  I need to be cryptic because I don't have all day.  Therefore, if you see "tense consistency" or "tense" in reply to your comment, go figure. ;) In any case, errors are pointed out in their order of appearance.  See you on Tuesday!


Update (Aug. 5):  Going over the entries and comments, I notice that you guys commit the same errors over and over, and so I realize it's rather pointless to comment on the grammar of your entries and comments from day 1.   After all, at the time, you didn't know any better because we hadn't discussed the common errors Filipinos usually make. (That last sentence implies that NOW YOU DO KNOW and therefore should not make the same mistakes from hereon.  It also means that should any of your comments appear in the test, you would know how to correct them. Wink.)  


Good luck!

English Language vs. Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education Program as Medium of Instruction

Medium of instruction is defined as the language used in teaching. In the Philippines, where there are more than 100 languages used across the country, medium of instruction has always been an issue. A lot of people argues of what language should be used in studying. This entry talks about two house bills discussing what medium of instruction is best for the Philippines. Would it still be the English language?

Back in 2003, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo commanded the Department of Education to return English as the medium of instruction in all public and private schools in the Philippines. Surveys conducted before affirmed that between 2003 and 2007, the literacy rate of Filipinos have been firmly decreasing. This is when the House Bill 5619 or Consolidated English-Only Bill also known as The Gullas Bill became popular. Cebu Representative Eduardo Gullas believes that this bill can help Filipinos raise their English proficiency and become more competitive because students' mother tongue will be used as the medium of instruction in their early years in school, from preschool to Grade 3 to be specific, but from Grade 4 to all levels of college, English should be the language of interaction. It also aims to modify the current Bilingual Education Program (BEP) of DepEd. BEP requires the use of Filipino language as the medium of instruction in academic subjects like Social Studies, Physical Education, Values Education, and Home Economics. According to Gullas, exposure is the key to mastery but the use of Filipino language somehow limits the learning exposure of the students in learning English thus, mastery is not attained.

On the other hand, previous studies found out that learning is faster and more effective with mother tongue as the primary medium of instruction. 70% of minority language students can hardly speak and comprehend English hence, it is hard for them to master their lessons. If they use language that is more familiar to them from preschool to Grade 6, however, it would be easy for them to understand what they are studying and can possibly appreciate their own cultural and language heritage. This is what Multilingual Education (MLE) is all about. MLE, also named as first-language-first education, refers to learning subjects including Math and Science with the use of students' mother tongue or first language. As they build a strong foundation in their mother tongue, they will be gradually introduced to different languages, specifically the English language.

In my own opinion, I actually think both Gullas Bill and Multilingual Education Program would be of great help to students because they can easily develop their skills, cognitive and linguistic skills to be specific, if they are taught in a familiar language. After building a strong foundation with the use of their mother tongue, they can eventually learn different languages like English. The English language is important because it helps one country to compete with other countries around the world. The only thing that hinders me from totally agreeing to Multilingual Education Program is that studying subjects like Math and Science would be difficult with the use of first language because there are mathematical and scientific terms that do not have counterpart in other languages. Lastly, I guess, acquiring English language would not be that easy because of the fact that students were used to their mother tongue as medium of the instruction for so many years. It would be difficult for them to adjust. How about you, guys? Which do you prefer? The English Bill or the MLE Bill?

Source(s):

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/197190

http://www.sil.org/asia/philippines/ovw_mle.html

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/special-report/06/09/08/legislators-push-english-medium-instruction

Memories: i.e. and e.g.

Short cuts make long delays. Abbreviations are short cuts, too and they caused a little misunderstanding to me when I was a kid. The abbreviations I'm referring to are called "i.e." and "e.g.". The way I've reacted the first time I've seen an "e.g." in a sentence was like this:


 Renz likes to pair ketchup with almost any dish, e.g., adobo, paksiw, and dinuguan.


 "Wait! What is the meaning of this?" I cried

"E.g.? Adobo? Paksiw? Dinuguan?

The meaning of the word “e.g.” was still a big mystery to me that time. Feeling some inner urges, I researched about that word only to know that it means “example”. I once daydreamed about this matter:

“This issue seems to b clear. Why did you object?” asked the judge.

“It is clear enough to me that “e.g.” cannot possibly mean “example”, Your Honor” answered Phoenix.

“What!? How can that be possible?”  replied the judge.

"It's possible because the word "example" doesn't have the letter "g" in it. How can "e.g."  be a short cut for "example" then, Your Honor?"

I am still calming myself from the "e.g. shock" when another sentence with a different abbreviation suddenly appeared from an essay I'm reading:


Joe is planning to declare his love to a certain classmate,i.e., a crazy idea.


Compared to my example about "e.g." , this example is funnier, isn't it? No more violent reactions everyone. Soon, I found out that "i.e." is used to clarify a statement and it has  the same meaning with the phrases: that is, which is, in other words, and in essence.

Here is a tip if you're going to use "i.e." or 'e.g." in a sentence: always make sure to use commas before and after the abbreviations or else your sentence will be considered wrong. Okay?

That's it for this blog. Hoped you liked it as much as I did!






Sources and Acknowledgements:

9gag.com and Yahoo.com for the pictures

Of course, Thank you my friends and classmates for providing me the inspiration that I need.
 

Hagseub Yeong-eo, Ppillipin-ui deo Jaemiissneun! (Learning English, More Fun in the Philippines!)

Isn't odd that there so many foreigners here in the Philippines, particularly the Koreans? It's like every time I look around a public place, I see a bunch of Koreans walking around, and so, I heard they are here to study English. As I had these things in my thought, questions suddenly started to pop inside my head; why study here in the Philippines? Why study particularly English? Do we get benefits whenever they go here?

There was this one time, I inquired to one of the professors of The University of the Philippines who taught English to Koreans in the past, as to why Koreans choose the Philippines to study. According to her, Koreans choose to study English in the Philippines because the cost of education is cheap and Filipinos are more fluent in the language than any other countries, considering that English is not the native language of Filipinos. In my opinion, the two countries are not too far apart, so, why would the Koreans go out of their way to study somewhere farther when the Philippines is already within their grasp. In addition to that, Filipinos are known for being gentle and patient, which I think are the reasons why the Koreans go to the Philippines instead of other countries to study.

Why English in particular? Why do these Koreans travel out just to study English? Well, the main reason is English is widely known as the universal language. It is important to know English because it is a bridge that connects every country in the world. Not to mention, Koreans are competitive which is why learning English is not just a need anymore but already a necessity to compete with other countries.

After everything that I have written above, the Koreans do not hog all the benefits. Of course, there is still what we call a "give and take" relationship. In example, the Korean come to the Philippines as tourist to study, while the Philippines gain extra income from these tourists. Teaching English to tourists also enhances the English language usage of the mentors, at the same time; the mentors learn another language in the process. See, having all these Koreans is not all bad.  

Image sources:

http://ofwnow.com/wp-content/uploads/image/_2011/jan/korean%20studies%20english.JPG

http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Students+Face+Crucial+Exams+University+-kFpiVIF5Pzl.jpg

Translation tool:

http://translate.google.com/