Why Kara David promotes speaking in full Filipino

Kara David isn’t just an award-winning journalist who has told different stories from all over the country. She’s also a professor at University of the Philippines and has launched her own vlog series that teaches several lessons, from news writing to the origin and proper usage of Filipino words.

In an interview on “The Howie Severino Podcast,” Kara shared why she advocated for the use of full Filipino language instead of Taglish, and expressed her frustration over how some Filipinos looked down on our language.

“Naaawa ako roon sa wika natin kasi noon pa man, ang tingin na sa wikang Filipino ay parang mababa na parang para magkaroon ka ng isang intelektuwal na discussion, kailangan nag-e-English ka. Alam ko ’yan, e, kasi nu’ng bago ako pumasok sa media, nu’ng ako’y nag-aaral pa sa elementary at saka sa high school, ’yun ang sukatan ng katalinuhan, ’yung magaling mag-Ingles,” Kara said.

[I take pity on our language because even back then, people looked down on the Filipino language. It’s as if in order to have an intellectual discussion, you need to speak in English. I know that because even before I entered media, when I was studying in elementary and high school, that was the measure of intelligence, how good you spoke in English.]

Kara said her values were influenced by her father Randy David, who started the first talk show in Filipino called “Truth Forum,” which eventually became “Public Forum.” She said his mission was to let the people know and feel that the Filipino language could be used in intelligent discussions.

“Importante sa akin na pataasin ’yung pagpapahalaga natin sa wika. At paano natin patataasin ’yung pagpapahalaga natin sa wika kung lahat tayo ang ia-advocate natin ay Taglish, ’di ba?” she said.

[It’s important for me to raise the appreciation for our language. But how can we do this if we are all advocating to speak in Taglish, right?]

“Gusto kong ipakita na ang ganda-ganda ng wika natin. That we have so many words na napaka-descriptive, na napakamatalinhaga, na ang galing-galing ng language natin. Paano mo ’yun magagawa kung ipagpipilitan mong conversational tayo palagi?” she added.

[I want to show that our language is so beautiful, that we have so many words that are descriptive, meaningful, and amazing. How can you do that if you insist on being conversational all the time?]

Kara said many people argued that to speak conversationally, you have to speak in Taglish, and to reach the millennial audience, you couldn’t use deep Filipino words. But she also pointed out how spoken word, which used deep Filipino words, was a hit among millennials, and how Gloc 9, who rapped in straight Filipino, was an excellent artist.

“So hindi totoo na para maabot mo ang audience mo, para maabot mo ang kabataan, kailangan mag-Taglish ka,” she said.

“Kung kaya siyang gawin ng mga spoken word artist, kaya siyang gawin ng mga rap artist like Gloc 9 tapos maaarok pa rin sila ng kanilang mga audience, bakit hindi natin siya gawin sa media?”

[So it’s not true that in order to reach that audience, to reach the youth, you have to speak in Taglish. If spoken word artists can do it, if rap artists like Gloc 9 can do it, and they can still be understood by their audience, then why can’t we do it in the media?]

Kara also pointed out that as a media practitioner, she and many others were given the privilege to speak to the entire nation, so it would be best to use that privilege to teach others.

“Kung ipagpipilitan lang natin puro Taglish, conversational, may naiambag ba tayo roon sa mga manonood natin? So gawin na nating mas maganda ’yung bigkas, mas maganda ’yung wikang ginagamit, tutal puwede naman talagang gamitin ’yung wikang Filipino sa mga bagay na matatalino eh, katulad ng pagbabalita,” she added.

[If we insist on using Taglish, conversational, are we able to contribute something to our viewers? So let’s make our diction better, let’s use better words, since we can use the Filipino language in discussing intellectual topics, such as reporting the news.] – Kaela Malig/RC, GMA News