Sense and Science: Adventures in reading Filipino

I’ve written about how crucial it is to have children learn Filipino and other languages when they’re very young, because their brains are wired to pick up the sounds and structure quickly.  Reading is especially crucial because words are more effectively imprinted into the brain when a person hears the sounds and matches them with written words.

 

But learning to read can be challenging in a multilingual environment.  If kids pick up English as a first language, they will tend to learn to read first with C-V-C —or consonant-vowel-consonant— combinations like the ones you find in children’s books: Fat, Cat, Mat, Bat and so forth.

 

The problem is that Filipino does not use that many C-V-C combinations, more often words borrowed from English like bus, for example.    For children learning Filipino, we usually go with syllable combinations of a consonant and a vowel, for example pusa, baka, bata.  Add on words like kung and mga and your young Ingliseros and Ingliseras will protest, not realizing they’re still being sheltered from even more mysterious English sounds for the future, words that will get them going enough of “enough”.

 

 I’ve found myself taking extra effort to get the children to read out in Filipino whenever there’s an opportunity.  But it’s difficult because we just don’t have enough reading materials in Filipino —not just for children but for adults, too.  Newspapers-wise, we only have tabloids with their crime and cleavage coverage, certainly not suitable for children.

 

The situation for children’s books is improving, with publishers like Aklat Adarna, but the gap remains wide, with competition coming in from cheap English books that you can pick up in outlets like Books for Less. 

 

I’m almost desperate, getting my kids to read out print ads, billboards, road signs, even menus.  Then I thought of cellphones, which the kids love.  If you want some Filipino, you’ll find it’s the cheaper ones that allow you to choose Tagalog as a language.  Using a cheap Iphone knock-off from the sidewalk – I have to warn you they break down within a few days, especially in the hands of little boys  – I had my kids read out the phone’s messages.

 

It was almost comical with the formal Filipino.  The first message was “Idulas upang buksan” (Slide to open).  WiFi connections?  The message was “hindi nasasaklaw” if there was no WiFi service available versus “bukas ang sistema” if there was one.  And if you didn’t turn on the WiFi it would read “Patay” , which the kids loved, shouting out the word.  They also loved it when the charging would be complete because the message was a tongue-twisting “Nagtagumpay!”

 

Then, one afternoon, my son discovered that with DVDs you could now choose Tagalog subtitles.  Great, I thought remembering how in  my youth, I’d watch kung-fu movies to practice my Chinese, reading Chinese subtitles with English translations.  

 

So I told my son, sure, read me the subtitles.  I was working on the computer with my back to the television since I was more interested in hearing his reading of the subtitles.  The subtitles were actually quite good, incorporating many colloquial expressions, for example, ‘pare and “OK yan”.  But my son’s reading was labored and at one point he went, “Uh oh.”

 

“Uh oh?” I asked, quickly turning around.

 

Now it was my turn to go “uh oh.”  The subtitle was “Oo” or yes, but his brain was clearly on English mode.

 

I’m not giving up.  Parents will just have to keep pushing, gently.   I remember resenting my Chinese classes when I was young, but there were times when I’d be inspired, and would read Chinese novels, finding that the more I read, the easier it became.  In high school, we read Florante at Laura, which wasn’t too appealing. But in college, I discovered other more contemporary Filipino literature —Lualhati Bautista’s novels being a good start.  There was also a Filipiino language magazine with serious stuff but it folded up and I can’t even remember its name right now.  I have yet to see another magazine to match that earlier one.

 

Let’s keep hoping though.  I am encouraged that there are initiatives to produce in other Philippine languages as well.  Check out Mother Tongue Publishing for an initial book produced in several local languages. — TJD, GMA News 

 

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Michael L. Tan is a medical anthropologist and a veterinarian.  He is currently dean of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, and Clinical Professor at the College of Medicine at UP Manila.  He also writes the opinion-editorial column "Pinoy Kasi" for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He has been involved in numerous research projects on a range of issues from HIV/AIDS prevention to the culture of impunity. In 2012, he was elected to the National Academy of Science and Technology, the Philippines' highest science advisory body.