Love your dila

A picture of Manuel Quezon always seems apt when discussing about Filipino language. 

I was reading through the Philippine Daily Inquirer a few days ago, when I came across an article that didn’t get my all out interest.  Butch Hernandez writes about mother tongue which, at first glance, all looked so technical to me (i.e. ZzZzzzzz).  But, since I already have a little idea on the subject, I read on and actually found it ... quite refreshing.

The gist?  Teach your kids Tagalog first (or Bisaya, Kapampangan....or whatever you actually use at home), before immersing his or her little brain in the delights of English. 

“Huh? Bakit?  Baka mahirapan siya sa school matuto ng English?  Kawawa naman ang bata, he will grow up barok, you know?” you might think.  

Well, apparently, he most probably will not.  On the contrary, if schooled in Multilingual Education (MLE) using the language he originally acquired at home (and of course, with enough encouragement and support from parents and teachers), he will have acquired a good level of understanding of not one, but two languages when he reaches the early grade levels.

 Check out the Inquirer article here and a supplement source I found here.

The other source I found delved on Multilingual Education and mentioned the ff:

1.  Children who have learned to read and write in their first language, learn to speak, read and write in the second and third languages more quickly.

2.  Learning first language or mother tongue strengthens acquisition of second and third languages.

3. Children who begun school in their first language with careful bridging to the two second languages were more competent in all areas of study that the children who did not.

So, take that (*blag*), Thomasites!

Learn English or die (I'm para-phrasing) - http://philippines1900.tumblr.com/post/263314340/thomasites

Sa madaling sabi, think of it as providing your child with good Filipino and excellent English, rather than a cute American accent but barok Tagalog.  

So go ahead, don’t be afraid.  Teach your kids Filipino.  It will be good for them, and their future English.