Keep the language at home
Edwin
30 May 2010
Re: A Kabaleyan’s Thoughts…
Hooray for Ms. Rayray. I can relate with her and her children’s situation.
After arriving in the U.S. after WWII, we settled in Oakland, California. At that time, very few Filipinos could be seen in the big cities, most lived in the farms where they worked. Most of the Pinoys living in the big cities at that time lived in very low-income neighborhoods.
We lived with my grandmother who was Caucasian. The only language spoken at home and school was English. Gradually I began to forget the Filipino language.
Although the language left me, I was not allowed to forget my Filipino-side heritage. As I grew into adulthood I read everything I could about the Philippines. There were books by Carlos P. Romulo and other books about the Philippine history. There was an inspiring book by Ferdinand Marcos of his (then) dreams of the Philippines. The only failure of my Filipino side was the loss of the language I knew as a toddler.
When I first arrived in the U.S. it was frowned upon if you spoke with a foreign accent. At the grammar school I went to I had to attend speech classes where the proper word pronouncement was taught. Now, years later I am trying to relearn what was then my native language.
Continue with your efforts, Ms. Rayray. Don’t let your children forget the Filipino language. Your children are lucky in that both their parents speak the Filipino dialect(s)and there are also many Pinoys spread throughout the world now. Speak to them in Pilipino and English at home. The French will come naturally through immersion.
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