A Few Notes on Language

I was reading the blog of an American expat living in the Philippines, and he mentioned the value of learning the local language . . . especially for those who have decided to live in the Philippines.  Well, I'm only spending a couple of weeks there, but I still feel that it would be a worthwhile expenditure of my time to learn a few words and phrases.  Why?  I think the benefit of a few hours each week learning some Cebuano will be beneficial in establishing a positive relationship with the people I meet in the Philippines.

I had an experience when I was teaching at a local high school that might help explain my thoughts here.  After coming back from one very snowy Christmas break, I found that the biology class that I was co-teaching had a couple of new students added to the roll.  The general ed. teacher was a little concerned, as neither of the students (brother and sister) spoke any English at all.  Since there were two of us teaching the class, I suggested that she continue as the primary teacher, doing the lectures and so on, and that I would do what I could to work with the new students.  Now I spoke as much Vietnamese as those two spoke English, so the challenge to bridge the language gap was afoot!  It didn't help that this was a science class, with it's own technical jargon and difficult vocabulary.  Fortunately, both of these students were hard workers.

I wanted to convey to these two students that I was truly interested in working with them and helping them to be successful.  I purchased level 1 of Rosetta Stone's Vietnamese language program and proceeded to learn a little "tieng Viet" (Vietnamese).  I invited the students to spend an hour with me after school each day -- sort of an impromptu ESL class.  I helped them with their English, and they helped me with Vietnamese.

The real benefit came when I met their father for the first time.  Like his children, he couldn't speak English, and even after being in the States for a while he still hadn't picked up any.  However, I had learned just enough Vietnamese that I was able to exchange "pleasantries" with the father.  Our conversation was short, but each time I saw him we would go through our little routine of  "Hello, how are you, I'm fine, and so on".  To this day when I see their father he stops what he is doing (he cooks for a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant here in town) and comes to greet me.  I have a friend for life.  Even though we really can't communicate much, our relationship is cemented because I made a little effort to learn his language.  Oh . . . both brother and sister graduated in the top 5 percent of their class and are attending the University of New Mexico.

When I arrive in the Philippines, I think being able to say "maayong buntag" (good morning), "kumusta ka man" (how are you),  and "ako si Scott" (my name is Scott), may well be enough to make a difference in how well I relate to the people of Bohol.  Hopefully I will have learned more than that before I depart three weeks from now.

So, until the next time, Pag-ayo-ayo!  Take care!