We beg to differ.
A Google Alert gave me one of the biggest shocks of my life late last night despite being pleasantly drunk from the beer I had with a dear old friend from past political campaigns. You see a couple of days ago I set up Google Alerts for PWU and members of the Benitez clan to keep tabs…
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One thing I learned in language education is that, given time, geography and human development, a language would eventually change to suit the needs of communication. That is why I have ultimately very little problems with Tagalog speakers embellishing English into the former, creating a (current) form of portmanteau popularly known as “Taglish.” The premise…
Read More “Fluency in Regional Languages Can Improve the So-Called “Filipino Language”” »
…But From Whom? My father believed that the education you get in grade school is the most crucial one because it sets up the foundation for all future learning and gives you a set of perspectives that will tend to guide you through most of your life. So despite being just a government employee at…
Don’t look now but Marian Rivera’s come out swinging at her detractors, presumably over the subject of her famous English language skills (or lack of it). I’ve always found Marian fascinating. Her face and physical stature does not match her style of speech. Perhaps this is what endears her to her fans — she physically…
Read More “Is diskarte more important than good English as Marian Rivera says?” »
[The following is an article by Star columnist Don Pedero published in The Philippine Star 29 October 2000 and also featured in Get Real Philippines on the same year.] * * * Last July 23, I wrote about Nasty (short for Anastacio), a balikbayan from Los Angeles, who, while vacationing in Manila, had nothing to…
Read More “The #Philippines is a nation of starstruck ignoramuses” »
(Author’s note: This article is a translation of a previous essay I wrote entitled “Anti-Vaxxers: A Dangerous Trend the Philippines Needs to Avoid.” I found it convenient to write this version so as to have a wider reach, and to have more people be aware of an emerging dangerous trend. As with the vaccines themselves,…
Pope Francis’s visit to the Philippines is shaping out to be the country’s biggest coming event. Already there’s a scramble to fill precious slots that would bring ordinary folk within the pontiff’s breathing space — whether it be seats in the pope’s flight from Rome to Manila, or a place in His Eminence’s dining table,…
A collaborative exercise organised by Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur Lex Bayer and Stanford University humanist chaplain John Figdor, authors of the book Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart has come up with a new set of Ten Commandments for the 21st Century. According to the “Winning Beliefs” page of the authors’ website, 13 judges selected the ten…
Read More “The new Ten Commandments for the 21st Century announced!” »