Why Filipinos Must Learn Filipino

This is a translation of the Tagalog portions of Learning Filipino and Mr. Ronan B. Capinding.

Let's say that you have a pet fish. Your fish can fly. Amazing, right? And your pet fish also knows how to bark. While it flies, it barks, and it can even pray the "Our Father." Amazing, isnt' it?

But your pet does not know how to swim.

Can you call it a competent fish? No, you can't, right?

Afterall, it's the ability to swim that makes a fish a fish. In the case of your pet fish, you can only call it an "amazing... I dunno."

The same thing goes for us Filipinos. You can be great in everything, in Math and in other things. But if you cannot speak Filipino, you're just a "great... I dunno..." because it's the ability to speak Filipino that makes a Filipino a Filipino.

Now here comes Manuel's comment -- Language does not define who you are. Speaking Tagalog does not make you a Filipino. Just ask a foreign linguist.

If you're a Filipino and do not speak Filipino or Tagalog or Cebuano, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Panggalato, Ilonggo, Waray, and other languages or dialects in the Philippines, that does not make you an amazing "I dunno" or a great "whatever."

It just means you'll miss out when a large group of Filipino-speaking Filipinos congregate and share jokes in Filipino/Tagalog. Just the same, you might wish to learn How To Speak Tagalog.

[ First posted on 11/15/2006 by Manuel Viloria ]