When we moved back to the United States, the Colonel and Rambo never taught me to speak their native languages. I just caught on by listening and understanding two dialects, Tagalog (the national language) and Ilocano. When the question comes up about understanding Tagalog with one of my peers, most have said their parents never taught them for fear that they would be able to assimilate into American society. Although my parents never had that intention in mind, they never drove the language home either. So you must understand my amusement now that I have my own children, when my mother asks me if I have taught them Tagalog.
"Honey, are you speaking to Spaghetti and Meatball in Tagalog?"
"Colonel, I don't know Tagalog that well maybe you can teach them."
"Oh, my dear! You do not know?"
"No, Colonel, you never really spoke to me in Tagalog so how can I know?"
"But we lived in the Philippines for a long time! How can you not know?!? Well, you just teach them what you know, okay? It's good for them to know, even just a little bit"
"Um okay, Colonel, I'll try."
It's quite a conundrum "teaching" a language to my girls that I'm not too familiar with myself. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to teach it to them if I could speak fluently and I am trying my best to teach them any words/phrases that I do know. Studies show that raising a child in a bilingual household provide them with better mental development. But with what I know of Filipino, my girls nor I are nowhere near bilingual! It's a sad thing and I can't help but feel caught in the middle of another retaining the heritage challenge; slowly mourning the slow and agonizing death of the Filipino language in our family. It's not like they can listen to it all the time nor have someone fluent speak to them regularly. And you probably guessed it by now, Pretty Pants doesn't know the language, can barely make sense of his mother's own dialect (Pampanga) and has actually become one of my students of Broken Filipino as well. So I'm doing what I can to resist every step of the way through the interjection of Filipino words into our everyday life ("Meatball, where are your tsinelas?), finding some Filipino picture books
, and reminding the Colonel and Rambo to speak to the girls in Filipino when they visit (which honestly lasts 10 seconds before they're back to English again). Maybe the Filipino language won't die in this generation after all.Are you fluent in another language? Are you speaking to your children in another language other than English? Is it worth it?
Hey mama: Yes...fluent in tagalog, but i still get laughed at every now and then when i speak to someone from the homeland. I speak as much tagalog as i can to the kiddies! I'll say it in tagalog first, then repeat it in english. the kids, especially "little BIG girl", still understands, but when they don't get it, they're not afraid to say, "What? I don't understand that." There's a lot of Taglish around this camp, especially since the hubbers doesn't know too much tagalog (but glad to say he knows some).
ReplyDeleteKeep at it...it will be WAAAY WORTH IT. i know the advantages of having both sets of grandparents living in our house and speaking to us in tagalog everyday. i wouldn't trade it for the world because some things are just easier to express in tagalog (well for me at least). AND, ask Colonel and Rambo to "record" a few tapes (or on the comp) some sayings for the girls. simple phrases work great. i've downloaded those onto "little BIG girl's" iPod. hmm, i think i'll zip the files i have and email them over...
GOOD LUCK MAMAS!! KEEP OUR HERITAGE ALIVE!!!
Cousin, of course it's worth it...do you have a pinoy english dictionary....or even TFC(the filipino channel) coz they teach filipino words and phrases there too and they have kiddie shows in tagalog they can watch. It's also a good training for the whole family. I am very involved in babysitting with Eleni and Vassili, Tina and I speak to her in Tagreeklish...Tina and I only know a few words in Greek but we incorporate it in speaking with Eleni (even at 3 months of age) coz they say you can never start too early. So just do the best you can ...it's an opportunity you don't want your kids to miss......
ReplyDeletethanks for the comment love ladies!! both of you are so fortunate to speak fluently. i feel you Marie when I go back I usually get laughed at too. We used to get TFC just for the exposure but it just got too expensive. i would love for them to be fluent but it's tough when i can't speak fluently and they just get random words which makes me sad for my future grandchildren who will most likely get fewer words...
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