Sa tingin ko, di talagang nakatutulong ang pagdiriwang ng Buwan ng Wika taon-taon sa pagpapaunlad ng wikang pambansa. Ang malala pa, mas ipinakikita ng pagdiriwang na ito tuwing Agosto na di talaga natin pinahahalagahan ang ating wikang pambansa.
Bakit kailangan pang dumating ang buwan ng Agosto upang ipakita ang pagpapahalaga at pagmamahal sa sariling wika? Di ba't sa tagal na natin itong ipagdiriwang, kailangang naisanib na natin ito sa ating buong pagkatao o sa sistema ng ating pag-iisip?
Di lamang sa buwan ng Agosto dapat ipagdiwang ang wikang pambansa kundi sa buong panahon ng ating pag-iral bilang tao at bilang Pilipino. Ito ang wika ng ating pinakamimithing pangarap, ang bukal ng ating ligaya at galit, ang wika ng ating panaginip. Sa wikang ito lamang natin maipahahayag nang tapat at buong-buo ang ating saloobin, nadarama at iniisip na hinding-hindi kayang gawin sa wikang banyaga tulad ng Ingles.
Pero sabi nga, maikukumpara sa isang bata ang mga Pilipino at ang buong Pilipinas. Lagi't laging dapat paluuin at paalalahanan. Madali kasi tayong makalimot sa mga bagay na dapat nating unahin at tangkilin bilang mga Pilipino. Maikli ang memorya nating mga Pilipino. Dagdag pa, na ang mga pinakakolonyal mag-isip ay ang mga aral na Pilipino. Bugbog sila ng mga kaalamang inangkat din sa ibang bansa. Naniniwala silang nasa Ingles ang pag-unlad. Tunay na inilalayo ng sistema ng edukasyon ng ating bansa ang mga Pilipino sa sarili nitong wika at kultura. Pero sa katotohanan, ang mauunlad na bansa sa Asia ay di bihasa sa paggamit ng Ingles tulad ng Japan, China, Vietnam, at iba pa.
Pinatutunayan ng pagdiriwang ng Buwan ng Wika na talagang mangmang tayong mga Pilipino at di talaga natin natututuhan pang yakapin at mahalin ang ating sariling wika! Sana ay nailalaan na lamang sa mas mga makabuluhang proyekto ang pondong ginagamit dito. Halimbawa, kung ang ilulunsad ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) ay salin ng Harry Potter, The Alchemist, o Twilight sa Filipino, aba mas nakamamangha! Biruin mo, mababasa mo sa ating sariling wika ang pinakamabibiling nobela sa mundo? Ganito ang ginawa ng Indonesia, mas salin sa Bahasa ang mga nobelang ito. Dalawang magandang benepisyo ang napapala ng mga taga-Indonesia sa pagbasa ng mga nabanggit na nobela sa kanilang wika: Una, naiintindihan nila ang kanilang binabasa, at pangalawa, nagiging bihasa sila sa kanilang sariling wika.
Nakapagbubukas ng mata at isip ang sinabing ito ni Segundo Matias sa kanyang facebook account. Ayon sa kanya: Ilang taon na rin akong nagta-travel sa iba't ibang bansa kasama na ang Europe at US. Sa Europe at sa ibang parte ng Asia, kapag pumapasok ako sa kanilang book stores napapansin kong hindi lamang English version ng original bestsellers ang naroon, kundi lagi nang may translated version ng kanilang local language. Sa France halimbawa, kapag nagtungo ka sa kanilang book store may English at sa tabi nito'y may French. Ganoon din sa Italia, Germany, at maging sa Hongkong ay mayroong translated Italian, German, and Mandarin respectively. Naisip ko, dito sa Pilipinas bakit hindi? Sa France, Germany at ang iba pang mayayamang bansa ay nagbabasa naman sila ng English pero sa kanilang book stores ay laging may translated version sa sarili nilang lengguahe.
Nakatutuwang binabalikat ng kompanya ni Segundo Matias ang tungkuling magsalin sa wikang Filipino ng mga babasahing nasa wikang banyaga. Ito sana ang pagkaabalahan ng KWF sa mga darating na panahon.
Nakaiinis na rin ang mga kung ano-anong programang iniimbento ng mga paaralan tuwing buwan ng Agosto. Pinipilit na papagsuutin ng mga Barong Tagalog o baro't saya ang mga estudyante, pinagdadala ng mga pagkaing Pilipino, pinatutula, pinagsasabayang-pagbigkas, at iba pa. Bukod sa gastos, malaking abala rin sa mga magulang.
Wala ring halaga sa akin ang kung ano-anong temang ginagawa at ipinamumudmod ng KWF sa mga paaralan. Pilit na pilit na iniuugnay sa kasalukuyang administrasyon na kung titingnan ay wala namang malinaw na mga polisiyang pangwika.
Kung ang wikang Filipino ay batay na sa lahat ng wikain sa Pilipinas, puwede na ring patulain ang mga mag-aaral na Ilokano sa wikang Ilokano, Cebuano sa wikang Cebuano, ang batang Ilonggo sa wikang Hiligaynon. Huwag isungalngal sa kanila ang wikang Filipino na wikang Tagalog pa rin naman ang marami sa mga salita.
Sa poster ngayon ng KWF, makikita pa rin ang larawan ni Manuel Luis M. Quezon. Bakit laging si Quezon lamang ang dinadakila tuwing Agosto? Bakit di rin kilalanin sina Felipe R. Jose (Mountain Province), Wenceslao Q. Vinzons (Camarines Norte), Tomas Confesor (Iloilo), Hermenegildo Villanueva (Negros Oriental), at Norberto Romualdez (Leyte) na nakipaglaban sa kongreso. Sino sa mga mag-aaral ngayon ang nakakakilala sa kanila?
Agosto ang Buwan ng Wika dahil ito rin ang buwan ng kaarawan din ni Quezon. Lumalabas tuloy na ang Agosto ay buwan din ni Quezon na isang Tagalog. Tigilan na ang ganitong kababaw na dahilan kung bakit Agosto ang Buwan ng Wika. Huwag i-credit sa iisang tao lamang ang pagkakaroon natin ng pambansang wika noon na batay sa Tagalog.
Di tuluyang magiging intelektuwalisado ang wikang Filipino kung mananatili ang ganitong mga walang kabuluhang gawain tuwing Agosto. At di mai-intelektuwalisa ang wikang Filipino kung ang mga ahensiyang pang-gobyerno tulad ng KWF ay pinagtatrabahuhan ng ilang mga empleyadong di intelektuwalisado.
Kailangan natin ay mga limbag na babasahin sa wikang Filipino lalo na yaong mahahalagang larangan. Kailangan ang malawakang pagsasalin ng mahahalagang teksto. Kailangan ang mura ngunit de-kalidad na diksiyonaryo. Madaling sabihing intelektuwalisado na ang wikang Filipino pero nasaan ang ating mga patunay?
Itigil ang pagsasabing mahalin natin ang sariling wika dahil ang di nagpapahalaga sa sariling wika ay di makabayan. Walang maitutulong ito. Di batayan ang pagsasalita ng wikang Filipino ng pagiging makabayan at pinatunayan na ito ni Jose P. Rizal. Kailangan nating kumilos, magsalin, at maglimbag ng mga babasahing nasa ating wika.
Itigil na ang pagpapakita natin ng ating kamangmangan sa sariling wika tuwing Agosto!
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Si Genaro R. Gojo Cruz ay tubong-San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. Nagtapos ng BSE Social Science sa Pamantasang Normal ng Pilipinas. Nagwagi ng mga gantimpala sa pagsulat tulad ng Timpalak Palanca, Gawad Ka Amado, Gawad Collantes sa Pagsulat ng Tula at Sanaysay, Dionatext, Dalitext, Ninoy Poetry Writing Contest, PBBY-Writers Prize at Makata ng Taon 2004. Ang kanyang mga tula at kwentong pambata ay nalathala sa Junior Inquirer Magazine, Liwayway, Pambata Magazine, at mga textbuk sa elementarya. Kasalukuyan siyang nagtuturo sa Pamantasang Normal ng Pilipinas at nag-aaral ng MA major in Philippine Studies sa Pamantasang De La Salle - Maynila bilang iskolar. Kapag may libreng panahon, nagkukuwento at nagtuturo siya sa mga batang-lansangan sa Binondo. (http://www.panitikan.com.ph/authors/g/ggojocruz.htm)
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English translation of above article
Till When Would We Continue to Be Ignorant Every Month of August?
In my view, the yearly celebration of the Month of Language does not really help develop the national language. Worse, the celebration every month of August only demonstrates our true disregard of our national language.
Why do we have to wait for the month of August to arrive just to display our respect and love for our own native tongue? For all the years we have been celebrating, should this not be integrated already in our hearts and mind?
We should not be celebrating our national language only during the month of August but on every single day that we live as Filipinos. This is the language of our utmost aspirations, the spring of our joy and anger, the language of our dreams. Only through our native tongue can we truly and fully express our inner thoughts, feelings and ideas, which is not possible through a foreign language like English.
However, as they say, one can compare the Filipino and the entire nation to a child. Constant scolding and reminding are necessary. We easily forget what our priorities should be as Filipinos. We, Filipinos, have very short memories. In addition, the most educated Filipinos are those with colonial mentality. These individuals have been bombarded by knowledge imported from other countries. They believe that English holds the key to progress. The educational system of the country truly removes Filipinos from their language and culture. But, in reality, the more developed countries in Asia are not well versed in English like Japan, China, Vietnam and others.
The celebration of the Month of Language proves that we, Filipinos, are ignorant and that we have not really learned to embrace and love our native tongue. We should be using the funds allotted for the celebration on much more worthwhile projects. For example, if the Commission on the Filipino Language (KWF) launches the translation of Harry Potter, The Alchemist, or Twilight into Filipino, this would be much more impressive. Imagine, one can now read in his or her native tongue the world's best selling novels. This is what they are doing in Indonesia - there are more translations of these novels in Bahasa. And there are two great benefits to the people of Indonesia. One, they actually understand what they are reading. Second, they continue to master their own language.
What Segundo Matias said in his Facebook account is an eye opener. According to him, over the years, he has traveled through many countries including those in Europe and the US. In Europe and other parts of Asia, he noticed that their bookstores carry not only the English versions of bestsellers but also their translations in the native tongue. For example, in France, if you go to one of their bookstores, you will find books placed side by side, one in English, the other in French. The same with Italy, Germany and even in HongKong, books have been translated into Italian, German and Mandarin, respectively. I was thinking, why not here in the Philippines? In France and in Germany, and in other rich countries, where people could read in English, why do bookstores still need to carry the translated versions into their respective languages?
It is comforting to see that the company of Segundo Matias has taken the initiative to translate reading materials written in foreign language into Filipino. This should be the priority of KWF in the future.
It is annoying to see the various programs being invented in the schools during the month of August. Students are forced to wear the national costume. They are asked to bring Filipino native dishes, recite poems even in chorus. Aside from the costs, this adds distress to the parents.
For me, the various themes being made and distributed by KWF to the schools are likewise not worthwhile. These try very hard to link the programs to the current administration even though the government, upon closer inspection, does not really have clear policies for language.
If indeed the Filipino language is based on all the languages in the Philippines then it should be alright for an Ilocano student to recite a poem in Ilocano, a Cebuano with Cebuano, an Ilonggo child with Hiligaynon, instead of shoving these students the Filipino language which is really mostly Tagalog.
With the current KWF poster, a picture of Manuel Luis M. Quezon can be easily seen. Why is it that only Quezon is honored during the month of August. Why do we not recognize Felipe R. Jose (Mountain Province), Wenceslao Q. Vinzons (Camarines Norte), Tomas Confesor (Iloilo), Hermenegildo Villanueva (Negros Oriental), and Norberto Romualdez (Leyte) who fought in Congress. Who among our students today will recognize these names.
August became the month of language because this is also the birth month of Quezon. Thus, August is also the month of Quezon, who is a Tagalog. We should stop this shallow reasoning of why August is the month of language. We should not give the credit of having one national language that is based on Tagalog on one person.
The Filipino language will not become fully intellectualized if we continue with the meaningless activities we do during the month of August. And the Filipino language will never become intellectualized if government agencies like the KWF continue to be manned by non intellectuals.
We need to translate into the Filipino language reading materials especially those of great importance. We need widespread translation of important text. We need affordable but high quality dictionaries. It is easy to say that the Filipino language is intellectualized, but what proof do we have?
We should stop insisting that we must love our native tongue for the sake of nationalism. This is of no help. We cannot based one's love of country on one's use of the Filipino language. Jose Rizal already demonstrated this. We need to act, translate and publish in our own language.
We need to stop displaying our ignorance of our mother tongue every August!
_________________________________________________________________
English translation of above article
Till When Would We Continue to Be Ignorant Every Month of August?
In my view, the yearly celebration of the Month of Language does not really help develop the national language. Worse, the celebration every month of August only demonstrates our true disregard of our national language.
Why do we have to wait for the month of August to arrive just to display our respect and love for our own native tongue? For all the years we have been celebrating, should this not be integrated already in our hearts and mind?
We should not be celebrating our national language only during the month of August but on every single day that we live as Filipinos. This is the language of our utmost aspirations, the spring of our joy and anger, the language of our dreams. Only through our native tongue can we truly and fully express our inner thoughts, feelings and ideas, which is not possible through a foreign language like English.
However, as they say, one can compare the Filipino and the entire nation to a child. Constant scolding and reminding are necessary. We easily forget what our priorities should be as Filipinos. We, Filipinos, have very short memories. In addition, the most educated Filipinos are those with colonial mentality. These individuals have been bombarded by knowledge imported from other countries. They believe that English holds the key to progress. The educational system of the country truly removes Filipinos from their language and culture. But, in reality, the more developed countries in Asia are not well versed in English like Japan, China, Vietnam and others.
The celebration of the Month of Language proves that we, Filipinos, are ignorant and that we have not really learned to embrace and love our native tongue. We should be using the funds allotted for the celebration on much more worthwhile projects. For example, if the Commission on the Filipino Language (KWF) launches the translation of Harry Potter, The Alchemist, or Twilight into Filipino, this would be much more impressive. Imagine, one can now read in his or her native tongue the world's best selling novels. This is what they are doing in Indonesia - there are more translations of these novels in Bahasa. And there are two great benefits to the people of Indonesia. One, they actually understand what they are reading. Second, they continue to master their own language.
What Segundo Matias said in his Facebook account is an eye opener. According to him, over the years, he has traveled through many countries including those in Europe and the US. In Europe and other parts of Asia, he noticed that their bookstores carry not only the English versions of bestsellers but also their translations in the native tongue. For example, in France, if you go to one of their bookstores, you will find books placed side by side, one in English, the other in French. The same with Italy, Germany and even in HongKong, books have been translated into Italian, German and Mandarin, respectively. I was thinking, why not here in the Philippines? In France and in Germany, and in other rich countries, where people could read in English, why do bookstores still need to carry the translated versions into their respective languages?
It is comforting to see that the company of Segundo Matias has taken the initiative to translate reading materials written in foreign language into Filipino. This should be the priority of KWF in the future.
It is annoying to see the various programs being invented in the schools during the month of August. Students are forced to wear the national costume. They are asked to bring Filipino native dishes, recite poems even in chorus. Aside from the costs, this adds distress to the parents.
For me, the various themes being made and distributed by KWF to the schools are likewise not worthwhile. These try very hard to link the programs to the current administration even though the government, upon closer inspection, does not really have clear policies for language.
If indeed the Filipino language is based on all the languages in the Philippines then it should be alright for an Ilocano student to recite a poem in Ilocano, a Cebuano with Cebuano, an Ilonggo child with Hiligaynon, instead of shoving these students the Filipino language which is really mostly Tagalog.
With the current KWF poster, a picture of Manuel Luis M. Quezon can be easily seen. Why is it that only Quezon is honored during the month of August. Why do we not recognize Felipe R. Jose (Mountain Province), Wenceslao Q. Vinzons (Camarines Norte), Tomas Confesor (Iloilo), Hermenegildo Villanueva (Negros Oriental), and Norberto Romualdez (Leyte) who fought in Congress. Who among our students today will recognize these names.
August became the month of language because this is also the birth month of Quezon. Thus, August is also the month of Quezon, who is a Tagalog. We should stop this shallow reasoning of why August is the month of language. We should not give the credit of having one national language that is based on Tagalog on one person.
The Filipino language will not become fully intellectualized if we continue with the meaningless activities we do during the month of August. And the Filipino language will never become intellectualized if government agencies like the KWF continue to be manned by non intellectuals.
We need to translate into the Filipino language reading materials especially those of great importance. We need widespread translation of important text. We need affordable but high quality dictionaries. It is easy to say that the Filipino language is intellectualized, but what proof do we have?
We should stop insisting that we must love our native tongue for the sake of nationalism. This is of no help. We cannot based one's love of country on one's use of the Filipino language. Jose Rizal already demonstrated this. We need to act, translate and publish in our own language.
We need to stop displaying our ignorance of our mother tongue every August!
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