I recently read an article which acknowledges the existence of Philippine-English. It is an English language variety that is different from American, British and Australian English-es. Philippine English is so prevalent – thanks to the big population of Filipinos on the planet – that it has officially been acknowledged as an acceptable English language variant. It is so unlike the other English-es that it actually has its own slang and peculiar accent.
grew up watching this!
I have long acknowledged that I learned speaking the English language during my early childhood years by regularly watching Sesame Street (a TV show in American English). But after I have outgrown my liking for it, my learning the English language has continued thru my childhood fondness for the old Japanese anime TV series Voltes V (pronounced as Voltes Five) dubbed in English.
I can truly say that Voltes V – which was controversially banned by dictator President Marcos in 1979 due to its underlying theme of rebellion and revolution – plays a big chunk in honing my knowledge of English as a language.
Unlike the most recent rerelease of this TV anime series which was dubbed in Tagalog-Filipino language, the original one released in the 70’s in the Philippines was dubbed in English. What is so atypical with the original series shown in the Philippines is that it was dubbed by native Filipinos speaking the English language.
I recently re-watched the first 2 episodes of the series (thankfully available on YouTube) dubbed in English and I can truly distinguish that the English language utilized was the classic example of how a Philippine-English is along with its distinctive accent. My way of saying “comfortable buffalo” is so different from how Americans would say it! Ask your native-Filipino workmate and an American friend to say these words for you to know the difference.
Sad to note though, that a big number of young Filipinos now can’t speak nor write proper English may it be of whatever English language variant. One reason maybe is because shows now prevalent in various forms of media in the Philippines are now spoken or dubbed in the local Filipino language.
I am not saying that Filipino language is a bad thing. What I would just like to say is that knowing a second language is a weapon, a faculty, a gift.
say “comfortable”!
I can’t seem to identify an English-dubbed or English-spoken TV show in the last 10 years shown in the Philippines that became trendy or popular among the youth which can be acknowledged later on in their life as a basis of their learning another language.
If given the power, I would re-release Voltes V in Netflix! The version would no doubt be the old Philippine-English dubbed edition for the present kiddos of today to watch and learn. And if present kids now would reject watching it and prefers some lame and boring Filipino-dubbed TV series, me and my fine Philippine-English speaking generation would definitely look forward to watching it.
Nengkoy 