(I know this is really off-topic, but what the hell. Thread's way in too deep anyhow. )
circletimesquare, then we don't disagree. You admit that majority of Filipinos (hence, "most") do not speak much english. 90% are of "the poor underclass". This is a rough estimation from what I recall in the Philippine Statistical Office.
On your other point, you are correct. Many Filipinos, including a lot of my peers, are noticeably concious about their accent. The American English accent is preferred. Why? 1. Because the Phillppines was under US rule for about 50 years and was hence highly influenced by US pop culture 2. Because the US culture is so easily adoptable and aggressively forced down people's conciousness (e.g. MTV) that it has become the standard of what is "best" (sadly).
It's really quite funny from an outsider's point of view. And sad for Filipinos, like me, who see many of his fellow countrymen trying to be something their not. Filipino is the official language, and English (Filipino English if you like) is a very strong second language. Most native English speakers won't have a problem communicating when they travel here.
But the hell to the accent. As I always say, language sans accents is all about communicating: "Ham-bur-ger" (pronounced the American way) means just the same as "Ham-boor-gerr" (the Filipino way).
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(I know this is really off-topic, but what the hell. Thread's way in too deep anyhow. )
circletimesquare, then we don't disagree. You admit that majority of Filipinos (hence, "most") do not speak much english. 90% are of "the poor underclass". This is a rough estimation from what I recall in the Philippine Statistical Office.
On your other point, you are correct. Many Filipinos, including a lot of my peers, are noticeably concious about their accent. The American English accent is preferred. Why?
1. Because the Phillppines was under US rule for about 50 years and was hence highly influenced by US pop culture
2. Because the US culture is so easily adoptable and aggressively forced down people's conciousness (e.g. MTV) that it has become the standard of what is "best" (sadly).
It's really quite funny from an outsider's point of view. And sad for Filipinos, like me, who see many of his fellow countrymen trying to be something their not. Filipino is the official language, and English (Filipino English if you like) is a very strong second language. Most native English speakers won't have a problem communicating when they travel here.
But the hell to the accent. As I always say, language sans accents is all about communicating: "Ham-bur-ger" (pronounced the American way) means just the same as "Ham-boor-gerr" (the Filipino way).
Just my thoughts.
i live in the philippines.
and no, not everyone speaks english.
stay on topic.