Pres. Aquino signs Enhanced Basic Education Act

“For kindergarten and the first three (3) years of elementary education, instruction, teaching materials and assessment shall be in the regional or native language of the learners. The Department of Education (DepED) shall formulate a mother language transition program from Grade 4 to Grade 6 so that Filipino and English shall be gradually introduced as languages of instruction until such time when these two (2) languages can become the primary languages of instruction at the secondary level.”

Pres. Aquino signing Enhanced Basic Education Act

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday morning signed into law the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, mandating kindergarten and adding two years to secondary education to place the country’s curriculum on par with international standards.

The President said Republic Act 10533, widely known as the K to 12 Act, would “lay the foundations for a better future for every Filipino child.”

“Our people’s unwavering support has allowed us to make this vision a reality: to establish a system of education that truly imbues our youth with the skills they need to pursue their dreams,” Aquino told lawmakers, Cabinet officials, diplomats and students in Malacañang.

A Toast to the Cebuano Google Translate Team!

Chris Sundita

Today, Christopher Sundita, through our friend Lino Gerona, informed us that Cebuano is now among the languages available at Google Translate. Here’s a toast to our Cebuano Google Translate Team!

Mr Sundita is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Linguistics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He is affiliated with the Cornell Phonetics Lab, the new Cornell Language Documentation Lab, and the Southeast Asia Program.

Well, what better way to put Cebuano Google Translate to  its paces than a nice English Mother’s Day (this coming Sunday) poem by Jane Taylor:

The Effect of Language on Economic Behavior: Evidence from Savings Rates, Health Behaviors, and Retirement Assets

Keith Chen

by Keith Chen
Associate Professor of Economics
Yale School of Management
Comments are welcome at keith.chen@gmail.com

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[Quite frankly, I am not sure that Keith Chen's new research suggesting that the language you speak may impact the way you think about your future has anything to do with Ilocanos' being generally naimut, kuripot, skinflints, tightwads, thrifty, etc. Nonetheless, I find it provocatively interesting to test Chen's 'futureless language/higher savings rate' hypothesis across various ethnic language groups in the Philippines. -- Joe Padre]

Abstract: Languages differ widely in the ways they encode time. I test the hypothesis that languages that grammatically associate the future and the present, foster future-oriented behavior. This prediction arises naturally when well-documented effects of language structure are merged with models of intertemporal choice. Empirically, I find that speakers of such languages: save more, retire with more wealth, smoke less, practice safer sex, and are less obese. This holds both across countries and within countries when comparing demographically similar native households. The evidence does not support the most obvious forms of common causation. I discuss implications for theories of intertemporal choice.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE PAPER.

An Open Letter to KWF Commissioner Virgilio S. Almario re Draft of the Filipino Orthography Guide (2013)

Virgilio S. Almario
Tagapangulo, KWF

Dear Mr. Almario,

I posted the above guide on orthography for Filipino (2013) in Multilingual Philippines in the hope of helping generate some discussion/suggestions/comments on the subject.

As I recall, the 2001 Revision which was subsequently pulled back was rendered in both Filipino and English. I wish you could render the 2013 Gabay Edition in English as well to enable some of us who are non-native Tagalogs and with suspect skills with the Tagalog and/or Filipino language to better understand the Borador and make hopefully more intelligible/useful suggestions/comments thereto.

I remember coming across an earlier piece on siyokoys (Mga Salitang Siyokoy by Paul Morrow) and this quote attributed to you:

Ang bokabularyong siyokoy. Mas malapit sa ating wika ang bigkas sa mga salitang Espanyol. Sa gayon, malimit na isa-Espanyol ng mga akademista ang mga hiram nila sa Ingles. Ngunit dito mas lumilitaw ang kanilang kabobuhan. Dahil hindi bihasa sa Espanyol, nakalilikha sila ng mga salitang siyokoy – hindi Ingles, hindi Espanyol (gaya ng “aspeto”… na hindi aspect ng Ingles at hindi rin aspecto ng Espanyol).

I recommend you step back a bit and re-read the above quote. Now, don’t you think it’s a bit harsh for you to make your pronouncement: “Ngunit dito mas lumilitaw ang kanilang kabobuhan. Dahil hindi bihasa sa Espanyol, nakalilikha sila ng mga salitang siyokoy – hindi Ingles, hindi Espanyol (gaya ng “aspeto”… na hindi aspect ng Ingles at hindi rin aspecto ng Espanyol)”. As I recall, this phenomenon is not unique with the Philippines. In the United States, for instance, I remember former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s coining “refudiate” which became the new word of the Year 2010. Language, as we know, does not always evolve in neat, logical ways. The intent is to use language to communicate — and if it succeeds in doing that in any way, who are we to be judgmental, such as calling those unwitting agents of language evolution “bobos” or “hindi bihasa”?

Once you’ve got Borador in English, rest assured I will promptly post it in Multilingual Philippines.

Additionally, please allow us a sufficient period of time to study and review the Gabay Borador — like may be a year — so we may come up with unhasty comments or suggestions. We don’t wish to hang knee-jerk reactions or impulse albeit smart-sounding repartees on such an important matter as orthography in much the same way that we don’t particularly relish a similar excuse about not having enough time as in the high-lighted part in the following portion of a paragraph in the Borador:

“…muling nagdaos ng tatlong araw na pambansang forum sa ortograpiya ang KWF nitóng 11-13 Marso 2013. Sinikap pagtibayin ng forum ang mga tuntuning napagkasunduan na sa serye ng forum NCCA noong 2005-2006, bukod sa hinarap ang ibang problema kaugnay ng pagpapabilis sa pagsasanib ng mga salita mula sa mga katutubong wika ng Filipinas. Sinimulan ding talakayin sa 2013 forum ang mga problema sa panghihiram mulang Ingles ngunit hindi nabigyan ng karampatang pagpapasiya dahil kinapos sa oras…“

I await the English version of “Binagong Gabay sa Ortograpiya ng Wikang Filipino (Edisyong 2013)” and your reply. Thanks.

Joe Padre

Borador: Binagong Gabay sa Ortograpiya ng Wikang Filipino (Edisyong 2013)

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BINAGONG GABAY SA ORTOGRAPIYA NG WIKANG FILIPINO
Edisyong 2013

ni Virgilio S. Almario
Tagapangulo, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
(Send suggestions and/or comments to vsalmario@gmail.com)

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Virgilio S. Almario
Tagapangulo, KWF

PAGSULYAP SA KASAYSAYAN BILANG PANIMULA 

Ang gabay sa ortograpiya ng wikang Filipino ay binubuo ng mga tuntunin kung paano sumulat gamit ang wikang Filipino. Hinango ang mga tuntunin sa mga umiiral na kalakaran sa paggamit ng Wikang Pambansa, bukod sa napagkasunduang mga tuntunin, bunga ng mga forum at konsultasyon, hinggil sa mga kontrobersiyal na usapin sa ispeling. Ninanais palaganapin sa gabay na ito ang estandardisadong mga grapema o pasulat na mga simbolo at ang mga tuntunin sa paggamit at pagbigkas ng mga simbolong ito. Itinatanghal din dito ang mga naganap na pagbabago mula sa panahon ng abakadang Tagalog bunga ng bagong alpabeto at bunga na rin ng umuunlad na paggamit sa Wikang Pambansa.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE DRAFT.