The Blue Mantle

Sabado, Disyembre 8, 2012

Much Ado about Nothing (With apologies to the original author)

I have seen a post on Facebook that earned the rants and raves of younger Filipino users. It was about a Korean actress who mimicked American, British and Filipino English on a TV (talk) show. They consider the whole video clip insulting especially as not all Filipinos speak English that way. With the influence of the media and internet young Filipinos can more spontaneously speak English with the accent of a native speaker, even when they have not set foot on the native speaker's country.

But of course there is a generation of Filipinos who speak English differently. Blame it on the inadequacies of the educational system of their time, the lack of facilities and their having to sit under teachers who are also non native English speakers. But the video to me was not necessarily insulting. On the contrary, I feel honored that unknowingly, we are evolving a different kind of English but which is understood and accepted by other people. For a people who are multilingual, with every region having a different language, to be considered as having a language that is peculiar to us is quite an honor. The nationalists may frown at this, but it is a fact that if two Filipinos don't understand each other in their respective languages, they resort to English. That is regardless of whether or not they could produce the appropriate sounds of the language.

And who knows Filipino speakers of English may just asawell in the future influence how the language is spoken globally. For a language that is dynamic and growing, change is inevitable. Only dead languages can not change. As for English which is an international language, and is the language of science and technology nobody can really tell which direction it is changing. Nowadays one can observe many indicators of these changes. Some can be attributed to the advent of technology and which hard core grammarians may find objectionable.I have heard from many, utterances like "Please message me if you need any help" "I texted you but you did not reply" "Please accept my invite." and many more. Well I am naturally treading on the more subtle changes of language as influenced by technology. More fearsome is the development of jejemon, which is internet slang, prevalent among internet users and text message senders not only in the Philippines but other Asian countries.

And while the video clip referred to the varying accents of British, American and Filipino users of English, not to changes in semantics or syntax and other aspects of language, I would say it is still part of the way we use the language here in our country. We may influence language change or be influenced by the menacing comments others have about the way we speak English. So what? It is still English, regardless of how far different it sounds from American or British English. It is Filipino English. What is important is that it serves its purpose of communication whether at the local or international level.

Tags: language change

Prev: Blog Written with Harry Potter in Background
Next: More MemoriesI have seen a post on Facebook that earned the rants and raves of younger Filipino users. It was about a Korean actress who mimicked American, British and Filipino English on a TV (talk) show. They consider the whole video clip insulting especially as not all Filipinos speak English that way. With the influence of the media and internet young Filipinos can more spontaneously speak English with the accent of a native speaker, even when they have not set foot on the native speaker's country.

Tags: language change

Prev: Blog Written with Harry Potter in Background
Next: More Memories

MORE MEMORIES

It a bright day today, in contrast to yesterday's grey one. I woke up early even if it is a holiday, as second son is leaving to go back to his work place in Mindanao (CDO). I will miss his laughter and his cooking. When he was here Dad took his holiday from the kitchen. Now that he is gone and with hubby working, I guess I have to take over some of the kitchen chores. Gosh I am a housekeeper and cook again, at least for today. And it would mean a few hours away from my netbook and pc too.

We had a good breakfast together, reminiscing those times he and older brother would accompany the singing at the neocatechumenate communities they were members of. They recalled how they, as adolescent boys, tortured the communities with the very marked mismatch between the guitar key and the changing pitch of their voices. The communities of course patiently put up with their singing and guitar playing until they learned they skill became "passable."

With them gone, the days are different now. Hubby and I and my niece whom we have adopted goes with us to church. I hope the boys have learned adequately from the communities they were walking with and that they could by themselves take care of their spiritual lives by themselves.

Sorry if my light mood turned serious today.

Tags: church

Prev: Much Ado About Nothing (with apologies to the original author)
Next: +++thinking positive+++

THINKING POSITIVE

Just for today I have changed my theme half a dozen time. Nothing seems to please me at the moment. Sorry Riona, I love your theme designs and I would really use one once i have explored your site thoroughly.But for the moment this simple one will do, hoping it will also simplify the confusions that are crowding my mind these days.

Well I wouldn't dwell on the negative. My friend Arvind would always caution me against thinking of the negative. I have, along with my other work buddies wanted a change, but it seems the opportunity for it is clouded over by political interventions. I wish I could talk about it openly here, but ethics forbids me so. So I look forward to to more positive and more probable happenings, like Christmas and being a grandmother. It surely is welcome change, isnt it? I have forgotten how to change nappies and to hold a baby in my arms, my last baby was born decades (one too

many, Baby Ayn) ago. Well I am not too old to learn. My contemporaries have dozens of grandchildren already and here I am looking forward to being on e for the first time. So to spark more gaeity for Christmas and whatever it holds for all of us, I post this yellow rose which my students in internship gave me last October. Cheerio!

Tags: yellow rose

Prev: More Memories
Next: Things to be thankful for

tHINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR

Thanksgiving hurriedly came and went and I was left with an unfinished blog. What am I thankful for? I used to lavishly celebrate this day (usually held on the fourth Thursday of November) although only with family members, and usually it is associated with food, turkey, fruits and what one can get from other people's harvest.

. Right, we get them from the market and malls tho.

This year however I did away with the superficial symbols and delve into myself to really really think of what I have to be thankful for. Every morning when I wake up I would love to find the moon, in whatever size and shape it is in, still up in the sky. I go down to the porch of the house to look at it. Then I say my prayer of thanks. Each new morning that I wake up I thank God for my life. What if I didn't wake up anymore?

I am thankful for family and friends who are always there with me through thick and thin, especially those friends and colleagues who were one with me in fighting for a principle, for trying to cling to what we believe is right, regardless of the many obstacles and pressures we met along the way.

I am thankful that finally God heard our prayers and the change in administrator at our workplace would restore the atmosphere of harmony and peace and unity in the workplace. I consider it a great blessing, because we need to this kind of environment in order to be productive and happy. Money isn't everything that we work for. We need the friendship and camaraderie in the workplace. We need the appreciation for a work well done for our self esteem and satisfaction. True, to be noticed and not to be taken for granted.

I hope this new state of things, of peace and happiness will be with us to stay.

Tags: thanks.

Prev: +++thinking positive+++Next: A TIME FOR REHAB

A TIME FOR REHAB

I am thankful for a long weekend which allowed me to look at my plants or what is left of them after the construction workers ( I renovated a small part of the house) trampled upon them as there was nowhere safe that I could keep them. Some have died. Others were suffering from extreme malnutrition and were badly infested by snails and aphids. I am not one to use chemical sprays on them for environmental concerns so the cleaning process have to be manual. I am especially grieved by how the few vandas and cattleyas that I had were cruelly tortured and mutilated, but they are surviving and giving off new shoots. Here are some of the survivors.

this one sits by my kitchen sink. And this one below graces the toilet corner. Take note of the broken branches and the holes in the leaves,

These are varying ways by which plants have reacted to the adverse condition. The fragile ones did not survive, but the sturdier ones waited until the time the conditions were gone.Well I need to rehabilitate them in new environment. the process may be painful for each plant but they have to undergo it for their own good.

People are no different. People react to adverse conditions in different ways. Some give up so easily and succumb to the conditions surrounding them. Others become hardened as though doing that will make them callused to the hurts and despair in their lives.

Somebody forwarded me this interesting e mail. I am reposting it here hoping that we shall somehow be able to reflect on how it relates to our lives,

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, '

Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

Tags: reflections

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Next: Recycling Ideas

rECYCLING IDEAS

I am presently enjoying another long weekend although I have a tall order to myself: finish the research that I would present next week in a forum.

Right now I want to share a few tips regarding what to do with empty plastic container of mineral water bottles. It is a fact that everyone drinks mineral water that comes in handy plastic bottles and brings these around with them wherever they go. Despite the many collectors of these waste items who in turn sell them to recycling companies, a lot of these plastic bottles are seen lying around posing threats to the environment. As we all know, plastics are non biodegradable and they will stay in our landfills for a long time.

A colleague of mine taught students what to do with empty plastic bottles and although the present designs lacks a little aesthetics, I would say the concept is good, especially when we find no space for raising veggies which we need in the kitchen. All we need is a place where we can hang them, and out of sight to many people and where the plants can get ample sunshine.

Then of course with the advent of Christmas season, this is hubby's idea of what we can do with an empty gallon of Wilkins, as Ormoc is known for its sweet pineapples, the empty plastic gallon gave way to this creation, a Christmas lantern to grace your houses for the season.

Actually, this idea came about when my niece told hubby she needed to bring a Christmas decor to class to help decorate their homeroom for Christmas. After thinking for a while he came up with an empty plastic bottle of a gallon of water and asked everyone what could be done out of it. Nobody had any idea then later he came home with a pineapple fruit that served as model for this artistic creation.

Tags: plastics

GOING SENTIMENTAL

I frantically looked for a baby book that I kept of my daughter today. I want to recall how she looked when she was a baby. But to my despair and consternation, i could not find it. It is definitely lost.

Today is her birthday and for the first time she wont celebrate it with the family. I looked at her Facebook page and realized she must be very busy. She wasn't able to acknowledge the greetings that were on her page.

I saw a message on video that was sent to her and couldn't help the tears that fell from my eyes. My girl is grown and she is on her own. I wonder if she is enjoying her life without me or her father whom she adores very much and her brothers. As a child and now as a grown up I have known how she is so good at covering up her secret pains, her heart breaks or disappointments, it was something we never talked about. Not that I do not care. But I wanted her to open up.But she is so private she never lets us into her inner self.

These are the only pictures I could gather of her earlier years. I had to photograph them again as I have no scanner. sorry for the poor copy.

Oh, those days when she was mine. As a pre-schooler she never asked anything for herself. I remember once (and that was the only time she asked for something) she asked me to buy her Barbie a dress. and she cautiously added, "when you have money" As a child she was well aware that money was very scarce.

Picture on the right shows her on those Christmas days when the sight of the tree and the gifts under it would light up their eyes with delight. She is shown here with two of her brothers and Santa.

She was twiggy and happy

as a child and on her graduation from prep school I put too much make up on her.

I wonder if she had enjoyed as my own Barbie doll. I loved most those days when we would dress up in the same dress style and color and the tricycle drivers would call us "the twins". Again, I could not find those pictures.