Philippine ranked #43 out of 87 "best countries"

[Old55]

10 minutes ago, Clermont said:

They might be counting hand motions as verbal language, I got the dreaded middle finger by a young kid the other day.

And lips. Don't forget those strange Filipino lip indicators. 

[MotorSarge]

1 hour ago, Old55 said:

And lips. Don't forget those strange Filipino lip indicators. 

The Gunman on the back of the bikes only reacts to the drivers' lips.... always silent & always successful..

Edited September 28, 2023 by MotorSarge
mis spell

[hk blues]

6 hours ago, Old55 said:

And lips. Don't forget those strange Filipino lip indicators. 

LOL...we had an example of this sitting on the sofa last night.  I asked my wife where the ultrasound of our son was and she did the lip thing much to the amusement of me and our son. Basically, based on her lip gesture we were able to narrow down the location of the ultrasound to somewhere in the northern hemisphere but nowhere more specific! 

[Kingpin]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:27 AM, craftbeerlover said:

Most of the private schools English is the language used, however, the other 10 bazillion public school English is a mere footnote.

Hardly a footnote, it's literally one of a handful of subjects in every grade of every public elementary school in the country. And yes it's also officially recognized...just not on the citizenship test..........

[craftbeerlover]

8 hours ago, Kingpin said:

Hardly a footnote, it's literally one of a handful of subjects in every grade of every public elementary school in the country. And yes it's also officially recognized...just not on the citizenship test..........

oh really, how many kids have you put through school in the Philippines, and how many years have you lived here.?   Yes it is one of the subjects, and for sure they all learn "nosebleed", because that is the reply you will get from many many students and high school graduates.   Granted not all schools are the same, but the further you get away from manila and the closer you are to the provincial lifestyle (which is a vast majority of the schools in the Philippines), it is a mere footnote. 

[Mike J]

9 hours ago, craftbeerlover said:

oh really, how many kids have you put through school in the Philippines, and how many years have you lived here.?   Yes it is one of the subjects, and for sure they all learn "nosebleed", because that is the reply you will get from many many students and high school graduates.   Granted not all schools are the same, but the further you get away from manila and the closer you are to the provincial lifestyle (which is a vast majority of the schools in the Philippines), it is a mere footnote. 

Interesting.  Lived here 10 years and we have sponsored a number of high school and college youth.  We live in the province and work with/mentor youth as part of our ministry.  The majority of mid-high and high school students do speak English.  They may not be fluent, and are often reluctant to speak English out of fear/embarrassment etc. But they do understand basic English and are able to have basic conversation.  A reluctance to speak English does not necessarily mean they cannot speak or understand English.

[MotorSarge]

38 minutes ago, Mike J said:

They may not be fluent, and are often reluctant to speak English out of fear/embarrassment etc. But they do understand basic English and are able to have basic conversation.  A reluctance to speak English does not necessarily mean they cannot speak or understand English.

We've often ran into this with meeting new friends of the family.

Once we reassured them that we understood their nosebleed, they often relaxed and spoke better English.

[Kingpin]

13 hours ago, craftbeerlover said:

oh really

Yep, and thanks for proving it:

 

13 hours ago, craftbeerlover said:

 Yes it is one of the subjects

 

13 hours ago, craftbeerlover said:

the further you get away from manila and the closer you are to the provincial lifestyle (which is a vast majority of the schools in the Philippines),

If you think Manila is the only city here you have a lot to learn. If you think most of population lives a "provincial lifestyle", you have a lot to learn, because you're wrong again.

 

[craftbeerlover]

On 9/28/2023 at 10:25 PM, Kingpin said:

 

 

13 hours ago, Mike J said:

 They may not be fluent, and are often reluctant to speak English out of fear/embarrassment etc. But they do understand basic English and are able to have basic conversation.  A reluctance to speak English does not necessarily mean they cannot speak or understand English.

Interesting as well, as "conversational" english is what I was referring to.   Maybe my overall assessment was inaccurate  then.   Many I had spoken with, even within my own family had a very limited grasp of the English language.  Yes they understand hello, how are you etc. but could not really carry on a conversation and I would get a smile and the 'nosebleed' comeback.   I just thought after 10-12 years their conversational English would be a little better.   The retorts disagree with me, so I happily admit I was wrong, and it is better than I had thought. 

[Possum]

In my experience the majority of the population cannot speak conversational English. Keep in mind the majority  may or may not complete 12 years of education. In a discussion with my wife I  estimated 20% were conversant in English and she said likely about 10 percent. The reason is most westerners in the provinces only encounter Filipinos in the malls where a knowledge of English is required but the standard is low. There is always a go to person for the non-conversant to call to interpret. In the NCR area if one can afford a private education the English knowledge is higher. When I mentioned to my wife the fact that English was a required course when she was going to school she laughed. She said, "Being able to repeat English phases  was required but understanding what they meant? Haha. We were basically like parrots, many times the teachers were just repeating words from a book too, it was a joke among us all"

So to say a big advantage of the Philippines is that most can speak English is BS. i knew better than to assume that when I moved here. Matter of fact I get wary when someone I don't know comes to me and starts speaking fluent English.