Trespasses on the English LAnguage

[Bigfoot Oracle]

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I am so bad in english i tells ya. I dont know how to rite or spell it correclty. I am still figurinng out how to use the prepositions on any sentences i uses. i am so bad in grammers. srsly, i thingk these well help people who are poor in english espceially me. so guys, instead of beefing about the howtos whatos and whereabouts, pls post your lists here so that we can learn something instead of arguing or stating ones opinions and onions. now I can has cheeseburgers with me. k thnx bai.

[HoundedbyHeaven]

for a while, - that is so wrong

May I ask what you are objecting to in the phrase? Is it because "a while" is used, not "awhile"? Or are you objecting to its use as a plea to someone to wait?

i'll go ahead...as in mauna na ako...the correct way to use that phrase is when you're stating something that you're about to do,like:i'll go ahead and check it for you. and not just leaving ahead of everybode else. filipinism, according to call center accent and speech trainers.

I can think of an exception: when you're confirming that you would do what another has asked or commanded you to do, like when the character Launcelot says "I'll go ahead of you, sir." in William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.

I don't think this is an example of "filipinism", I am confident English-speaking non-Filipinos have used this phrase in such manner as a common expression even before the Americans have arrived in the Philippines.

Thanks.

[gareb]

it's pretty common to hear grammatical 'boo-boo's' as described by anniepetilla in this country that deludes itself into thinking that everything Western must be good. it's too common it's practically a knee-jerk reaction. yet curiously, not even the president of a certain Western country could seem to escape it...

what is even more curious is the fact that the English laguage (or any language for that matter) has certain versions according to who uses them. in the United States, there's Black English; a form of English that does not follow the usual standard grammar that we are more familiar with. closer to home, we have the Taglish of the collehiyalas as pointed out by rockart9. both forms, or derivations of the English language are deemed with prestige within social the circles that utilizes them, and deemed improper by those who do not. a funny observation is that the same thing happens with those who use standard English.

it now appears that the question of which English is better among a plethora of versions and derivatives, is really irrelevant. certain forms of English is suited for different settings and different occasions. what is relevant is that we acknowledge the vernacular varieties that exist within the usage of the English language.

placing that in perspective, let us go back to the question of those common mistakes succinctly mentioned by anniepetilla.

The_Child has mentioned of how this reflects the miserable state of education we have, and i tend to agree. but i'd like to go a step further. all of this happens within the context of us having a subjugated culture that wants to replicate and imitate the cultural products of the dominant West. and there is no other stronger cultural representation other than language. i disagree with diem that English (the standard usage, at the very most) is an elite language. it is the language used in the transfer and the utilization of knowledge daily. the language of the elite, the language of educational instruction, bureaucracy, technological advancements, law, etc. though everybody can learn the standard usage, the opportunity is most certainly not available to everyone.

it is then no wonder that those who do not posses this status symbol of power, but want to achieve a certain degree of elitism strive hard to get it, with our without proper instruction from less-than-competitive schools, hence the topsy-turvy usage and the boo-boo's. for those well-versed with standard English, it's funny and even irritating at times.

we have a rich trove of such word usage, mispronunciation and grammatical errors, spoken by showbiz personalities and famous people (as featured by some talk shows), as well as written documents by some of our less than brainy politicians. the question now is 'what to do with it?'

one need not be an academic to take things in their proper context.

1.) 'why does the person seem to try too hard on something he/she is not exactly good at, instead of using the easier Bisaya or Tagalog/Filipino language?'

taking things in this perspective removes the usual prejudiced view against the person which is a telling characteristic of elitism that might come up with those who are well-versed in standard English. it shifts the metaphorical cross hairs from the person to the situation; from the person committing the mistake, to the mistake itself and what this common phenomenon implies.

2.) 'how does one correct it?'

with the proper perspective on hand, a certain chunk of negative prejudice is removed, hereby facilitating for empathy. each of us has our own techniques in correcting certain people's mistakes without sounding offensive, in short, being 'humane'. this is what i think diem wanted to say when he/she mentioned of being 'humanist'.

there are more points that i wanted to point out with regards to English being an 'elite' language (the standard usage being at the top of everything), but i believe that will do for now.