Is there really a diction problem among Bisayas when it comes to ENGLISH?

[Ms.Beau]

^^

Nice input guys. Somewhat very intellectual, hehehe..

Actually, in another online forum I also encountered the "same thing." I was actually typing the name "Manuel Quezon" and I mispelled it as "Manuel Quizon."

Another forumer then quoted me and said "Taga Visayas talaga..." just because of the typo error "Quizon" instead of "Quezon."

Maybe he was alluding to the fact that I may pronounce "Quezon" with a hard "i" thus I spelled it as "Quizon" although it was just a simple typo, obviously because I got used to Dolphy's surname which is far more popular..

.:.

oh well, bisayas are notorious for having the "i and e syndrome" and understandably so, as the dialect doesn't have many words with the short e sound.

but tagalogs are also notorious for thier "p and f syndrome." i heard one say, "stepanie, enumerate some furposeful activities." and these i'm sure you've heard tinderas in divisoria say: porti-payb, pipti, naynti-por, etc.--tagalized versions of numbers.

point of the matter is, the p & f syndrome is just as funny

[junmar4]

mobalik ra jud gihapon ta sa issue ani na inferior ta sa mga tagalog kay feel nila sila ra maoy maayo!!

[jugs_06]

it's just the accent.. other english speakers from different countries have accents too, but they don't discriminate.. filipinos are purely basing the english language to that of an american accent.. so if someone doesn't sound "american" or sounds awefully "bad" when speaking, they label it dayun as "diction problem"... what the?

[Ms.Beau]

In my case......it really doesn't matter if I have a diction problem or not since I'm not into the showbiz or the call center industry wherein you really have to sound good for your intended audiences in which pa cute cute jud dapat imong tingog......

I beg to disagree. the use of proper diction is not about trying to sound cute and neither is it for call center workers nor showbiz personalities only. think about this. who would make a good teacher for your child, someone with proper diction or someone who doesn't care much about it? I say teachers should teach proper diction!

you see, we strive for proper diction to promote understanding. we may think that our filipino english is okay as it is okay for and among us, but wait til we talk to a native speaker. most of the time, this person will pause and say, "sorry?" That's ineffective communication. It's a waste of time. If we strive hard enough to make our english understandable to native speakers, it will not only promote understanding, it'll also earn their respect.

we often forget that our english is still filipino english. somehow we have to adjust when speaking to foreigners. i realized this when i made several calls to a chinese receptionist and her english just drove me nuts! I couldn't understand her--her english had a very thick chinese accent. Now imagine this was an american talking to a filipino with a very heavy filipino accent. I hope you get the picture.

My point is, language is a tool. If we can hone it, why not? English is a global tool--a leveling tool. It would be to our advantage if we use it effectively.

[budmendz]

I beg to disagree. the use of proper diction is not about trying to sound cute and neither is it for call center workers nor showbiz personalities only. think about this. who would make a good teacher for your child, someone with proper diction or someone who doesn't care much about it? I say teachers should teach proper diction!

I must agree that proper diction and pronunciation is a big advantage especially in the age of globalization. I can only sigh that sometimes Filipinos tend to overdo their American English. You sometimes wonder if the person speaking next to you is OA or not. Several times a year I travel outside the country on different airlines. PAL has one of the best English speaking crews in Asia but still I hear some people asking me "What did the lady say"? Yes, diction and pronunciation is superb but people are missing substance of the message kay gipalabian ra pod ug panindot ang pag-ininglis ba. They tend to outdo their American counterparts in Northwest nga ug sa ato pa, magpa 'slang' sad aron ingnon ba. This is how our talent shows maybe want.

Listen to cabin announcements in Singapore Airlines, Royal Thai whose crew may not have the diction or prounciation at par with their PAL counterparts but the way they speak their English, I found them crisp and intelligible -just my personal opinion.

[nab_uang]

I still remember when we had interviewed for a Singapore job… It was my first time to hear their accent, lisod jud kaau sabton, dili na gud maihap ang akong "sorry sir". They called it “Singlish” an accent mixed with malay & chinese... Ang amung interview wala jud magkadimao kay ang Singaporean also had hard time to understand my accent… So we ended up writing exam nalang… hehehe...

[SPRINGFIELD_XD_40]

Ive met a lot of Cebuanos to be specific in the US and they are the better speakers of the ENGLISH language compared to other FIlipinos who are non Visayans .

[laagan]

Many people in Manila think their way of saying English words is the right way. Any deviation from that would be wrong in their minds.

[Streetcar]

IMHO, basing from my own personal experience, visayans can speak better english with almost no accent than tagalogs. Their counterparts when they speak obvious kaayo ang accent. Listen to Kris Aquino speak. She can speak english fluently but with very strong tagalog accent. Its no big deal ang importante, masabtan ka. Because even Americans, they dont care how you deliver your words. The most important thing is that you get your point across.

[akosabni]

for me, wa lay tay diction problem, ang problem na a sa naminaw, na ay siya problem in understanding our diction