On Janina
I guess a lot of you have already watched this. I laughed, I’m sorry. I frowned, because I was disappointed.
Tita Connie wrote something about it. Joann and I talked about this whole Janina San Miguel brou-ha-ha, and well.
IMHO, this is not really about how Janina cannot speak in fluent English, or why people think it’s so stupid of her not to be able to answer in English (kung ako lang, sana nag-Filipino na lang siya, mas may points yun sa akin, but I digress). What Joann and I thought was something else, and medyo bothersome siya. I mean, doesn’t this actually reflect how our education system works at the moment? Since the Philippines has the instruction of the English language (grammar, composition and literature) integrated in the curriculum, it is expected of Janina to handle the language in a decent manner (meaning kaya niyang maipahayag ang sarili niya sa wikang Ingles with as little mistake as possible — it does not necessarily mean that she has to use big words to explain her answer or just to sound really intelligent. I’m no beauty pageant fan, but I still think that it’s important for a contestant to be intelligent especially if you’re vying for an international title since you’re not just a beauty queen if you win; you’re going to have social responsibilities under your belt too, pero let’s proceed). The thing is, hindi niya nagawa ‘yun sa patimpalak. Ang mas nakaka-bother pa nito, she is already a university student.
So what does this mean? It could be because of the following reasons: either she was never a good student, hence she rarely pay attention to her lectures or she is (or was?) a product of a very sucky school system, or maybe there are some other factors to be considered. In any case, we cannot really tell. But I was a bit bothered by the idea that it could be because of the bad school system. I mean, if she was that bad, paano siya nakapasok sa university? I am not saying this because of colonial mentality or I am a trying hard brown Canadian or what-have-you, but I’m looking at the English language as a school subject, just like Chemistry and Literature. Kumbaga, paano ka nakapasa sa university entrance exam when you barely understand mathematical concepts? Same thing applies here.
And I told Joann, wow, I actually managed to extract something substantial in this incident.
Angela Solis grew up in the Philippines before moving in to Canada in 2003. She became a Canadian in 2006. Angela is 22 years old and an alumna of University of Manitoba with a degree in Psychology. She has been blogging since 2002. She maintains a 