How an International Experience Can Stop You From Worrying About Your Carabao English
By: Tin Mariano
Tags: Carabao English, Public Speaking, Communication, Anxiety, Immigration

I’m not smart enough to learn English.

In our country, residents from outlying provinces flock to the capital for work. Thus, in a typical Filipino corporate office, you will find Bicolanos, Ilocanos, and Pangasinenses, to name a few, messing up with each other. Each of them speaks a unique dialect and brings with them distinct cultural nuances. At work, the national language, Filipino, is the medium for expression while the business language, English, is the language for impression.

Schools teach English as early as elementary, but hard practice happens in an office environment. However, if the office is purely local, English is not mandatory and even impractical. You can get along with just speaking the local language.

If the local office has international reach, that’s where hospitality and the need to impress replace practicality. English becomes the standard — in meetings, training, and all other corporate communications. You’ll have to level up your communication skills then. Your anxiety rises along with it.

In 2016, a foreigner with specialized industry knowledge joined our purely Filipino team at work. Foreigners who get into a Filipino team receive the best treatment possible. We smile a lot, ask personal questions, invite them regularly for meals outside the office, and even accompany them in their touristic explorations. It is typical Filipino hospitality.

We even set a rule of speaking only English during meals or when the person is around. It might seem ridiculous, but we do it so that the person will not feel left out. At the same time, the benefit is on us. We can practice speaking English.

Not all Filipinos are open to this kind of arrangement. The main reason is the one I mentioned above: fear of ridicule. Three major factors led to this fear.

Perception of one’s self

At school, students link speaking English well to intelligence. A common excuse that you might hear from students is, “I’m not smart enough to learn English.” Then, they stop making an effort to do so. The anxious thoughts of Filipino students over making mistakes impede their learning process.

Language anxiety, as one study shows, roots early in the classrooms. Second language classroom anxiety links to low self-confidence. Graduates bring this low self-confidence with them when they start working. The newness of the corporate experience and not knowing the ground rules sink their confidence further.

Perception from others

The initial adopters of the English language in our country have been mostly sons and daughters of families who migrated to the United States post-war. When they returned to the country, their strange ways and Americanized accent irked the locals. Locals stereotyped them as prideful and privileged. Not all of them acted that way but the stereotype spread. Fluent English became a sign of privilege, rather than a necessity.

Meaning lost in translation

Dealing with situations requires the ability to spot contextual clues. Words can have double meanings, especially when they are jokes and idioms. That’s the challenge. You cannot simply translate local jokes and idioms into another language. Or else, you risk losing their meaning. Thus, a common source of anxiety for a group of people hanging out with a foreigner speaking another language is that genuine fun is impossible.

Among these three factors, perception of one’s self is the easiest to resolve. Let me explain how.