For insights into the state of English usage and English teaching in our midst, check out the very interesting recent e-mail conversations between two Filipino professors—one retired and the other still at it—that I have just posted in the Forum’s Education and Teaching section.
Recalls the retired professor about his teaching stint: “On the same [Basic Economics] exam, I asked a question on the location of economic activity: ‘In the Sampaloc district of Manila, why do you find a
sari-sari store in almost every corner?” The answer I got: ‘Sari-sari store located in corners because you see, sir, there plenty people istamby.’ Never mind his English; I gave the student an ‘A.’”
The still-active MBA professor then makes this rejoinder: “If I ever write about fractured English, it would not be about my students’ English but about ranking public officials’ and military generals’ carabao English.” And he does so with aplomb, naming names of the English transgressors and detailing their transgressions!
Click to read “Close encounters with highly atrocious English” now!
