NATIVE TONGUE: EMBARRASSED TO SPEAK IN OUR LANGUAGE?

WRITTEN BY MIKE BERNALES

Anyone notice how it's perfectly okay to speak in tagalog in your home but outside in the real world, it's almost seen as a taboo by the younger generation? Most of these kids have mastered the fine art of ebonics (either by listening to a heavy dose of rap music) but when it comes to speaking in their native language...many of them are ashamed to. I'm sure parents play a role in this: "speak English to show how 'American' you are" or "you're in America now, speak English", that's understandable. I can also accept if these kids were born here and have no recollection of how to speak in their native languages.

You shouldn't be ashamed if you can't speak it, after all pride isn't measured by that. However, if you how to speak it to some degree, why deny it? Case in point: I know this person who knows how to speak in tagalog but doesn't want to (he's mastered the fine art of ebonics too). He has the right to but why not? What's the big deal about denying that part of your cultural heritage? French, Spanish, and many other languages are "okay" in society, primarily because of global ramifications in the business world. Why are our own native languages frowned upon?

It's okay for the local tourist to learn and go native when they're in our homeland but for those who were born or migrated here in America, speaking in tagalog is seen as wrong? What's up with that?

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