English turns Chinese (and slightly Filipino)
Below was my response to a fellow writer’s email asking me where the English language is heading.
The English language continues to evolve. What’s interesting is that only a few decades from now, China will become the country with the largest number of English-speaking citizens. Imagine the wave of writers coming from that region who will embed their Chinese language syntax and grammar on top of their acquired technical knowledge of English to produce English-based books and novels. Even if only a fraction of them turn out to be any good, China will still be a serious treasure trove of English works – much like the golden age of English literature during Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
Merlinda Bobis and Arlene J. Chai are perfect examples of Filipino writers giving new depth to the English language. Their novels are in English but I can feel the rhythm and pace that only comes with a writer whose first or second language is Tagalog.
On the more formidable issue of English grammar, it’s interesting to contrast English teachers here in Australia and in the Philippines. My Year 11/Year 12 English teacher was given the same respect as teachers in other subjects. English was just like any other and you either pass or fail.
In contrast, I remember that my schoolmates and I used to come to our first year high school English class with our knees quaking. I found that my English teacher in the Phils is higher up the food chain and gets more respect than, say, the Filipino or the History teacher. God forbid you mess with the subject-verb-object (S-V-O) sentence structure! My (Filipino) English teacher was a total grammar Nazi in class while my (Australian) English teacher was never too concerned about it.
That is why, my dear friends, that Filipinos are good at spotting “it’s” versus “its” and “your” versus “you’re”.
And to this day, I credit my Filipino English teacher for my love of writing.
I’m just glad she’s not going to read this email and find me start a sentence with “and”!
***
I’m still mourning the loss of a great contemporary writer, Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes. I remember reading it and crying so hard my eyes became sore. His death came only weeks after the death of a legendary Australian journalist/editor, Frank Devine.
I feel like I should wear a black armband to pay them respects. Their deaths coincide with the period when journalism is under threat and schools are in desperate need of inspirational English teachers.
R.I.P.
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