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By Lea Manto-Beltran
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Photo by
KJ Rosales |
"I have always been interested in
understanding the culture of my parents and where they came
from," says Michael Gonzales, 29, a second-year PhD student
from the University of California-Berkeley.
With this program, Gonzales believes he would be
able to uncover not only the culture of his parents who both hails
from Lucban and Infanta, Quezon, but also know his self more.
"I need to master the Filipino language to be able to discover
more of my roots," he adds.
Gonzales and 11 other Filipino-American students
arrived in the country in June 14 for an intensive seven-week
advanced Filipino language-training as scholars of the Advanced
Filipino Abroad Program (AFAP).
Now on its 19th year, AFAP is annual program of
the Fulbright-Hays Group Abroad Project funded by the US Department
of Education and administered by the University of Hawaii Center for
Southeast Asian Studies.
Challenging curriculum
This immersion program, now being held in De La
Salle University, Dasmarinas, Cavite, focuses on advanced-level
language acquisition and consists of a structured academic program
of four hours of language instruction every morning and two to three
hours of task-based activities in the afternoons. The program
includes discussions on history, literature and performing arts,
economics and globalization, politics and government, all taught in
the Filipino language.
"For this year’s program, we included
history and religion (Islam) and a one-week immersion in the culture
of the Bicol region," explains Ruth Elynia S. Mabanglo,
director of AFAP in the US and professor and coordinator of the
Filipino and Philippine Literature Program of the University of
Hawaii-Manoa.
The program aims to provide third year level
students a one-of-a-kind opportunity to acquire the linguistic
foundation necessary to engage in academic research, professional
discourse, and cultural interaction with all segments of Philippine
society.
Allan Lumba, a History student from the
University of Washington, finds the curriculum very challenging.
"It’s a great opportunity to come to the Philippines and be
immersed in its language and culture. Though I find it really hard
to speak in Tagalog, I considered it a momentous event in my life. I
realized that everything is different from what I read in the
textbook. Everything is like a surprise to me. The program is
helping me a lot in terms of forcing me to feel and express in a
different way that I used to. I’m pretty comfortable in speaking
in English but not in Tagalog. It makes you think differently,"
explains Lumba.
Filipino foster families
One of the interesting parts of this immersion
program is the part that requires a participant to stay with a
Filipino foster family. In that environment, he is encouraged to
speak in Filipino, and experience the dynamics of a regular Filipino
family.
"We’re on our third week and I’ve grown
to appreciate the way of life here. The weather didn’t bother me
at all," says Edwin Cruz, 19, an Economics student from
University of California-Los Angeles.
Cruz, who was born in California, has visited
the country seven times since he was a child. His mother is from La
Union and his father is from Bulacan.
"I used to sing Ruben Tagalog songs before
while watching him on videos but eventually we forgot to speak in
Filipino," he quips.
When asked why he is determined to learn how to
speak in Filipino, Cruz says, "I love the Philippines and I
want to go back here."
Matthew Nicdao, 26, a second-year PhD student
from the University of Washington, shares the same realization with
Cruz. "I love the way of life here. Tita Ibay (his foster
parent) just makes me feel I’m home," relates Nicdao, who
wants to be a good professor.
Though having difficulty in speaking in
Filipino, Nicdao would love to master the language in the future and
be able to read more books written in Filipino by Filipino authors.
But he’s quick to clarify that he also enjoys
reading books written in English by Filipino writer like Nick
Joaquin.
Language barrier
Every college student in the US is required to
learn other languages and it is commendable that these students
opted to learn Filipino 303 (Advanced Filipino).
"Most of the students are having difficulty
in speaking in Filipino because it’s not their first language
that’s why we’re applying the second language approach
method," explains Mabanglo.
She further narrates that these students may
have a basic grasp of the Filipino language because their parents
are speaking in Filipino or they have friends who just came from the
Philippines who taught them the language though they can’t put
them together.
The AFAP program, she says, will help them with
whatever difficulty they’re having. "Then, we included
culture because you can’t teach the language without the culture.
Nakatanim sa lengwahe and kultura nito. [Culture is embedded in the
language], she stresses.
Jodel Lanzaderas, an accounting student, minor
in Filipino, from the University of Hawaii-Manoa realized that her
knowledge of the language is still limited.
"In Hawaii, I thought I’m really doing
good but now I find it really hard to speak in Tagalog because I
can’t really say what I want to say because of my limited
knowledge of the language," she bemoans, adding, "Besides,
I have to juggle with three languages—Cebuano, Tagalog and
English—but I enjoy every moment of the program. It makes me feel
proud of my race."
She reveals that when she studied in the
University of Hawaii at Manoa and met the staff of the Filipino
department, he became proud of being a Filipino. "Now coming
here, I kind of rediscover the richness of the Filipino culture and
language and it inspired me to help in propagating the language
especially to the Filipino-Americans abroad.
Proud to be Filipino
Her parents brought Roderica Tuyay, 21, to
Hawaii when she was 10 years old. She admits that her knowledge
about the Philippines is limited.
"The program is slowly revising my
misconceptions about the ways of the Filipinos and its culture.
Before, I was shy to be called Filipino. Now I realized that we have
a beautiful culture and we should be proud of our practices like
Christmas celebration, fiesta, and other traditions, says Tuyay, a
third-year International Business and Finance student from the
University of Hawaii-Manoa.
Janelle Mendiola, 27, Psychology student from
City College of San Francisco, is also thankful that she was able to
learn more about the Philippines. Commenting on the program, she
states, "It made me more proud of our culture."
Charity Ramilo, Bilingual Education student from
San Francisco State University, can’t believe of what she’s
slowly learning about the Philippines.
"Hindi ako makapaniwala [I can’t believe]
of what I’m discovering about the Filipinos and the Philippines.
We have a rich culture and literature," she exclaims.
A daughter of Filipino teachers from Tanauan,
Batangas and Marikina, Ramilo is also a teacher in the US. With the
program she intends to perfect her craft and be able to help her
"kababayan" in the US to learn their native tongue.
Giving back
Mabanglo is hopeful that these scholars will
share their expertise to their kababayan in the future.
"I consider AFAP scholars the hope of the
Philippines. Whatever things they learned and enjoyed abroad should
be shared to their mother country," says Mabanglo who is also
considering going back to the Philippines to teach whatever
expertise she acquired overseas.
This is what Jason Agar, 38, from City College
of San Francisco, has been doing. Agar was in Lipa City in 2003 as
member of Pusod, a non-government organization that advocates
environmental protection.
"If there’s a way to help the Filipinos,
I would," assures Agar who is a transportation and education
consultant.
Agar finds the program an excellent
opportunity, especially academically, in learning more about
Philippine culture.
Jensine Isip, 21, a fourth-year Economics and
International Studies student from the University of Washington, has
been in the country five times and every visit makes her long to go
back in the Philippines.
Isip admits that her parents are not comfortable
with the idea of joining AFAP but she insists, "I want to go to
the Philippines to learn more about the culture."
"For me, it would be a privilege to be able
to help the Philippines in whatever way I can," says Isip.
Michaela Mae Angeles, a third-year nursing
student from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is hopeful she
would be able to transfer to her future family whatever she will
learn from the program.
"I want my future children to learn how to
speak Filipino and be able to appreciate the Philippine way of life
and culture the way I did," Angeles says.
For Mary Rose dela Cruz, a nursing student from
the University of Hawaii at Manoa, coming back to the Philippines is
tantamount to a reunion with her mother who died in an accident in
the US.
"I joined this program because this will
help me know more about the culture of my parents especially my
mother with whom I want to pay homage for giving me a rich
culture," explains dela Cruz.
The seven-week program will be capped by a
written and oral presentation of each participant’s mini research
project. Other major activities are novel reading, reporting about
it and a formal debate on Philippine issues.
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