Thank you to the person that posted the comment about my mistake in identifying Australia (population: 20 million) as the second largest English-speaking country in the world; s/he said it should be the UK. When I checked the latest figures, it turns out that the two largest English-speaking countries in the world are India (350 million out of 1 billion) and the United States (300 million). The Philippine government still officially claims that the country (total population: 90 million, but less than half speak English) is the third largest English-speaking country in the world, despite all linguistic studies that show otherwise. China (almost 300 million so far out of 1.3 billion) is catching up quickly with India and the US. The UK (60 million), of course, outranks the Philippines. I've corrected my previous entry, in order not to mislead first-time visitors to this blog. (Population figures are 2006 estimates.)
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64 comments:
I beg to disagree about your statement that less than half of the 90 million population of the Philippines can speak English. Filipinos were trained to speak and write English even since they were born, and that education spans until college. The road signs are in English, the TV ads are in English, plus the government speaks to Filipinos in English. Try to call any Customer Service numbers of businesses in the US and you might be surprised you are talking to a Filipino, speaking in English in all its fluency. Should I say that from that 90 million population, only about 10 million can't speak English, or less. Take these from a Filipino. Paalam~~!
You may want to look up Wikipedia’s “List of countries by English-speaking population”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population). The Philippines has 45,900,000 speakers of English, according to the 2000 Census. Since the Philippines has about 91 million people (CIA estimate), that’s roughly half.
While it is true that according to the Wikipedia's "List of countries by English-speaking population" we are not the third-largest speaking nation, what rank are we in terms of percentage of total population? In another article I read, it says that the Philippines has 63% of its population speaking in English. Definitely, we can't compete in terms of population, but we have a higher percentage than those of other countries, except the US and UK of course.
Everybody, except you, should know that Wikepedia is not a realiable site to look for information...the publisher of this site can put anything down and not know what they are talking about. Please get your facts straight.
For a discussion of the reliability of Wikipedia, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_reliability.
No matter how the Philippines is ranked with respect to other English speaking countries, the fact still remains - "WE SPEAK" the English language worthy of recognition. What I want to bring to your attention is the fact that no matter how much statistics emphasize our English capability - we are being discriminated as Non-Native Speakers of English. This linguistic chauvinism has made it difficult for Filipinos (and Indians) to land jobs in the EFL/ESL industry.
The quality of how someone speaks English should be the real factor in discussing the largest English Speaking country. While some are fluent, those plucked for jobs working with a native English speaker have incredibly weak skills. If this was the case, I am technically fluent in Spanish and French, but I wouldn't go parading around that fact. Now I have never spoken to a Filipino over a customer service line, I have talked to Indians, and it is the most frustrating experience ever. In my travels, I have also found filipinos to speak english quite well, but then again they were working as whores outside an American Military installation.
I can attest to the fact that less than half the population of the Philippines speak English. English is indeed the language of instruction, but since many Filipino teachers have poor English skills as recognized by the country's Education department, teachers frequently revert to their own language as well as dialect in teaching.
From a percentage point of view, the Philippines will fall well below #15, I'd imagine. However, from an an absolute numbers point, countries like India and China would be well ahead.
Of course, the Philippines is without doubt a non-native English speaking country, whose English is at best far from the standard British or American English, recognized the world over as proper English.
i am a call center agent here in the philippines and proud to be one i am only 18 years old when i started.
i dont really care about the ranking...as long as i know that my country is one the best in speaking the universal language.
proficiency wise we are one of the best.
accent???...most of our customers would request to pseak to a filipino agent that an indian because filipino accent is neutral..all of the customers can understand...
i really doubt it with those countries listed in wikipedia...
overall philippines is one of the countries to beat...
you can discriminate us..i dont really care...
as long as call center companies are investing here in my country..it just shows how really good filipinos are in communicating using this language.
I'm from the US and have spent some time in the Philippines (mainly Manila). Virtually everyone I've come across is Manila speaks english very well. Businessmen, clerks, average citizens, and little-kids-trying-to-sell-me-flowers all speak English very well. That said, it's not nearly as articulate as the sort of witty (or at least I like to call it witty) conversation I'd have with my coworkers in the US, but it's highly functional. Commonly you need to simplify and explicitly annunciate words to make sure the message is fully received, but it's still very impressive to a US citizen (An Englishman would probably be quite horrified, but then the English do have a reputation for obnoxiousness to defend). Yes, people who work at call centers are extremely clear (to the point that you would not know you're talking to most from the philippines unless you're pretty keen on the filipino accent/colloquialisms) Expedia, for instance, has its call center based in the Philippines. The only trouble is that many people (when talking to a group including more people than just the foreigner) will interject lots of Filipino in the middle of their English. But beats the hell out of me trying to learn a 3rd language and is way better than the game of charades I've been playing in places like Japan or Italy.
i found this interesting
http://thepromisesproject.wordpress.com/2007/12/01/philippines-advantage-language/
I have to agree that the people in the Phillippines speak english well. Compared to our neighbors to the south of us. I found that filipinos speak much better English then Mexican living here in the U.S. And think that says allot about the filipino people.
Filipino's are better than any other country in Asia when it comes in speaking English.. When I arrived here in US, Americans are shocked coz they didn't expect that I can speak English. They said my English is much better than other foreigners in the US.
I think 83 million Filipinos in the 90 million pop can speak ENglish.
Uhm I guess... we could be third at the english speaking countries if we consider only those countries which do not have english as the first language ^_^
Hi guys, nice comments here. I'm from Manila and I teach ESL to Europeans. My company hires ESL teachers all over the world - including North America and Canada. I also monitor the performance of all the teachers of the company around the world. It is TRUE that a lot of FILIPINOS speak really good English and some of us are NATIVE speakers.However, a big chunk of the population can only understand and speak English at a certain level (that's a fact). I do agree though that in Asia, the Philippines is the largest English-speaking country. We do have other languages though and this is something we should be proud of. I'm bilingual and proud of it! =)
Wow. I find these arguments rather interesting. Is it really about the rankings that many find it offensive to know that Philippines is ranked quite lower than expected. For starters, in Asia alone, Filipino people are known to be the best English speakers, not including the fact that India have a much, much bigger population compared to the Phipippines. It is the way the language is spoken, its a matter of clarity, and how others understand what is being said by that particular person. I have nothing against the way Indian people speak the language, but it is rather difficult to understand what it is they are saying when I do get to talk to one who works at a call center. To make this comment short(er), I think that it is the quality of the way English is being spoken and not how many people out of the entire population speak it. Thats all i have to say, i have to go to class. =]
ly according to the last Philippine census...almost 50% can speak english...but i would say WELL not VERY WELL like a American or a British...this might be because they are fluent in their language and keep english as a if neccesary language...mostly in everyday life most filipinos tend to speak tagalog or their local language...with maybe some english words added into their dialouges...though this depends...they only tend to speak english to a person who no speak Filipino...with this the Philippines is the 4th largest english speaking country if counting their knowledge at least WELL
i disagree with you my friend!
FILIPINOS are good in english. coz they are trained to speak sinced they are laerning in preparatory until they will graduate..
thats why filipinos are good in english. no doubt to that decission
im in secondary school now at a public school only i can proved that filipinos are good in english because when we are in class the MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION is english (except filipino and others. subject) so when teachers ask us.. we answer in english. and when we reporting on the class we use ENGLISH. and my classmates are good in speaking that English!
so you better watch out and you better not doubt cause PHILIPPINES deserves its ranking on the list of countries by english speaking population.. ^^ KUDOS TO THE FILIPINOS!
LONG LIVE PHILIPPINES!
hell yeah!!
we speak good english!!
even those who didn't go to school speak english (english good enough for you to understand)
so we deserve to be the 3rd or 4th english speaking country in the world!
now i'm in brazil and when people hear me speak fluent english, they think philippines is somewhere in US or europe.. lol
well anyways,
we rOck!!! yeah!! \m/
well it can be kinda true...but if you can see...if you walk down Manila you'll see Tagalog not English...however...because of english importance in Philippines...pinoys tend to mix it up with Tagalog and English...which at some point can understand a filipino a little well since i myself speak the Anglo language and Tagalog has many words from my native language Español
most of all...Philippines treats the english language to a degree much more higher than that of Puerto Rico...and also being independent from USA...most countries would've put the colonial language as a foreign language rather than a language to learn at the same degree as Tagalog and any other Philippine language depending the region you are in...i mean all road signs and commercial ads and business...as well as the political are in Engilsh and a little bit Tagalog...90% English and 8% Tagalog 1% Cebuano and 1%Other
while in Puerto Rico...still a US territory...the former Philippine language and used as a foreign language today...SPANISH is used at all times and all inhabitants speak only spanish with no shift...not even a single word...i mean if Puerto Rico are to be Independent...then english will be phased out and ONLY spanish will be oficial and the only main language
but like all Pinoys say...comparing their country to any other English speaking Asian country...Philippines dominate in terms of knowledge and possibly speakers...however users may be false since this goes to India
Philippines: 92 million people
76 million english users
55 million english speakers
USA:305 million people
245 million english speakers
295 english users
Puerto Rico:4 million people
2 million english users in knowledge
0.1 million english speakers
India:1.100 million people
400 million english users
0.5 english speakers
I believe that Filipinos are better English speakers. Americans came to the Philippines and its people became good friends. They introduced Education and the English language to the Filipinos. I am proud that this Island nation is one of the best English speaking country in the world.
She says...
I disagree that Philippines is the largest speaking country in Asia. By far, the country's population is approximately 90 million compared to India's which is, I think, more than a billion. But considering the fact that Filipinos were taught English starting from their preparatory years proves that they are knowledgeable of the course that is being hindered by the country's poverty. Still, they strive to get educated and be a part of the global competition among other countries.
He says...
I'm afraid what will I state is something biased. For like the other bloggers, I'm after the clarity of form and control in emotion which are good tools for communication. And I strongly believe that people claiming Filipinos are all "Carabao" English speakers do not know the country very well. Let's not deny it as a fact that some Filipinos are not that good in English. But like what 'she' said above, the proficiency is affected by the country's unceasing poverty. Not all Filipinos can afford studying in
standardized schools. Because of this, the stereotyping gets worse, which shouldn't be...
:D
Well having been able to speak the "universal language" that is English is a nice trait for a country and reap lots of benefits. But it doesn't make a country great for making a foreign language as an official language. It's not that I oppose it but the thing is our own culture is deteriorating, our own Filipino language is being considered as a commoners' language for today's society.
We tend to look down on our own culture and praise foreign stuff.
It's just the old saying goes...
yeah whatever
Hi all for me the title "largest english speaking country in Asia" should be given to India since their population is big and like Philippines, english is one of their major languages. But in terms of proficiency, no doubt that Filipinos are the "most proficient english speakers not only in Asia but in the world".
Thanks!
Hi all for me the title "largest english speaking country in Asia" should be given to India since their population is big and like Philippines, english is one of their major languages. But in terms of proficiency, no doubt that Filipinos are the "most proficient english speakers not only in Asia but in the world".
Thanks!
let me say that i was watching on YouTube a video of this lady who travelled to the Philippines to see the situation about abortion in the Philippines...and she was EVEN speaking to a YOUNG woman in MANILA...and so sad that the young women's spoke back in Tagalog NOT english...i mean i understand the rural areas and the Visayas and Mindanao...but c'mon Metro Manila...they are supposed to know english...i mean this is a foreign person you're dealing with...and the ladies spoke back to her in Tagalog...though at the end of the video a market lady spoke english
but a 17 year old girl cannot speak english...i mean English in the Philippines is REALLY deteroirating...though the girl CAN understand english...similar to an Indian
india would probably the largest english speaking nation in asia and in the world, however, the kind of english in india isn't good enough to compete with the philippines.
most of the filipinos are way better in accent,grammar,diction,pronunciation and some more issues where apparently india and china struggles a lot.
schools,universities in the philippines use english as the major language for teaching.
we also use english in media,entertainment,businesses,prints,
and in government.
being able to converse good in english and unfortunately having a cheap labor are the major reasons why call center in the philippines is such as huge industry.
let's not forget that philippines is a TUTORIAL GROUND for foreigner students like, mostly koreans,chinese,taiwanese, and malaysians,
and oh before i get myself lost in this thread...
i have something to say to those people who keeps on discriminating Filipino's....
We are way better than any other nation in asia and even in the world... i just hope that you all people stop smoking something excellent so you will be able to keep up.....
see how indian and chinese speaks english...
compare indian, chinese and filipino in english speaking...
i have friends in india, phil, and china...
i can say that in Asia, Filipinos are known to be the best english speakers...
Anonymous said...see how indian and Chinese speaks english...
If Indians are that bad in English Dude how come India will become the official Capital of outsourcing business(stereotypes are there for Indians cant do anything with that- well there are plenty of stereotypes for pinoys on the same matter too)- Well I have a lot of pinoy friends and have to say most doesn't even know the usage of come and Go- Show me one single guy born and bought up in The Philippines using this usage properly and I will agree with you...
See the list here –
1- USA - Total English Speakers: 251,388,301
2- India-Total English Speakers: 90,000,000
3- Nigeria- Total English Speakers: 79,000,000
4- United Kingdom- Total English Speakers: 59,600,000
5- Germany- Total English Speakers: 46,000,000
6- Philippines- Total English Speakers: 42,500,000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population//
i think that India is a country with hundreds of languages probably the largest in the world, lots of religions , castes and subcasts, and sure there are variations among the people . Most people in India can understand at an average 3-4 languages fairy well and there are three language families followed in India that vary fron each other immensely.the accent of English may not be similar to what the americans and and people from places like Philippines are used to. but yes i believe that it is neutral. and also remember only 10% of India speaks English and its rising.
this would go to India or USA if counting English users and speakers together...thePhilippines is a country where English is indeed spoken fluent...though its degrees of fluency varies from Metro Manila where spoken as a 2nd language by 80% of the population...to the rural areas where only 25% speaks it and mostly only useres and not speakers...so in this case in the Philippines about 50% of the population speak english at least well but not very well...this might be because of the codeswitching and bilingualism occuring in everyday life...for instance a normal Filipino would speak tagalog(or its native language of the region) for most of the time but it may switch to English for a little while and if the conversation is formal and decent...but for most of the time most Filipinos tend to speak Taglish in a daily basis...so nor Tagalog or english is spoken very well...although tagalog(or Filipino as it is called)has more fluency to a native Filipino since it is the national language and language of its country's identity and spoken since birth while english is only spoken if necessary and spoken in educational curriculum and higher business and commerce and the media...similar to that of Malaysia.if a filipino is a non-tagalog then he/she may be fluent in three languages:its lacal language,tagalog and english...though the last one isnt learn that well since it is of a different family and mainly dificult to learn than tagalog which is of the same family language of any Phillipine languages
now in ranking this how it is mapped out(includes first and second language speakers)
1-USA 290 million
2-India 100 million
3-UK 60 million
4-Nigeria 50 million
5 PHILIPPINES 45 million
I find it disturbing that we (Filipinos) try to defend how good we are with English. We already know we are. I just find it antipatriotic.
While we are really good at it, most of us still suffer from the embarrassment or lack of confidence of not being able to use the language in an exceptionally conversational level. That level of confidence is almost always only achieved whilst abroad and in an English Speaking Country, or if one works for an English only company like the Call Centers here in the Philippines.
Having said that, here I am speaking in English.
Lets be proud of our native language, Filipino.
- Joe dela Cruz
hi, i am also a Filipino and i do not just depend my facts in Wikipedia. in fact i can also edit the information written in the site. Let's face it, children in the Philippines were sent to school at a very young age, even before the first day of schooling, children were already thought to speak English (of course it also depends on the parents who trained them)and way back to our history, we have been colonized by the Americans for about 2 decades. we have also adopted the culture of western countries which made us to find English as an easy language. most of our fellow Filipinos can understand simple English. in any places, English is widely spoken except for the subject FILIPINO for that was being thought to the students. compared to the other Asian countries, Philippines is indeed the top 3 largest English speaking country in the world. Facts: if you noticed, many Asian foreign students went to the Philippines just to study English particularly the Chinese and the Koreans. they are flooding the universities in the Philippines, especially in Baguio city, Cebu and manila.
it doesn't matter actually if other nations regard us as fluent in the English language. the fact that we can understand and speak it clearly serves enough recognition. but since we are on the topic of filipinos and english, i would just like to remind the filipinos that we are not limited with just the proficiency of the english language. we can do so much better, and better serve our deteriorating country. we serve foreign companies with our skills, we teach foreigners english, and when they are all well and going, what would be left of us? as you can see, koreans are swarming (literally) here in the philippines to learn english, and we gladly enjoy the little salary we get in exchange for such a great knowledge. 40-50 years from now, korea will be good at speaking english. what will then become of us? that's only one example of many. i dont mean to say that we should keep our knowledge for ourselves, but we are not limited to being employees of foreign countries. we can do so much more of this knowledge we have, better to help our country. the real problem here is how we filipinos are still bounded by colonial mentality that we still crave for a little recognition from foreigners. being regarded as 4th or even less in a ranking of largest english speaking countries doesnt make us less of a race, craving for that recognition like its the only thing we can do better at, that becomes a problem, it reflects how low we view oursleves as a race.
and, i think the article is not even worth reading. i was interested with the reactions rather than the article itself. if i am not mistaken, the blogger is also a filipino (by the sound of his name). to the blogger: what a good way of helping your country? i say this not because you point out philippine's ranking of such and such, but how you belittle the filipinos. if you are after all a filipino, shame on you. if you're not, then i dont care what you think.
hmm.. india has bigger population than philippines but we have to look at the percentage.. not the actual figure.. i am a filipina and i am teaching english to koreans. i am proud about my ability.. i'm just happy that i am fluent in english, tagalog and also my dialect which is pampango... btw, there are also many call centers near our place and also other language centers.. i've seen slumdog millioanaire and i saw the call center scene.. in my opinion, filipinos have better pronunciation and enunciation, accent.. etc.. i think filipinos and indians and other asians should be proud that we can be bilingual or multiligual.. (well other western people can't do that..)
I really find these arguments really interesting, this discussion made me shocked because almost everyone commenting in this discussion says that Philippines should be Top 3 or so and I just wanna clarify the fact that wikipedia is not a reliable source for information, well simply because anyone can edit those informations written there.
And for me Philippines should be high ranked in the "largest english-speaking countries" not only because I'm from the Philippines but because it is a fact. You may not know it but the media in the Philippines, the government, the schools, jobs and etc. most of them require english skills. Also, children from young age until they graduate college are required to be educated in English(that includes me:D). Also, Music here in the Philippines are MOSTLY in english well ALMOST ALL even movies. English is even more prioritized here than our own language: Tagalog, and most of the filipinos work abroad mainly because of high salary or they probably have their own reasons, it simply shows and proves that they have the skill that's why they can go work abroad and speak in fluent english..:D, I just wanna let you know that I'm just a 14 year old student.:D:)
Not everything listed on Wikipedia is true. Indians consistently get the best grades in international standardized testing. All English speaking students in India are required to sit these tests, this is about 200 million students. If people say that there are only 100 million speakers, where are all the other 100 million speakers? And that's just the students, there are many speakers other than students too; so haven't they been counted either? After more than 200 years of British rule, you would think that most of the country speak English! In fact, the Indian people one speaks to for assistance, are mostly new learners of English,not people who already know it. Almost all television programs across India use English. It is also easy to forget that with a huge population, many people tend to be left out!
anonymous said..
i disagree that filipino cant speak english very well... because firstly, they were taught ever since preparatory until they go to college... and in work too...
except from philippines, singapore and india. you'll gonna find any other asian countries speaks english really rare..
and i think its a stupid reason to use the poverty of the philippines as a reason that they can't speak english... even though most of the filipinos are really poor.. all the public schools are teaching english in a very advanced way...
so please dont under estimate the filipinos because they are very talented in many good ways and most of them are recognised in the US because they are fluent speakers..
and you will never take away the fact that "we speak" english.. compared to those asian countries who really can't understand and speak this universal language..
so before you post any comments, take a look at the asian countries if they really know how to speak english...
you cant judge or underestimate a person by the percentage of their population or the percentage of how many people speaks english...
its about knowing....
so if you want a proof..
maybe you can go to the philippines and visit them...
INDIA MAY BE THE Second largest english SPEAKING NATION in the WORLD, but let's admit the fact that what they're bringing in the table is not even half compared to what FILIPINOS can. C'mon people, India is one of the populous country to be in, but not even half of them can speak the Language.
Have you heard of an Indian who speaks good english? The way they speak the universal language is unacceptable. They have a terrible accent that you cannot even understand what they are trying to communicate to you.. GEE i hate the ACCENT!!! And the grammar!?! I'd rather shoot myself!
FILIPINOS are totally the opposite. I once worked in a call center company and people from the US were amazed that they are actually talking to a FILIPINO. They prefer to be talking to a FILIPINO agent than to Indians.
Whatever these statistics say about Filipinos, we cannot deny the FACT that FILLIPINOS are indeed the BEST ENGLISH-SPEAKING NATION in ASIA.. REMEMBER... THE BEST not the LARGEST!!!!!
I think US English speaking Population is more than Phillippines. I agree that people in the Phillippines speak english well.
I also disagree about your statement that less than half of our population here in the Philippines can speak English because I live here and I know my country.
On the other hand, if its true that we've been outranked by Indians, we should congratulate them because they are doing their best for the progress of their country just like us. And besides, India definitely has higher population than our country. Fair enough! It just shows that other part of their population who doesn't study english, are already studying english. Not like in our country where most of us are being taught english since we are born.
I disagree on the point that Indians have bad accent. If an Indian and a Filipino speak to any person who only speaks english then probably they can understand Indian better than Filipino.(this is my personal experience at work). I would also like to add that the accent changes with the length of time for which you have been speaking a language, so no point of arguing that who has the best accent. Look at chinese people they dont have very good accent but still they are dealing with almost all the countries in the world. Its quite obvious, if one can do the job then they will get the business irrespective of the language, getting an interpretor is not a big deal..isnt it?
I am an Indian living in Melbourne. I have many filipino frnds and i never under estimate any of them. if a person can do the job then he/she is the best. who really bothers about the accent? i guess no body.
you guys have been arguing that you learn english right from your childhood; thats good for you but did you ever try to know about India. It is just the same, we guys start learning english right from first day of school and sometimes before that depending upon the place where you live. obviously it varies from city to countryside areas.
regarding commercials and sign boards...we guys use two different languages for that, one of them being the local language and second being the english.
As we have many different languages in India so manytimes we use English as a medium of communication.
Regarding progress rate, its better if you guys go and check the actualy figures about the growth rate of India.... It has been said that India and China are going to be the superpower just because of the skills and labour.
After saying all this, Let me admit that im not trying to say that phillipines is not standing anywhere. Its just that every country is trying to uplift their standard of living may it be by learning English language(so as to get better job) or by getting foreign business.
Why dont you look at Japanese, those guys arent very good with English but still they manage to have their standing in world's economy and they are the ones occupying Electronic market across the world.
So I would like to suggest everyone to stop arguing on "whoz the best" rather we concentrate on our own businesses without being racist against each other.
None of us unskilled.. we all are better than many other countries/people so once again i would request you not to argue.
I have been in Filipinos for 5 years together. I m sure that the english accent of Indians are much better than the Filipinos, which most of the people around the people don't understand! Filipinos suck in English !
Filipinos should not be arguing about who's the largest english speakers,'coz in terms of population they're far from the other countries, but in term of percentage of english speakers, no doubt that the Philippines ranks the most.
In languages, numbers count not percentage. In 18th, 19th century british was highest english speaking country so the world follow british accent. In 20 century US was the highest english speaking country and the world follow american accent. In another 20 years India will become the country with highest english speaking country and world need to follow Indian accent.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Indian-English-will-conquer-globe-Expert/articleshow/2843529.cms
However not only numbers count, other factors the country should be economical superpower, which is a near target for India.
http://www.allbusiness.com/business-finance/business-loans-business-credit/428540-1.html
Also spread of community around the world is important, which is already there for India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-resident_Indian_and_Person_of_Indian_Origin
So Pinay's please teach your chldren indian accent not american , coz americans themselves need to follow indian accent for their future.
I am a filipino and i am proud that the philippines still soaring up high in terms of speaking english...I do believe that the population does not count how many english speakers..but them most important is how to deliver the word correctly, with sense, and grammatically correct.....The WORLD said that only filipinos can do this....peace!!
I am filipino and i do belive that the philippines is the largest english speaking country in asia and not only that, when it comes to usage, i believe that we are the third largest. US first, UK and then the philippines. the english situation here in the philippines is this:
news papers are in engish.
medium of education is in english
everybody prefer to speak in english
and everybody want to learn english from the day they started schooling until the day they graduate.
in the workplace it is the means of interview and operation
... i think english has already absorbed as filipinos. that even me, speak only in english. some americans actually here are asking if i am ameircan becuause of my accent. filipinos have a near standard english pronunciation. it is understandable in the world compared that of india and china cause thier accent is so heavy..
It's not colonial mentality. Filipinos include the Filipino language in the curriculum. It's still the first language, while English is second.
But about the number, whatever. Does it matter that much?
para yatang puro pinoy ang nag kumento dito.. :) magaling talaga tayo.. you think guys, the people of the world would want to learn from us 'jejemon' as well? magaling lang talaga ang pinoy in communicating their feelings - kahit text :)) diba, naging texting capital in the world din tayo?
btw, ang 90M RP population, hindi sinali ang mga OFW dyan. i heard a comment that in 2005, it hit 130M na daw or more..
teka, ang RP was influenced by americans for nearly 50years and was even offered to be the 50th state which Quezon declined..wasto ba ang phil history ko? oi, isang generation din yan ha..:) kaya nga ang mga baby boomers talagang americanized ...
and under Spain for 333years.. :)
To all who can ONLY speak english that needs to work in Asia (especially to those who have travelled around Asia), our discussion here being the means of communicating ( to understand and be understood) only, which country would you choose?
I am a pure chinese who speaks, writes and do business across Asia using English. I'm very fluent with my mandarin. I can read and write using chinese characters as well.
I would choose to live in the Philippines.
2nd choice? Maybe Singapore. But So so lah... Walaweh... lol...
At the age of 1, my mom taught me the English alphabets and numbers and taught me to sing English songs for kids. Before I reached my kindergarten years, my mom taught me English well. When I reached my elementary years, my teachers taught me English up until I graduated from college. I have worked for so many companies, and all these companies I've worked with, both local and foreign, required me to speak, write and practice English
Most large newspapers are written in English. TV Show hosts speak in English, more than 95% of the TV Ads are in English. Billboards are in English. The names of the malls are in English. Product labels are written in English. Music artists mostly sing and write songs in English language. Politicians speak English. All the schools in the Philippines require each student to learn and speak English.
I don't have to list down all the things that will prove how well versed the Philippines is in English.
more than 90% of the population here are English literate. We don't have to prove this to you, but if you really would want to know, come over to the Philippines and find out for yourselves.
Peace to all.
Well i would say to other guy who that the world would be soon speaking English with an Indian accent, a fool. And the last part that guy said. So please Pinays teach your kids English with an Indian accent. I find it rather offensive. Its true that India have more people than the Philippines. And i don't care as long as you don't discriminate us Pinoys and under estimate us. And i am a Filipino and the reason why the Philippines have too much poor people is Our corrupt presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Gloria Macapagal Aroyo. If they weren't corrupt the Philippines wouldn't have that much poor people. You can say whatever rubbish against us but we don't care and you can never take away the fact that WE FILIPINOS SPEAK ENGLISH.
So peace out!
P.S Indians need to work on their accents because (No Offense) i find it rather funny.
The Japanese people love to eat sushi, which is basically raw food. But despite the dangers of salmonella they have an average life span of about 80-90 years old, and some even live to more than a century.
The Germans drink beer everyday, but despite that, most of them live to about 75-80 years old.
The Chinese, bless them, eat and drink almost anything -- and yet they also have a life expectancy of about 82 years.
The British and Americans, on the other hand, are pioneers in promoting excellent health care facilities, "healthy lifestyles", "proper dieting" and the like. Yet their average life span is only about 70-75 years old.
So you see, it's really not what you eat that kills you....
It's speaking English. :-D
Just kidding! Lighten up, people! :-D But on a creepy note, the average lifespan of good English-speaking Filipinos is only about 65-70 years old. Makapag Tagalog na nga po... ;-)
oooh I find this discussion really interesting. No doubt that India, in terms of numbers, is a large speaking nation but if it will be in terms of percentage it is only ten percent of the population. Maybe it is true that half of the Philippine population can speak english fluently but still, it is a large amount compare to India or other countries, right?
Even before young Filipino have a formal education in school, their parents are already teaching them basic english like what's the english of this and that so, technically, we filipinos starts learning english eve n before we formally study it in school.
Well it is true that not all are fluent in English but mostly are fluent. even a young girl can speak in english, even it is not fluent or what they called english carabao, but still, can speak and understand English.
There a lot of call center in the Philippines and according to the one who posted his comment here said that he never had a chance to talk to a Filipino call center agent, but he had talked to an Indian call center agent. Here's the news maybe you had a chance to talk to a Filipino call center agent but you did not notice it. Filipinos can change their accents, may it be American, British or Australian, that's how good they are.
I still strongly believe that Filipinos are good in speaking the English language and deserves the third spot in the ranking.
I just want to contribute a fact that may matter to this discussion about literacy rate and rank.
Philippines Rate 93.40%, Rank 81
India Rate 74.04%, Rank 134
From here I don't need to make any comments.
Believe it or not, even beggars in the Philippines can speak English.. I encountered some of them when I went to the airport, NAIA. They can understand and speak English tho their English grammars are twisted. :)
Im a filipino and im currently in australia, ive been here for about 2 years, i didnt had problems speaking english when i first got here because i learnt english back in the philippines when i was in kindergarten, i have alot of filipino friends here that can really speak english well. I have an indian friend who can speak english well but theres also some indians who arent really good at speaking english.
To those people who discriminate Filipinos about English, i can only say.... "why don't you try to talk with the beggar??" and the fact that "Philippine People are everywhere around the World,& it doesn't mean that Filipinos doesn't like Philippine Country but just to prove to the World that Philippine People can compete to the global competition and can communicate even to the native speakers. English Language are easy to learn for the Filipinos and even the children being taught along the streets they can easily pick up those words because Filipino are clever. So don't discriminate Filipinos using English Language because you may surprise if the beggar answer you..lol ^_^ believe it or not that the Filipinos are famous around the world because Philippine people can communicate using the Universal Language... :D
To those people who discriminate Filipinos about English, i can only say.... "why don't you try to talk with the beggar??" and the fact that "Philippine People are everywhere around the World,& it doesn't mean that Filipinos doesn't like Philippine Country but just to prove to the World that Philippine People can compete to the global competition and can communicate even to the native speakers. English Language are easy to learn for the Filipinos and even the children being taught along the streets they can easily pick up those words because Filipino are clever. So don't discriminate Filipinos using English Language because you may surprise if the beggar answer you..lol ^_^ believe it or not that the Filipinos are famous around the world because Philippine people can communicate using the Universal Language... :D
Filipino have lots of Languages in their country and no wonder why English Language are easy for them to learn because Filipinos can easily adopt any languages if it's needed. In short, Philippine People are also intelligent people because they cannot only speak but they can write and understand English Language very well. I vote Philippine Country to be the 3rd Country in the world when we talk about English Proficiency (ORAL, WRITTEN AND LISTENING)
Simply because Filipinos are gifted in Linguistic Intelligence.
They are able to understand grammar fast. Actually, it's not just English that they can easily learn,but they can also adopt to other languages;accents and intonations.
It reminds me of an inter-asia debate that was held a few years back. Each country had 2 team delegates. In the final round, 2 teams from the Philippines (from UP) contended with each other. They defeated all other delegates.
I rode a lift in SG one time and responded to the lift's Malay-looking operator's query as to which floor I'd like to be brought to, stating "22nd floor, please". He quickly retorted, "you're a Filipino, right Sir?". I asked him why he assumed such. His replied, "only Filipinos can speak that good English in Asia". Nothing more to prove, I guess. Peace!
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