German university starts teaching Filipino language course
Published Nov 15, 2019 01:21 am
By Gabriela Baron
Humbolt University, Germany's premiere tertiary-level educational institution has started teaching its first Filipino Language classes on November.
(Philippine Embassy in Germany Official Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
The course was launched by the Advancing Philippine Studies Program and will be available to its students for the winter term.
Filipino Language Instructor Antonio Galang Jr., from the University of the Philippines, administers the language program.
The Filipino language course would serve as one of the major components of the Philippine Studies Program that was launched in July 2019.
While it hasn't been a smooth year for both Filipino teachers and writers, with the Supreme Court ruling
Filipino and Panitikan subjects to be excluded as core subjects in college, they were happy to hear this good news.
"Kahanga-hangang gagawin ng isang unibersidad sa Germany na ituro ang wikang Filipino. Sa isang banda, pagkilala ito sa lawak ng migrasyon ng manggagawang Pilipino sa skilled at white collar job na ambag ng Filipino sa globalisadong lakas paggawa,” Filipino poet Richard Gappi told Manila Bulletin.
(The university's move to teach the Filipino language is really commendable. It recognizes the Filipino workers' contributions in the global labor force.)
Gappi hopes that this would be a wakeup call for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) who decided to make Filipino an elective subject in college.
Nicolas Gaba, a Filipino teacher, echoed the same sentiment.
"Bilang guro, nakatutuwa na kahit papaano ay nakikilala na ang Filipino bilang discipline sa maraming panig ng mundo na kontradiksiyon sa nangyayari sa Pilipinas sa kasalukuyan na ang Filipino ay inaalis sa mga higher education institution. Sa pag-aaral sa Filipino sa ibang bansa, magsilbi sana ito na panawagan sa pamahalaan na balikan muli ang isyung ito ng Filipino," lamented Gaba.
(As a Filipino teacher myself, I am happy that the Filipino is now being recognized and respected globally, a contradiction in the Philippines, where they removed Filipino as a core subject. I hope the government and CHED hear us.)
Meanwhile, Jomar Adaya, a faculty member of the Center for Creative Writing in Polytechnic University of the Philippines is saddened by the fact that while the Filipino subject is being celebrated outside the country, there is an attempt to remove the Filipino subjects and courses in the Philippines.
“Matagal naman nang may mga Filipino program sa ibang bansa bukod sa Germany, na karaniwang nakaugat sa diasporang Pilipino. Tulad sa Hawaii na isa sa mga naunang Filipino program na labas sa Pinas. Positibo ito dahil nagiging malawak ang diskurso ng Filipino patungo sa pandaigdigang antas,”
(There are countries abroad that offer Filipino programs, other than Germany. A lot are rooted in the Filipino diaspora. Hawaii, for example, is one of the first to offer the Filipino program outside the Philippines. This is positive because our discourse is expanding to a global level.)
Filipino subject is being taught in countries like Malaysia, Brunei, China, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, France, United Kingdom, Australia, and United States.
(Philippine Embassy in Germany Official Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
The course was launched by the Advancing Philippine Studies Program and will be available to its students for the winter term.
Filipino Language Instructor Antonio Galang Jr., from the University of the Philippines, administers the language program.
The Filipino language course would serve as one of the major components of the Philippine Studies Program that was launched in July 2019.
While it hasn't been a smooth year for both Filipino teachers and writers, with the Supreme Court ruling
Filipino and Panitikan subjects to be excluded as core subjects in college, they were happy to hear this good news.
"Kahanga-hangang gagawin ng isang unibersidad sa Germany na ituro ang wikang Filipino. Sa isang banda, pagkilala ito sa lawak ng migrasyon ng manggagawang Pilipino sa skilled at white collar job na ambag ng Filipino sa globalisadong lakas paggawa,” Filipino poet Richard Gappi told Manila Bulletin.
(The university's move to teach the Filipino language is really commendable. It recognizes the Filipino workers' contributions in the global labor force.)
Gappi hopes that this would be a wakeup call for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) who decided to make Filipino an elective subject in college.
Nicolas Gaba, a Filipino teacher, echoed the same sentiment.
"Bilang guro, nakatutuwa na kahit papaano ay nakikilala na ang Filipino bilang discipline sa maraming panig ng mundo na kontradiksiyon sa nangyayari sa Pilipinas sa kasalukuyan na ang Filipino ay inaalis sa mga higher education institution. Sa pag-aaral sa Filipino sa ibang bansa, magsilbi sana ito na panawagan sa pamahalaan na balikan muli ang isyung ito ng Filipino," lamented Gaba.
(As a Filipino teacher myself, I am happy that the Filipino is now being recognized and respected globally, a contradiction in the Philippines, where they removed Filipino as a core subject. I hope the government and CHED hear us.)
Meanwhile, Jomar Adaya, a faculty member of the Center for Creative Writing in Polytechnic University of the Philippines is saddened by the fact that while the Filipino subject is being celebrated outside the country, there is an attempt to remove the Filipino subjects and courses in the Philippines.
“Matagal naman nang may mga Filipino program sa ibang bansa bukod sa Germany, na karaniwang nakaugat sa diasporang Pilipino. Tulad sa Hawaii na isa sa mga naunang Filipino program na labas sa Pinas. Positibo ito dahil nagiging malawak ang diskurso ng Filipino patungo sa pandaigdigang antas,”
(There are countries abroad that offer Filipino programs, other than Germany. A lot are rooted in the Filipino diaspora. Hawaii, for example, is one of the first to offer the Filipino program outside the Philippines. This is positive because our discourse is expanding to a global level.)
Filipino subject is being taught in countries like Malaysia, Brunei, China, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, France, United Kingdom, Australia, and United States.