5 Ways to Help your Child Speak Filipino Fluently

It used to be that children learned to speak and only used English at school. Perhaps, we, the parents of today, had a hard time learning the language as students that we consciously or unconsciously raised our kids to speak English from birth.

Add to that the increasing westernization and globalization brought about by technology and the desire to give our children a competitive edge right off the bat. It somehow makes so much sense to raise our children in the language of the business world.

Teacher Kate Perello, a Reading Specialist from The Learning Library, surmises that parents have taken it for granted that their kids would eventually and naturally pick up the native language at school. Not being aware of the consequences, we did not bother to use the language in our children’s early years.

Struggling in Filipino
And now we are facing a problem of our own doing. With most educated parents intentionally or unintentionally conversing with their children in English, we have kids who barely understand, much less coherently speak the language of their people.

An informal research among families who send their children to private schools reveals a disturbing trend. Our children are struggling in school, and it’s not because of the usual suspects - Science, Math, or History – but the one subject that used to be easy for most of us: Filipino.

Not used by family and schoolmates (who are being raised the same way), Filipino has become a foreign language for some of our children.


More than getting good grades
Many students are now enrolled in tutorial programs to help them build and catch up on their Filipino language skills. The Learning Library’s Wika’y Galing program, for one, is much in demand, to help students bring up their grades in school.

However, we should have a deeper reason for wanting our children to learn and be fluent in our country’s language.

The mother tongue, which is defined as the language used by members of the community, is part of a person’s social and cultural identity. By raising our children to use another language, we are effectively taking them one step away from our identity as a people and making them unable to fully connect with our culture.

It is therefore imperative to act now and help our children gain competence with our language before it is too late.

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Help your child speak Filipino fluently
It is not too late to start teaching our kids to speak our language. Teacher Kate emphasizes that kids who are already fluent in English and are constantly exposed to it in school and social situations will not lose their proficiency in it.

So, how do we reverse the trend of having foreign-sounding Filipino youngsters? As our children’s first and best teacher, we should begin right at home in our own families.

1. Speak Filipino ourselves
There’s no other way around this problem but to speak to our children in Filipino as much as we can.

Contrary to the usual advice of assigning one parent to be the Filipino speaker and the other to be the English speaker, Teacher Kate says it is actually more effective to make it our family’s primary language.

It is important to note that when speaking one language, we should make an effort to speak it fluently to set a good example for our children. Let’s do away with mixing Filipino and English please!


2. Speak Filipino everywhere
It seems that everywhere we go these days, may it be at a restaurant, the grocery, or even just at a play area, we are bound to hear English-speaking kids.

Let’s make it into a “family thing” to intentionally speak Filipino wherever we go. We might be the only ones speaking it, but we will be giving our kids invaluable vocabulary lessons as we use the appropriate words around us.

The more words our kids hear, the more conversant they will become in the language.


3. Play games
Incorporate children’s natural love for games and play Filipino versions of the social games that they know.

Teacher Kate suggests that instead of playing, “Bring me,” say “Dalhin mo sa akin ang ____.” Not only is this fun, but it will also give us the opportunity to teach children the Filipino words for different items around the house.

Another fun game to play is “I Spy.” Make it into a Filipino game by saying, “Nakikita ko ang ______. Nasaan ito?” Like in “Bring Me,” our children will be exposed to more Filipino words.


4. Sing Filipino songs
There’s nothing like singing a song to learn a few words.

Bahay Kubo is perfect for teaching vegetable names in Filipino, while Paa Tuhod Balikat Ulo is great for teaching the body parts.

Adarna House has a wonderful anthology of Filipino folk songs that every child should know. The book contains well-loved childhood songs Leron Leron Sinta, Ako’y Ibigin Mo Lalaking Matapang, Tong Tong Tong Pakitong-kitong, and many more.


5. Read Filipino books
It is a great idea not only to read Filipino picture books but also to actually use them as a jumping point for learning. The Learning Basket.com has free downloads of learning guides for books published by Adarna House, Lampara Books, and Tahanan Books that feature not just our language but our culture as well.

Many of these books contain English translations, sometimes even on the same page as the Filipino sentences. If a child tends to read only the English parts, it is recommended to cover those and just read the Filipino portions.

Those who are raised in their parents’ second language do not possess a natural grasp of the rhythm and cadence of what is supposedly their mother tongue. Their brains are already wired to think in English!

Furthermore, we can no longer rely on our surroundings to help children acquire the language. As Teacher Kate points out, we lack good Filipino children’s shows like Batibot of the 80s, and we still sorely lack simple picture books written in the vernacular though the local publishing scene is growing.

As parents, it is our responsibility to find ways to keep the love of language and culture alive in our children and we should begin right at home.

Image from educatewithcare.com