Why Not Choose Filipino?

(This video was sent by Cherry.)

The whole scenario is just very disheartening.

About the judge:

Was it necessary to patronize the contestant and use her flawed answer as a follow-up question even after realizing that she is blatantly not proficient in the language?


I do assume the judge was wise enough to see a problem staring all of us in the face. Would it have been possible for him to ask her to repeat what she said and translate it in Filipino, instead of asking her to explain her grammatically-challenged statement?

About the audience:

What merits the hysteria?

Perhaps the one who can laugh that much possesses far greater abilities than hers to have the audacity to mock this woman.

About the contestant:

Why didn't she choose to speak Tagalog even if she was already given the liberty to do so?

Surprisingly, if one pays very, very close attention to the details and content of her answer, and if one has the patience to make sense of her overall message, it was rather sensible and definitely more than acceptable. Seriously. Try listening again.

However, I am not certain if she is aware of the reality of her own proficiency in English as she fumbled with an American accent she seems to be confident in. The situation, sadly, made her a quick target of ridicule due to sub-par articulation, diction and syntax in English.

One glaring mistake she made that day was not in her grammatical errors but in choosing to speak a language that is not her strongest suit.

Speaking in English doesn't guarantee a sure win nor does it put one on a pedestal. Again, I do not promote one language over the other. Rather, my underlying message is this: treat whatever language you speak with great respect. Good speech, whether in Filipino or English (or any language/dialect for that matter), is something to be admired and could have been this aspiring beauty queen's crowning glory had she chosen to express her thoughts in the mother tongue.