I came from the province of Antique. I’ve spent my entire childhood living in Barangay Tinogboc in Semirara Island. Both my father and my mother are native speakers. We speak Hiligaynon when communicating with each other at home.
Although my books are in published in either English or Tagalog, our teachers seldom use them as means of communication, thus hindering our capability to comprehend words that are not Hiligaynon. Having to speak only one dialect did not bother me at first not until I’ve transferred to a private school. That was when I really had the struggle. My classmates were speaking in Tagalog, I find it difficult to understand and talk to them because I felt like I didn’t belong. There’s this one time that I really felt awful for not having studied Tagalog. I tried answering a question by our teacher and all of the sudden, my classmates were already laughing at my face. I really felt embarrassed. I used a word in our dialect that means something different in Tagalog. I answered my teacher “bulbol” which I’m referring to a chicken’s feather in our native tongue. I am not aware that time that it means pubic hair to them. After that day, I’ve decided to learn and read more so that embarrassing event would never happen again.
During my high school years, I’ve been more aware of my language. I still have that regional defect but that only happens when I’m speaking in the English language, so it is not really something big that I should be concerned about. By this time, I’ve been introduced to other dialects. I had classmates who came from various places, particularly in Cebu, Negros and Zamboanga. They speak Bisaya and Ilonggo (Another Hiligaynon). They are also not that much good in speaking Tagalog. Most of the time, they communicate with us in their own dialects which have heavy accents. Since I’ve made friends with them, I could adapt the way they talk to each other. This is not an issue before. It’s not even something to fret about. But there is something that one should be concerned about and that is the way how I send or write a message. It is something to be concerned about because it involves use of language. We know that language is either spoken or written. I use “Jeje” words whenever I communicate with my friends through phone or even through love letters to my crushes. I was not the only one who does things like this. Even my friends send their text messages like that. Words like “Eow phouxxzs” instead of using the simple words “Hello po”. I became aware that “Jejemons” were being ridiculed when I had the chance to chat and talk with my friend in Manila. He would constantly nag. He’s starting to be annoying and that’s the time when I decided to correct the way I’m write things.
