Signals and cross signals

Title

Creator

Morales, Rosalinda A.

Identifier

Hello: we "mate" again

Language

English

Source

Volume XII (Issue No. 11) November 1960

Year

1960

Subject

Translating and interpreting

Speech codes theory

Cross-cultural communication

Language and culture

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Hello: We "mate" again Signals and Cross Signals By Rosalinda A. Morales When an American was once asked why there seemed to be a growing strain in Philippine-American relations, he remarked that pro bably : one of the reasons Am ericans and Filipinos fail to un derstand each other at times is that they speak the same lang uage — often times in different ways. Because they communi cate in English, they take it for granted that their words and gestures always convey the meanings they want to express. They get confused and hurt, even angry, if they misunder stand each other’s motives. Probably, he continued, if they spoke different languages, they would be more careful in mak ing themselves understood; they would be more tolerant of mis takes and less impatient if mis understanding arose. One is in clined to think he is right. Before an American leaves for the Philippines, he is brief ed on what to expect in the Is lands. Since World War II, ma ny Americans have some to rea lize that Filipinos are not sa vages and that one needs to have more than a pair of pants and an umbrella if he is to en joy his stay here. Likewise, the Filipinos have learned that not all Americans are millionaires. There are also poor people in the United States — how can that be possible? The American is told not to November 1960 63 worry because life in the Philip pines is similar to life in the States — except that here one needs an air conditioner to sur vive the heat. He is also warn ed against some tropical dis eases but as long as he boils his water and gets the neces sary shots he is going to be all right. The American rejoices at the thought that Filipinos speak English. He is therefore sure to find an English speaker even in the remotest barrios. There will be no problem of communication, or so he opti mistically hopes. It is true that the natives speak with a certain accent but that is all right. The Filipinos will most likely fail to stress the correct syllable, will say “I hope to see you leave” when he means live, will freely substitute p for f, b for v, t for th because his language does not have any of these sounds. He will prob ably ask “Where are you go ing?” with a rising intonation and stress every word in the sentence, “It is a beautiful day.” But after some time, if the Am erican is smart, he will learn to make the correct vowel or con sonant substitutions mentally and understand what is meant by "I am happy to grate (greet) you.” He will not be horrified when a new acquaintance tear fully says “Good bye. Till we mate (meet) again.” After all, what is one mispronounced word between friends? Lapses due to faulty word or der can also be forgiven. Surely, the American would understand what is meant by “I like very much Marilyn Monroe” or by “Sir, do you know if the Am erican Embassy is where?” But misunderstanding (or lack of understnding) is more likely to arise when a Filipino speaking English uses direct translations from the native lan guage. Unless one knows Taga log, how can he understand the following? 1. “Oh, I’m not delicate. Even coffee will do.” (Hindi ako delikado. Kahit kape, puede na.) I’m not choosy. Coffee will do. 2. “You are very another now.” (Ibang-iba ka na.) You’ve changed a lot. 3. “We can’t move the amount... ” (Hindi namin magagalaw ang kwarta...) We can’t spend the money... 4. “I don’t like him. He has no one talk.” (Ayoko nga sa kanya. Wala siyang isang salita.) I don’t like him. He goes back on his word. 5. “What do you want, a pain ful body?” (Anong hinahanap mo, sakit ng katawan? ) Are you looking for trouble? Cuch un-English expressions, however, are not likely to cause irritations in Philippine-American relations. 64 Panorama It is when an aspect of Philip-* pine culture expressed by lang uage (since language is bound to culture and vice versa) comes in conflict with American culture that grave misunder standings may take place. This is possible especially if neither the American nor the Filipino is aware that the conflict is due to a cultural difference. In spite of the fifty-odd years of Amer icanization, the Filipino sill thinks and acts and talks as a Filipino even if he is speaking in English. The Filipino must realize and admit this. The Am erican must expect this. As Dr. Robert Lado says in Linguistics across Cultures, Individuals tend to transfer the form and meanings and the distribution of forms and meaning of their native lan guage and culture to the for eign language and culture, both productively when at tempting to speak the lan guage and to act in the cul ture, and receptively when at tempting to grasp and under stand the language and the culture as practiced by na tives. Thus we assume that a Filipino observing a certain be havior of an American will in terpret it according to his own culture. The American in turn observes the Filipino behave in a certain situation and inter prets it in terms of his own cul ture. It is obvious that misun derstanding is possible when the same behavior has different meanings in the two cultures or when different behavior pat terns have only one meaning in both cultures. A few examples are in order. A Filipino attending a meet ing or a concert or any gather ing where an American expects complete quiet and concentra tion on what is going on seems very impolite if he considers the gathering as a chance to trade notes with a friend he has not seen for quite some time. (Ac tually he is being impolite, but Filipino society seems to con done this kind of impoliteness.) In the same way, the Filipino who does not feel right about eating without offering the food to the people around him or who does not think twice before put ting an extra plate on the table for an unexpected guest would consider inhospitable an Ameri can who has no qualms about eating by himself while his guest waits for him in the living room. Actually, the American is not being inhospitable. Unless she expects company, the Am erican housewife prepares food enough only for her family. She is therefore not in a posi tion to invite an unexpected guest for dinner. Besides, an American does not think of visi'.ing at dinner time unless he has been invited for dinner. November 1960 65 The Filipino abroad gets in vited to picnics, square dance sessions, weekend trips, lectures, plays, concerts. The American takes time out from his busy schedule so that the Filipino can see a summer play in Wil liamstown, for instance, or thrill to a symphony concert at T angle wood, Massachusetts. Aware that nostalgia is keenest on Christmas Day, the Amer ican invites the Filipino to his home during the Christmas ho lidays. Who says that the Fili pino has a monopoly on hospi tality! The American makes it a point to write a thank you note for favors received, like an in vitation to a dinner or a gift on his birthday. He is there fore puzzled when his Filipino friend does not do so. The Fili pino thinks that a spoken “thank you” is enough to show his appreciation. Incidentally, the Filipino does not open a gift right after it has been given to him the way an American does. For some reason the Filipino who gives a gift feels he has to apologize for it. His embarrasment (because he feels his gift is not good enough) increases when his gift is opened in his presence. The Filipino’s love for fiestas can be interpreted in different ways. Although fiestas have lost much of their religious sig nificance, the Filipinos still con sider them as a symbol of thanksgiving for some graces given by certain saints. Fiestas also offer opportunities for re unions with relatives and friends or they are simply an excuse for merrymaking. Who cares if tomorrow and the next three hundred sixty-three days the^. family has to live on rice and dried fish? Bahala na. May awa ang Dios. God will pro vide. How does the American in terpret the fiesta? He sees hordes going in and out of. houses to eat and drink. He sees how the people fill up their plates. He thinks that the Filipino eats too much. Later, when he sees some food left on the plates, he thinks that the food is not good enough to finish up or the Filipino simply wastes food. He does not know that in Philippine culture it is considered improper to clean up one's plate. Heavens, does the guest want the host to think that he is so hungry that he has to eat up everything? But the American has not seen every thing. Some guests would leave with paper bags filled with food. Surely, they cannot be that hungry! But the balot is for the children who are too young to go to the fiesta and for the grandparents left to mind them. Later, when the last plate has 66 Panorama been washed and dried, there will be more balot to take for those who helped make the fiesta a success. The host is up to his neck making sure everybody is get ting enough to eat. His daugh ters and nieces help him see to it that everybody is getting third helping. The hostess is in the kitchen supervising the pre paration of the food. She does not need a caterer. She has a battalion of helpers—relatives, neighbors, friends. The young men are teased for eating very little because there are young women around. The conversation at the din ner table may run this way: Host: Please bear with us. We couldn’t afford any thing better. Be sure you eat well. Don’t be shy. Guest: Why, the food is ex cellent. I’ve eaten so much that I can hardly walk. Host: Please have some more. Habaan ninyo ang inyong kamay at umabot kayo. (Literally, Make your arms long and reach for whatever you want), etc. r[’ he American watching this scene wonders at the drama which has preceded it. It hardly seems possible that these people now heartily par taking of the food are the same people who have just told their host that he should not bother because they are not yet hun gry. He wonders why the host has to go through the painful process of practically pulling everyone so they would go to the dinner table. Why do guests have to be coaxed to eat? Because it is considered improper to rush to the dinner table at the first call! Imagine what happens when a Filipino invited to an American dinner acts as a Filipino. He is go ing to sound queer when he murmurs that he “isn’t hungry yet” in the hope that the host will ask him again to come to the dinner table. The Filipino is found of big words. When he is at his best (?) he probably sounds like a walking thesaurus to an Amer ican. The Filipino in turn wonders at the “inadequacy” of the American vocabulary. A thing is “pretty good” or “pretty ugly” if it is not simply “nice” or “lovely.” The American “gets” to a certain place; the Filipino “arrives” there. The Filipino “recollects,” the Amer ican “looks back.” Something “begins” and “ends” for an Am erican; for the Filipino it “com mences” and “terminates.” The Filipino cannot speak in public in a conversational man ner; he has to orate. And be fore he “begins” to talk, he apo logizes for his “inadequacy,” November 1960 67 his “lack of preparation.” When he says “My God” he does not think himself guilty of blasphemy. He is simply translating Diyos ko (literally, My God). He also often says “God willing” or “if God per mits” whenever he talks of fu ture plans. Again this is a translation from the native kung may aw a and Diyos (li terally, if God is merciful). The American who casually tells his Filipino friend, “I’ll see you at the party tonight” should not be surprised to get the answer, “If God permits.” The Filipino answer to a Yes-No question in English is confusing to an American. In Tagalog, it is normal to answer Oo, hindj ako pupunta (Yes, I’m not going), in answer to the question Hindi ka ba pupunta? (Aren’t you going?) The Fili pino usually bases his answer on the question—whether it is given affirmatively or negative ly. In English, the answer pat tern is either Yes, I am; or No, I’m not. It does not matter whether the question is Are you going? or Aren’t you going? Oh Oh in Tagalog means yes; in English, it means No. Uh huh, however, means yes in English. If an American asks for the bathroom, he does not want to take a bath. He simply does not want to say that he wants to go to the toilet in the same way that the Filipino does. The Filipino, however, says, “May I go to the comfort room?” Then the American wonders what he means. Tell a Filipina that her dress is pretty. Unless she is “State side,” she will not say “Thank you.” She will say something like. “It’s an old dress, really. I’ve had it for years.” or “The material’s very cheap. I got it at a sale.” Or sometimes, she may say, “Is it only the dress that is pretty?” after which she is told, “The dress becomea lovelier because of the wearer.” Although the Filipino is em barrassed when paid a compli ment, he loves to pay compli ments. When someone greets another magandang umaga — good morning (literally, a beau tiful morning) she usually gets the answer, Maganda pa kayo sa umaga. (You are more beautiful than the morning.) Not to be outdone, the other person will answer back, Mas lalo na ang bumabati (literally, the person greeting me is love lier). When one is told that he has become stout, he does not gen erally interpret it as a cue to go on a diet. It is a compli ment meaning, “You look much better now because you’ve put on a little more weight.” In a country where tuberculosis is still a scourge, to be told that one is thin means that “You 68 Panorama are undernourished and should eat more.” Or it may mean, “Probably the world has been treating you badly.” Obesity is generally considered a sign of prosperity and well-being. Of course, there are modern girls who are calorie-conscious. To tell them that they have put on weight is fatal. It will mean more bending exercises and a carbohydrate-less diet for some time. A Filipino who sees old men and women in a Home (for the aged) may easily conclude that the American does not care for the old. Certainly, such a prac tice of “getting rid” of the old is unthinkable in his country! The old are respected and con tinue to wield a powerful in fluence in and outside the home. C UCH A CONCLUSION is made by the Filipino who does not understand the differences between the family set-up in the two countries. An Amer ican family is made up only of the father, the mother and the child. A Filipino family, how ever, includes the grandparents, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, cousins, the in-laws, the maids. The Filipino family is closely knit and the child almost never ceases to be a child. He con tinues to be under the parental wing even after he has his own children and his children have children of their own. The American child’s first break with his family, on the other hand, starts early—when he goes to college and when he is called to the service. When he gets married, he generally sets up his own home. Since maids are a luxury very few people can afford in the States, the American house wife has to do all the household chores. Her husband helps her wash dishes or take care of the baby. (Incidentally, the Filipi no who sees an American hus band doing a woman’s chores may think that the American male is henpecked and spoils his wife too much.) Partly because of the lack of help in the average American home which makes it difficult to take on the additional bur den of an aged or ailing parent, and mostly because both the child and the parent want to run their own separate lives, the parent does not live with his married child. He may stay in his old home or give it up and stay in a Home where he is well taken care of. An American parent does not feel that his children want him out of the way. In fact he prefers this arrangement be cause he wants to remain inde pendent. He may visit with his children for a week or so but November 1960 69 he generally does not live with them. There are, of course, a few Filipinos who have become bicultural and will not react to certain situations the way the “typical” Filipino will. They do not commit blunders with the language either, because they have mastered English. That is, they know the “precise situations in which the varied sentences are used.” Not only can they understand their Am erican friends but they can also help them understand the Filipino as well. They thus make perfect ambassadors of goodwill. The desire to unders’and and interpret correctly should come from both quarters. Reports of Philippine-American misunder standing make it imperative that both sides realize that the friendship between the two countries lopg taken for grant ed cannot endure only by stir ring up memories of Bataan and Corregidor. It should be recognized by both countries that the Filipino, in spite of his Western trap pings, is at heart a Filipino with his amor propio, his jele jele bago quiere (saying no the first time in the hope that he will be asked a second time), his desire to please and hence his evasiveness and his refusal to say a matter-of-fact no, his fa talism, his braggadocio, his love for speech-making and picture taking. He does not want to be pushed around or hurried but takes his own sweet time! He is often rtaglalakad sa liwanag ng buwan (literally, walking very slowly as lovers do on moonlit nights). He cannot be efficient and businesslike. He believes in the extension of family ties to the compadre who may now be a bigwig in the government. And how he loves to make it known to everyone that the President or Congressman Soand-So is from his hometown. He loves to make a show of his religion. In fact, a politi cian can win a few thousand more votes by proclaiming his affinity with the Catholic Church. The Filipino enjoys singing and dancing and eating. He seldom worries about the future. If it is his fate to be poor, what can he do? Kapalaran ko, di ko man hanapin, dudulog, lalapit, kung talagang akin (literally. Even if I don’t seek my fortune, it will come if it is really meant for me). To day he is enthusiastic about a project; by tomorrow, he has forgotten all about it. Ningas kogon! (Kogon is a kind of weed which when burned gives a very bright flame which dies very suddenly. Ningas is the Tagalog word for flame.) Although the Filipino can sing the latest top tune from 70 Panorama Hollywood and can out-Presley Elvis Presley, he is still bet ter at the kundiman and the pandango. Although he speaks English well, he is more elo quent in his native language. In short, a Filipino is a Filipino, not an imitation American. Probably it is time that the two countries realize this truth: There are basic cultural and linguistic differences between the United States and the Phil ippines. Orientation for Amer icans being sent here should therefore go beyond telling them how hot and dusty it is in the Islands. Likewise, orien tation for Filipinos going abroad should include other informa tion besides what clothes to wear for winter. Such an or ientation should be based on a systematic comparison of the two countries with emphasis on the points in which they dif fer. As Dr. Charles Fries would put it, the comparison should be “minute and sympathetic, not for the purpose of evalua tion in terms of one’s practices or of finding the ‘quaint’ cus toms but in order to understand and to feel and to experience as fully as possible.” Moreover, as Professor Gra ham Wilson counsels, anyone traveling abroad should not on ly try to show sympathy and understanding for the culture he will observe while away from home; he should likewise “fortify his self-respect by also showing sympathy and under standing for the culture from which he comes.” He must “learn about his culture and must be willing to explain it patiently to others.” Egyptian Enigma Here's a possible solution for the scientists who haven’t been able to figure out how the ancient Egyptians managed to build the Pyramids: for one thing, they didn’t have coffee breaks. November 1960 71

pages

63-71

Media