Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The Unique Filipino Communication Style


THE UNIQUE FILIPINO COMMUNICATION STYLE
by Antonio C. Antonio
August 26, 2014

The biggest export of the Philippines is an English-speaking workforce.  In fact, the Philippine economy is largely spurred by remittances from these expatriate Filipinos.  Another interesting fact is that all Filipino families normally have a member who is working somewhere else in the world.  The acceptability of Filipino workers abroad is strongly embedded on an educational system which uses the English language from day one.  Filipinos are considered the 3rd largest English-speaking group next to the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Filipino communication style is quite unique and often funny.  Although the communication pattern seems American or British, the coded language is very Asian in origin.  These actions and thought processes become very confusing at times.  Prior to English there was also the strong influence of the Spanish language.  This curious mix of language influences resulted to what is commonly known as “Taglish”… a colloquial term for Tagalog and English.  I remember a former Pinay beauty queen who wanted to say “great/big” but had a Filipino word in her mind, “bonggang-bongga”… result: she ended up saying “major-major”.

On Filipino English:  There are approximately 111 dialects in the Philippines but everybody can speak acceptable and readily understood English.  A Visayan tour group leader asked for directions at the information counter of a convention center in England: “Sir, how do we get to the Lord Cornwall Hall?”  The Brit politely responded: “Please take the lift to the 3rd floor.”  The tour guide said “Thanks”, turned around to address his fellow Pinoys and said: “Uki, sa kalewa daw tayu magponta.”

On One-Syllable Filipino Words:  Pinoy words may seem peculiar sometimes but unique in application.  Imagine you’re inside an elevator.  Suddenly the doors open to a beautiful lady who asks: “Ba ba ba ba?” (Going down?)  Then another lady inside the elevator answers: “Ba ba ba!” (Going down!)  This may seem odd to foreign ears but the difference in expressive intonation would make the conversation between the two ladies logical.

On Cross-Signal Meaning:  Filipinos, because of their friendly and accommodating nature, often have difficulties saying “no”.  An American PH country manager was emotionally explaining his discomfort to another American in a bar.  He, in what he thought was dishonesty, noted that his Filipino employees could not say “no” when they actually mean “no”.  Later, as his friend explained, Pinoys would rather say “yes, however…”, “yes, but…” or “maybe” and generally have a penchant of saying “yes” when they actually mean “no” because saying “no” is considered unfriendly, undiplomatic and confrontational.  And that Pinoys have difficulties contending with frankness; also considered to be rude and not polite.  Filipinos, however, relentlessly avoid hurting the feeling of others.

On Body Language:  Filipinos have a whole gamut of non-verbal communication styles, such as: (1) Raising the eyebrows or lifting the head slightly mean “yes”; (2) Using the index finger to point at a person or something is considered rude and aggressive so Pinoys will choose to use their mouths and lips to point at anything; (3) Pinoys who accidentally fall on their knees will never cry in spite of the pain; and would prefer to smile and say: “Kaya ba ninyo yan?” (Can any of you guys do that?); (4) The ubiquitous smile of the Filipino should never be considered as an expression of happiness; they smile even when they are angry or hurt; and, many other peculiar body language only Filipinos can show.

Having mentioned just a few peculiarities of the Filipino style of communication (plus others you know), it does present a very interesting study worthy of continued studies.  But please allow me to say that communication styles evolve and change and, therefore, make a continuing study necessary.  Also, no one study could really capture the sense and essence of the unique Filipino communication style.

Just my little thoughts…

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