Language & Culture: Essential for Effective Communication

An Asian crooner was just picked up by her host at the Los Angeles International Airport. Feeling tired and sleepy, she decided to pass, when her host invited her to come with them to their concert. Just as her hosts left, the telephone rang. She picked it up.

"Hello! This is the coroner speaking," she said thinking that it was her host calling.(She had that nickname, because she used to sing in a small bar.)

"Hi,", a woman's voice answered. "May I talk to Tommy?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, mom, but Tommy just pass away."

"WHAT?" Shocked, the woman asked. "What about Linda?"

"I'm sorry, mom, Linda also pass away."

"You mean, my daughter also passed?"

"Yes, mom. They have a cancer."

"WHAT? May I know again who is talking?"

"This is Alona, the coroner.

********

An absolute mess. Certainly, the guest meant it well, but the message was not communicated well. Now, put yourself in the shoes of Linda's mom. How would you feel?

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis theorized that language is not only a tool to express ideas, it is itself the shaper of ideas. We express and shape ideas based on our culture and language ability. Definitely, Linda's mom was devastated after that short conversation.

What about when you are manning a call center? The call center agent interacts with a stranger everyday. Yes, he/she had a month of intensive training, but it certainly was not enough to know everything. And I am pretty sure, the trainer (hopefully a native English speaker or if not, has lived and interacted for many years with a native English speaker)have not taught them everything. The would-be agent must keep on practicing and learning the English language and the culture of his/her clients.

I will give myself as a case in point. My mother tongue or first language is Binukid, which is an indigenous language. My second language is Binisaya, which is also the lingua franca in southern Philippines. My third is Tagalog, which is the Philippine national language that I learned from school. My fourth is English, which I also learned alongside with Tagalog. So, I linguistically grew up with only four vocoids: /a/,/i/,/u/, and /e/. The sound of my /e/ is like that of /oo/ in "book"; however, when I produced the sound, my lips are unrounded. Instead, I produced /e/ with my mouth slightly stretch sideways, like posing a trace of a smile.

The sounds of my consonants are produced pretty much the same as in any other Philippine languages. Unlike in English, I produced my /t/ with the tip of my tongue touching the front of my palette, and voiced, not at the back of my teeth, and voiceless. Unlike in English, I produced my /d/ with the tip of my tongue touching the mid-section of my palette and voiced, not touching the back of my teeth, and voiced.

With such pronunciation used from childhood to college, it was a painstaking effort for me to unlearn and relearn. I felt bad that my English teachers from elementary to high school did not teach the proper English pronunciation, while my tongue was still soft and supple. I felt real bad, because my English Communication college professor, who earned his English degree from a very reputable private university in Manila, did not meticulously and exaggeratedly teach the class on phonics. All the while, I thought that my English was okay, because I was getting "A's" and "A minuses" in my English courses.(Definitely, my English, when written, was alright. Unfortunately, writing is different from speaking.)

I realized my shortcoming in the English language, when I took Orthography and Phonology courses in my graduate studies in applied linguistics. Slowly, but surely, my pitfall began to unravel. Often times, I stirred misconception and I vehemently reacted to the culture of my Australian colleague. In fact, I have been feeling embarrassed to say that I have caused them to end their work in southern Philippines 25 years ago after I wrote a despicable letter in reaction to one natural, idiomatically correct, English statement. I was very close to this couple. Matter of fact, they were one of my wedding sponsors. And I blew away my relationship with them. I ended their love to live and work in southern Philippines.

I have to unlearn my "carabao English". Sorry for the description. I don't want to label it as a "Filipino English", because there are Filipinos, who have been trained to speak the English language properly even when they were still in their mom's belly.

I have to learn the proper production of my vowel and consonant sounds. And, oh boy, despite several applied linguistic courses in graduate school, I didn't learn the proper English pronunciation overnight. Quite frankly, traces of my "carabao English pronunciation" still lingers unwittingly sometimes. That said, I still practice. My wife and my grandchildren still see me learning the nasal twang as I watch, listen, and mimic my favorite TV personalities. I still am learning.

I hope those call center aspirants, who are non-native English speakers, will do the same. Well, they have to double their effort, because they don't rub elbows with native English speakers most of the day. Nevertheless, they should not be discouraged. Just keep on learning both the English language and the culture. Practice, practice, practice! Exaggerate, exaggerate, exaggerate! Use the English language when talking either to yourself or friends. Definitely, you have to speak English to your teachers. Ignore those who laugh at you and label you as "trying hard" or "keeping up with the Joneses". You need it when applying for a job that requires a good command of English.