emus

[Message #1]
Joanne Boston:
yooooooooo

[Message #2]
Amy Lawlor:
What is the importance of language in the poem?

[Message #3]
Joanne Boston:
hella important

[Message #4]
Nikki Santiago:
hullo ebleebodee

[Message #5]
Virtue Santos:
Hello Emu.

[Message #6]
Eloisa Palomaria:
so...the importance of language in a poem...

[Message #7]
Eloisa Palomaria:
shows the expressions of the author

[Message #8]
Joanne Boston:
yes i agree

[Message #9]
Virtue Santos:
Umm hmm.

[Message #10]
Joanne Boston:
i think it also shows how cultured he is...just him knowing how to speak tagalog is important to his culture...and i think the way the priests are making him speak another language is unfair...

[Message #11]
Joanne Boston:
all his life he was taught to speak this specific language

[Message #12]
Virtue Santos:
It's totally messed up man!

[Message #13]
Virtue Santos:
There are better ways to learn.

[Message #14]
Joanne Boston:
and when he is told that the language he is speaking is inferior is not fair

[Message #15]
Joanne Boston:
i think you should have the power to speak any language you want to and no one should tell you that your language is less important or not as proper as their's

[Message #16]
Eloisa Palomaria:
the importance of english...i think it's because the philippines is totally colonized by american influence

[Message #17]
Virtue Santos:
I don't know what makes English such a great language.

[Message #18]
Virtue Santos:
In English, you can barely express yourself as well as in other languages.

[Message #19]
Joanne Boston:
before the americans came the country was speaking spanish

[Message #20]
Virtue Santos:
Do any of you know what language we spoke before the Spanish came?

[Message #21]
Joanne Boston:
so i mean, the americans just went there and was all big-headed saying their language was better than any of the 100 or whatever languages already present in the philippines

[Message #22]
Joanne Boston:
before the spanish, every province had their own dialect

[Message #23]
Eloisa Palomaria:
yeah then the americans took over

[Message #24]
Joanne Boston:
and every province had their own religion and customs...not all of the filipinos present in the philippines spoke tagalog or practiced roman catholism

[Message #25]
Joanne Boston:
damn americans

[Message #26]
Eloisa Palomaria:
hahahaha

[Message #27]
Joanne Boston:
but in a way though

[Message #28]
Virtue Santos:
Hah

[Message #29]
Joanne Boston:
i think the americans kind of bonded everyone

[Message #30]
Eloisa Palomaria:
and it could somewhat tie into why the priests want them to speak english

[Message #31]
Joanne Boston:
ya know how everyone had their own language and stuff...when the americans came...everyone, the filipinos, seemed to be facinated by them...and they wanted to know their culture

[Message #32]
Joanne Boston:
i think the priests wanted them to speak english because

[Message #33]
Joanne Boston:
dude...i dunno

[Message #34]
Virtue Santos:
But it worked out well in the end, or did it?

[Message #35]
Eloisa Palomaria:
the whole idea of america and being american is suppossedly grand, like people move to america to hopefully find a better life for themselves

[Message #36]
Joanne Boston:
in the long run...the philippines wouldn't be what it is if it weren't for the americans

[Message #37]
Eloisa Palomaria:
there's this idea of the american society being superior

[Message #38]
Joanne Boston:
yes i agree eloisa

[Message #39]
Eloisa Palomaria:
why thank you joanne

[Message #40]
Eloisa Palomaria:
but yeah

[Message #41]
Joanne Boston:
but

[Message #42]
Joanne Boston:
i think the way they punished them was kinda crossing the line

[Message #43]
Joanne Boston:
i mean holding two bibles...what does that do?

[Message #44]
Joanne Boston:
stupid americans

[Message #45]
Eloisa Palomaria:
yeah, i think thats just the way they got punished in the philippines, i remember my dad tellin me some punishments he had to go through at school

[Message #46]
Virtue Santos:
Umm hmm.

[Message #47]
Joanne Boston:
yeah momma told me that they made her stand on her desk and the nun took a ruler and whacked her on the shin

[Message #48]
Eloisa Palomaria:
yeah some crazy stuff man

[Message #49]
Eloisa Palomaria:
so i guess if you spoke good english over there then it would show that you were educated or something

[Message #50]
Virtue Santos:
Shoot.  My brother used to get straight up beatings.

[Message #51]
Eloisa Palomaria:
i dunno

[Message #52]
Joanne Boston:
yeah i think so too...

[Message #53]
Amy Lawlor:
what is the context in which the narrator removed from his language?

[Message #54]
Joanne Boston:
i don't understand the question amy

[Message #55]
Joanne Boston:
sorry i'm slow

[Message #56]
Eloisa Palomaria:
yeah me neither

[Message #57]
Amy Lawlor:
ah, you guys are making some interesting points here...but what makes you think the "language" of the priest was English?

[Message #58]
Joanne Boston:
yooooo...i have a question

[Message #59]
Virtue Santos:
Like they didn't just force him to learn a new language.  The tore him away from his native tongue.

[Message #60]
Joanne Boston:
were the priests filipino?

[Message #61]
Joanne Boston:
or were they american missionaries?

[Message #62]
Eloisa Palomaria:
cuz the last line in the first stanza said that the priest only spoke english

[Message #63]
Joanne Boston:
because if the priests are native filipino...and if they made their fellow filipinos speak english...that right there is taking away their culture

[Message #64]
Joanne Boston:
yeah

[Message #65]
Amy Lawlor:
good point.  What can you find from the text to indicate where the priest is from?  or can you find that out?

[Message #66]
Joanne Boston:
i don't think i can decipher whether or not the priests were American or Filipino...

[Message #67]
Joanne Boston:
just from the text i mean

[Message #68]
Eloisa Palomaria:
well i learned in one of my psyche and behavior of filipinos class that there were many american teachers that went over to america to teach

[Message #69]
Joanne Boston:
yeah that's what i heard too

[Message #70]
Eloisa Palomaria:
and they taught filipino teachers how to teach

[Message #71]
Virtue Santos:
I keep thinking that the priests are in the PI, but I don't know what nationality they are.

[Message #72]
Eloisa Palomaria:
maybe the priests are filipino but are teaching the way the americans had taught the filipino teachers to teach

[Message #73]
Joanne Boston:
but whatever the priest is...he's pretty much motivated to make the kids speak english whether he's flip or not

[Message #74]
Eloisa Palomaria:
i think they are in the philippines

[Message #75]
Joanne Boston:
yeah they are in PI

[Message #76]
Eloisa Palomaria:
cuz who or where in america do you get punished like that??

[Message #77]
Joanne Boston:
exactly...they'll throw u in jail for child endangerment before they let you do that to any kid

[Message #78]
Eloisa Palomaria:
yeah that's like child torture

[Message #79]
Joanne Boston:
haha yeah

[Message #80]
Eloisa Palomaria:
i wonder if they still do that today over there

[Message #81]
Joanne Boston:
but i think in the long run...english is good and bad for a country

[Message #82]
Virtue Santos:
Military school.

[Message #83]
Eloisa Palomaria:
why is english good and bad for a country

[Message #84]
Joanne Boston:
good in a sense that people in the philippines have a common tongue to speak...because before that everyone had their own dialect...ilocano...cebuano...etc

[Message #85]
Eloisa Palomaria:
yeah

[Message #86]
Joanne Boston:
and bad if english is the only and exclusive language to speak at school...if they are to be punished just because they are speaking the language they were brought up learning...then that's bad...you shouldn't be forced to speak a certain way and i think it's unjust to punish someone for doing something they have been doing

[Message #87]
Joanne Boston:
okay see ya guys later

[Message #88]
Eloisa Palomaria:
peach out homies

[Message #89]
Virtue Santos:
Peace.

[Message #90]
Amy Lawlor:
end