Best Posts in Thread: Tagalog child schooling in Dumaguete

I'll just pile-on here with what the others have said.

Send your child to a private school. All the classes will be taught in English. At Foundation, there were signs which encouraged the kids to only speak English. I have walked past groups of kids here who spoke like they could have been teens from my region in the U.S. with the right regional slang.

 

Classes for private and even public schools are taught in English. They are required to do so. It might not be very good English, but it’s their version of English, it really depends on the kind of school and the quality of their education. First grade also requires a separate class for Filipino and another subject called “Mother tongue” which is Bisaya. I understand this is mandatory for all kids. Which means my son, who’s from an English speaking background is required to sit in classes that are being taught in Tagalog and Bisaya and he has to pass them. I do not envy him.

 

I told my wife who is a retired teacher about your concern. She suggests bringing the child here and having tutoring for a couple of months before starting school. Just to learn the basics.

 

I find that most people here can speak English if they are forced to do so. Some speak it fluently, and the others, not so much. They mostly speak in Bisaya because that’s what they’re most comfortable with. They can get their point across faster than in English wherein they have to gather their thoughts, formulate the right words, second guess those words only to end up saying the wrong thing. It’s too much of a hassle really. But it’s a mistake to think that they don’t know English just because they like to talk in Bisaya. They can speak English if they have to, they just don’t want to.

 

Good idea - also, being in a situation with you, as an English speaker, will help his understanding. But does your gf speak English and would she speak it to him? My step-daughter is 17 but speaks Bisaya with her mother - she attended a high school in Dumaguete where they have those signs saying "Speak English" but they do not (nor, it seems, do the teachers).

 

Mike you will be well advised to enroll the lad at West City Elementary they have vast experience of your type of Situation and can cater well for it

 

My son’s first grade was taught in English with both Visaya and Tagalog required classes. Tagalog was harder for him to learn because none of the extended family speaks it, but he did better as the year went on. I suggest hiring a tutor.

 

Mike with a child of 6 I am sure there will be No problem. many have done it and many kids have prospered, Worry not, kids are sponges and within a few weeks you will all be wondering WTF.BTW most lessons are in English so he is going to have a ball believe me. and as for his peers, he will be the one that will stands out and prospers better, again believe me