Disclaimer: This is just based in my own experience and opinion. I've been teaching my cousins, a grade 1, grade 6 and a K1 for a long time since the change in learning style happened due to the pandemic we are facing right now. I don't know if you have the same or different experience regarding this matter. I'm just stating what I experienced and I thank you bow. hehe.
So let's start my friend I don't have any long or majestic introduction in this article because my mind is still spinning from absorbing all the informations I've taught to my cousins from their modules. Sorry for not being so active in these times friends for I have to attend my duty as their teacher, a tutor without a salary but a piece of pandesal and juice to heal my tiredness of teaching haha but it's allright. If it's for the improvement of my cousins through this cruel situation we have now, I'm glad to sacrifice my time because they have nothing to do with this pandemic right now. It's all because to some humans who plays with fire and look now, the lives of many are ruined and there's no exact time when we will get the freedom we used to have. Enough of that rant and let's jump to the main topic.
As I've said I've been teaching them since the pandemic started and even me I encountered some difficulties regarding the lessons now. To be honest there's no real problem with the lessons because I survived it long ago but the problem here now is the language used to teach those lessons to children who's mind is not yet ready to perform multiple tasks. What I'm talking about is the usage of Mother tongue in their lessons. For example here in our province, we have various mother tongue but here in our place what we used is Iloko or Ilokano. We use it in our daily lives except when we have conversations in school and in discussing our lessons back then but now that there's a change, students here have to study their lessons in our mother tongue and I find some disadvantages using it to discuss those lessons especially in math.
For me, language such as mother tongue is to be learned at home because it's the one that we use to speak in a informal way between our parents, relatives, friends and to others. What I want to say here is mother tongue such Ilokano/Iloko is not supposed to be used in discussing lessons because there are words that cannot be translated to Ilokano and vice versa. In my experienced in only creates misunderstanding to students in absorbing those vast amount of knowledges. My grade 1 cousin was taught to read numbers 1-10 in Ilokano then when I asked her to read it in English she can't because the Ilokano version of the numbers are already imprinted in her mind. Instead of saying one when she starts to count, she says maysa(one), duwwa(two), tallo(three),uppat(four),lima(five),innem(six), pito(seven), walo(eight),siyam(nine), sangapulo(ten). Looking at it maybe simple but when you execute it my goodness, you'll develop more gray hair.
Another one is those students who originally came from manila and using tagalog as their medium in speaking is having a great disadvantage because it's not easy to learn a language you just encountered for the first time. We have a neighbor here who used to live in Quezon city and their children are used to go in a big school there, I don't know the exact name of the school and they speak more in English. So it's really challenge for those who transferredd here then they will encounter Ilokano as the language used in modules. A lot of parents are already complaining here because of that including me but we don't have the voice to reach those in the upper position to hear it. I don't really know what they are doing in regarding our schools curriculum. I'm think this was applied in through out the country but I'm not sure. Just comment below if it is implemented in your area also.
Using the mother tongue as medium in teaching and printing those modules is not that bad but what can I say is that it should be use through out the grade levels if they want to promote the importance of those native languages. If it will be use only in the first, second and third grade there's a tendency that it will be just forgotten by the students because the medium used in teaching as they go to higher grade it will change to English. Ofcourse English language will be the most used as medium in teaching because if you want to compete globally, you need to learn how to construct anf understand the usage of this language.
Closing thought
As I said in my article, the usage of mother tongue such as Iloko or Ilokano posed a problem to my cousin in understanding those vast amount of knowledge due to some errors in words. Even me sometimes can't understand the meaning of those deep words in Ilokano that's why I have to ask my lola but even at her age, she don't know it sometimes. I just hope that my cousins will be able to absorb all the lessons I discussed to them in Ilokano language. To be honest I'm not that good in Ilokano that's why when I encounter those words I remember their meanings. It's great to use those mother tongue languages but hopefully they will find a way to better improve our schools curriculum.
That's my article for today and I thank you for reading this far. What about you friends, have you experience any difficulties in teaching your children, cousins during this new normal schooling? See you in my next article ladies and gents.
Lead image: I made it in Canva same with the image above.
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What a difficult situation, in my country that does not happen, we only speak Spanish and in some schools we teach basic English. Due to the pandemic, they have eliminated English in some schools and it seems to me somewhat incorrect, since it is a universal language and I think it is good to develop speaking in several languages, even at a basic level.