Have you been involved in learning other languages or dialects either for fun, academic purpose or any other purposes? Are you aware of the importance of having a multilingual skill? For example, we had Jose Rizal whom because of his vast knowledge of different languages contributed a lot in regaining our independence from our Spanish colonizers. His knowledge of different language helped him in writing his famous works which served as the eye opener for the Filipinos to retaliate from its colonizers. Despite of the fact that the Spaniards colonized us for many years, we cannot deny that knowledge on their culture especially on their language brought a lot of development in our country. Throughout the years usage of the Spanish language becomes rare until such time that few Filipinos can master Spanish language both written and spoken.
Since the time it was discovered and colonized by Spain in 1521, Spanish language became for 350 years the official language of this nation. The Philippines was part of the last colonies of Spain which it lost in 1898 in the Spanish-American war. After independence in 1946, Spanish was reinstated in the school curriculum but it was withdrawn from it during the Marcos’ era and has since then lost its place in the educational system of the Philippines.
Despite the fact of being a Spanish possession for such a long time, the Castilian tongue didn’t become the main communication vehicle for the majority of the Filipinos, who remained using their vernacular languages, which were nonetheless infused by the Spaniards especially in the lexical area.
According to the article by L.A. Pinel (2007) during the time of Former President Gloria Arroyo, the decision to reintroduce Spanish to the education system of the Philippines will contribute to bring back this country to the historical roots it shares with the rest of Spanish speaking countries of the world, in particular