Why Do Province Girls Struggle Speaking English? | Street Interviews

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Hi everyone!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy the video! Please like and comment, much appreciated! ♥

[@user-zy1oh8jk7j]

Thanks for the video

[@ronbuckpitt789]

Yes So much bettter than all other Asian countries😮

[@VeganV5912]

Good English, proud 🤓♥️👩🏽👩🏽‍🦱…. 👏👏👏😌🇵🇭

[@thaidawg9231]

As an English teacher for more than 40 years I can tell you that the answer is daily practice. You must practice conversation daily. It's the same for anything that humans want to do well you must practice. If you want to play piano well you must practice everyday, if you want to improve your basketball skills you must practice everyday. As my grandparents used to say, Practice makes perfect.

[@kranzonguam]

❤As a long-term English teacher, the confidence issue is key. If kids are told "You're wrong" too often, or if they're put down for not using "perfect English" they won't develop the confidence needed to use a new language. Well said by all of the interviewees!

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thanks for sharing that! You are right, confidence is key.

[@quantomic1106]

Many reasons. -1. They don't need to so they don't speak it. Don't use it you lose it. -2. Teachers themselves struggle with it so you can't expect the students to be better. -3. Most provinces speak languages with "hard" vocalizations like Waray-Waray and Bisaya and I speak both. These languages can't easily "transfer" to English which has "softer" vocalization. That's why you'll see many province locals have difficulties with the letters F, V, J, Z, and anything that starts with TH like "the" or "that". Instead, they pronounce these letters as if they are P, B, G S or D. This also applies the other way. Native English speakers will struggle more speaking Bisaya or Waray-Waray since their tongues are not used to hard pronunciations like the double RRs. I spoke mostly Waray-Waray when living in the Philippines and I have encountered these same difficulties for many many years when I moved to the US. Tagalog speakers seem to get it much faster.

[@steven-u1q]

Thank you for another great video, i love your interviews and i love the people of the philippines. The women always seem so shy and they're always smiling which makes me smile the whole time im watching, thanks again.

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Our pleasure! Thanks for watching!

[@American_Mike]

Everyone in this video speaks wonderful English and none of them should be ashamed of it. Rizza is adorable and will become a great caregiver.

[@ErlitasWorld]

Or a good medical doctor instead

[@richardguthrie6765]

Ann❤❤❤❤

[@DiamondSanfordJr]

Just from the outside looking in, the Philippine school system does a good job at teaching English reading & writing, just now so well at teaching speaking skills. 😅

[@benwillys5503]

I think, Filipinos in general just need more opportunities to work or interact with English speaking people or employers…

[@shihdach6936]

Speaking broken english is always made fun of in PH. Thta’s why it’s intimidating for many people to practice speaking in English. I just wish we had a more relaxed attitude about English fluency, it is not our mother tongue after all.

[@travels129]

Wats the best place in BICOL for foreigners??

[@tonig.]

So for my feeling from what I see from the Philippine KZbin channels, they can all handle the English language quite well. Lorie, things look completely different here in South America. Here I always have the feeling that the Spanish language cannot be defeated, especially in music. English music is only limited to the oldies that already had covers in Spanish or were quite popular like songs from Kiss - I Was Made For Lovin' You or Bon Jovi. Latin Americans are more interested in the Spanish language, culture, etc. and for the most part do not see it as an advantage to speak English, for example. to gain a better foothold in other countries. They are more down to earth here. They also did not experience the consistent Americanization in all areas, as was the case in Europe after the war. Seen from this point of view, the Philippines is more advanced in internationalization. So if you want to get ahead in South America, on the streets, in the authorities, etc., it is essential to speak Spanish.

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thanks for sharing that, Toni! Have a great weekend, our friend!

[@daveberlier7054]

Not just providence ladies struggle with speaking English. Most have little interest or incentive to practice and get better. Plus English teacher from Philippines in many cases MIs pronounce the words. So the student learns to say it improperly. In addition too many are too proud and get upset when we cannot understand the word as the sentence is wrong like tense, or wrong use of he or she along with mispronouncing ma y words. I have found those that are open minded are ok with being corrected. The ones that learn English better become OFW get better jobs abroad and in the Philippines. Ladies that want westerns would do themselves a huge favor and learn English better. Communication will get them a better guy and as I said better job. If they don’t want foreigners and are ok with low paying jobs then don’t get better at English.

[@jamesrose7281]

Their teachers struggle with English. Especially pronunciation. No surprise students struggle.

[@goatman3828]

I actually like their pronunciation on a lot of words. And you can take, for example, French for all 12 years of school in America and then go to France. They will think you can't pronounce most of their words too.

[@veezhang4678]

whats the use of pronunciation if you have bad grammar?

[@user-zy1oh8jk7j]

PISA score ranked 77 out of 81 countries in reading their own language. But in my experience that's not the biggest problem with speaking common daily English. My observation is that the people are critical of each other about almost anything at the level of cruelty. The victims, almost everyone, laugh it off, but human nature is to avoid criticism and just not do or say anything. Ways to improve English speaking are happening. Cell phones playing children's shows in English, a double edge sword since cell phone usage under 7 is 100% to result in behavior problems. One of the first adult Filipino I knew that spoke very good English was an American movie junkie.

[@Frank_Nemo]

6:06 Having a teacher who can actually speak fluent English is always a good first step for those wishing to learn English!

[@jimbohi3648]

English does not have to be perfect they are beautiful accent makes it so cute and endearing

[@zerocarbdoc]

Filipino's are such beautiful people!

[@tilapiadave3234]

Take off the rose coloured glasses , Philippines is same as EVERY country ,, some very nice , some very bad

[@ejtaylor73]

Simple answer, they don't use it enough and forget it. Problems with spelling is because English is hard, you can't just sound out many words to spell them, they have a lot of letters in them that are silent. Retention and grammar may be because they don't think they'll be running into foreigners often enough to have to speak it so they don't study it more in depth to learn a higher level of it. Being able to speak it with a native speaker can help greatly, and yes, they will need confidence and not be embarrassed to make a mistake. Reading will help if you have a good vocabulary to know what you're reading, but don't over look videos in English, it will help to HEAR words being pronounced as well. Native English speakers know it's not your 1st language and don't expect you to speak it perfectly, they are your best opportunity to learn it. Speak English with them and make your mistakes and let them help you, just keep in mind they are trying to HELP you, not put you down for making a mistake, they made plenty of mistakes learning it too. When speaking with a foreigner, if they know WHAT you are trying to say, then HOW you say it doesn't matter. If you don't understand something they say, just tell them, the foreigner can say it another way to help you understand. Don't let others opinions stop you from trying to better yourself, if they are trying to put you down for speaking English it is from their own insecurities and jealousy that they can't do it and you ARE better than them. As always, thank you Lorie and ladies for the interviews. I hope you all have a wonderful day.

[@tilapiadave3234]

Problems with spelling is because they THINK that American is actually English ,, they have been lied to. How the spelling of Tomato sauce becomes "ketchup" I have no idea ,,, I still don't know what a cilantro is but it is often used in cooking ,,, I think tomaYtoes are related to Tomatoes but not sure. Shrimps are small people so I also don't understand why Americans eat so many :)

[@dochi1958]

Spot on comment. But most Filipinos I've met will NOT even try to talk English with a Kano or other English speaking foreigner. As another has noted, they doubt they'll ever leave the P.I. and see no need to learn ANY other language. I would have given my right arm to help anyone with their English, but they won't even give you the chance to help, which is their choice & prerogative, but my loss.

[@Mochit67]

I guess it is because few reasons. First- The quality of the Teachers in the province compare to the cities. Second- People are SHY to speak because they are afraid to be mocked . Third- It is easier to use your home language than the one you study. Probably many of the old parents are not fluent in Eng. Forth- If you are not forced to speak Eng for work or with others you will choose the easier. By the way -Many Filipinos speak Better Eng Than me. I envy them...HeHe...

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thanks for sharing that!

[@ErlitasWorld]

Noon kasi kulang ang kaalaman ng teacher iyung mahina imbes turuan sasabihin maglinis kayo 😂🤣😂😂🤣 tapos ang gawa ng teacher magtinda ng pagkain sa classroom

[@grobie7110]

18:19 a lot of foreigners are wondering why a lot of filipinas in the Philippines struggle to speak english.. probably because it's not their native language? the audacity of some foreigners

[@Gitiffan]

When Ann mentioned neglect from the parents, I think she meant to convey that the parents do not engage their kids enough in English at home. Not in the sense of the parents neglect their kids in a hurtful sense. I remember as a child, my mother would speak to me in English at home. Then again she was a former teacher as well. But it paid off when we moved to the US when I was only 8 years old. I didn't struggle communicating with my classmates from the start. Rizza and Thea are correct, the common barrier that hinders most probinsyana/probinsyano is the surrounding to practice and speak English. Just as they mentioned, many will label you as mayabang for speaking it. English isn't commonly spoken in the provinces compared to the cities. Rizza's English teacher is a gem, encouraging the students to speak and practice English, regardless of their level of fluency without denigrating them is awesome! And Thea, wow she is wonderful. All what she said hit the nail on the head. She exudes confidence, yet humble. Well done ladies! But I do love seeing the local kids in my home province of Sto. Tomas, Batangas engage with my kids in English and my kids try to engage with them in Tagalog. Seeing them laughing at their accents of either language is very heart warming.

[@HadassaMiguel]

Filipino's are shy to speaking in English because if you speak wrong grammar or pronouncation here they will laugh you.But most of the Filipino's understand and speak in English for sure,even not fluent. They will understand you if you talk to them in English

[@TheOriginalRick]

Mrs. Rick was an unusual case. She came to the States at almost 19 from a Luzon province, and by a year later when we met she had lost 95 percent of her accent. By the time she turned 21 she was indistinguishable from a native born American speaker. She never worked at it, the fluency just came naturally to her. Her siblings, even after over 50 years living in the States, still have enough of a slight accent that one can spot it if you know what a Filipino accent sounds like.

[@TheFuentesFamily]

WOW, that's amazing! Just a year later!

[@user-zy1oh8jk7j]

It's true. Some people are especially gifted in language. Others totally lack any natural talent.

[@vareseources]

Provincial people just don't like reading. I was born in rural Silay City and graduated from Brgy. High School. I learned American history and literature only because my father had a large collection of books during his college years before he dropped out. Reading is the most important thing, especially during the times when the Internet was not available.

[@WineSippingCowboy]

Comment Number 160. Answer: province girls do not practice 😒 with speakers of nations with many English speakers. Speaking with such speakers is easier in 2024 than in 1984 due to technology and lower cost of international travel. Basically, American and British English are the main dialects. Nigeria 🇳🇬, Australia 🇦🇺, Canada 🇨🇦, Malaysia 🇲🇾 and South Africa 🇿🇦 have their dialects,influenced from British English 🇬🇧. I was in The Philippines 🇵🇭 in 2022. I noticed many of the problems. Many Filipinos were delighted with my American English.

[@markanthonypetra]

I am very impressed with Ann.......her confidence and charm is wonderful.

[@chadr4013]

Education is lacking. Parents don’t force kids to speak it more. My experience, women in their 40’s speaking better than women in their 20’s. Education is going the wrong way.

[@markanthonypetra]

One of the most effective ways for filipinas to learn English is to work at call centers.....watch American movies and TV.

[@george68718]

Language is like everything else, it takes practice probably nobody around them speaks english it takes more than a class to get good at anything.

[@billlloyd9755]

The first girl speaks english good. Just needs practice

[@cedricnash7735]

The Fuentes Family Your content is excellent Your interview today wasn't really good. I really enjoyed it. It was good and hopefully it. Will help some Filipinos speak english better and wanna try some more. Of course, you know, english is not easy to learn. Neither is Tagalog, but both both of them. You have to put up. Put working to it like anything in in life you have to. Try and keep trying until you get a word at a day. You know, we'll learn a sentence a day. You know, and I think that's what helped me. You know, learn how to speak to Tagalog's. Just learning a couple words a day and I'm still learning. I love your interviews. You're doing a great job. I'm so proud of you and keep bringing them in and I'm gonna keep watching them and keep writing your you're in a view and everything you're doing a great job. And I can't wait to the next video. Have a good night I am cedric nash and i'm your number one fan

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Hello Cedric 👋 You made some really good points! Thanks for sharing that with us, our friend!

[@cedricnash7735]

Anytime, that's why I'm here to speak the truth.I hope you'll have a great night.And a great evening and a great day.I'll see you later Next time Cedric nash and i'm one fan

[@chicagojimholdcroftsr9749]

GOD BLESS ALL of You 🙏 ❤️ Don't Beat Yourselves up, English is One of the Hardest languages to learn

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thanks, ChicagoJim! God Bless you too, our friend!

[@petercardwell607]

Your interviews look more professional and fun now. Even the mic looks the part. Naga city and goa look calm beautiful and laid back compared to manila. Is Goa and Naga city safe for foreigners to live there,? Thanks in advance

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thank you, Peter! Naga City is safe and such a beautiful place. My husband even loves Naga City and prefers a less foreigner populated area compared to Manila and Cebu.

[@goatman3828]

The number of times I've seen a Filipino get laughed at for a simple grammar mistake, just in various vlogs, is scary. The person trying to help out gets crapped on for helping out the foreigner. That makes no sense to me. And the laughing and remarks last for over 5 minutes. That is terrible. We all know English isn't your 1st language. And probably never used after you graduate. So I really commend you people and only wish I could speak as many languages as you do. If you make a mistake, who cares. The fact that you know your friends will mock you, yet still help out the foreigners is just awesome. I applaud you all.

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thanks for watching and sharing that with us!

[@trumpnorthcarolina]

nice!

[@jamesriser5305]

To improve English speaking, perhaps a number of expats from the USA could be recruited to lead "conversation groups/sessions" where various topics could be discussed. This would improve vocabulary and speaking/listening skills. I would enjoy participating in such sessions.

[@randallanderson4560]

The rule with speaking any foreign language is practice. If you have no one to speak English with, then you get no feedback on mistakes, so you may improve. Also Filipina's are naturally shy, so talking with a foreigner is difficult for them. Now the flip side of that coin foreigner's may struggle with speaking Tagalo. Also, he doesn't want to speak the wrong word that could land him in jail, which is fair considering we're in a foreign country, and we have few rights in the Philippines. Case in point, Lorie is married to an American (not sure), so speaking with her hubby everyday improves her English and confidence. Lorie speaks English very well for her 2nd language. Don't be shy speaking English with Foreigners Filipina's, we don't bite, unless you ask us to, lol😉

[@daveberlier7054]

Ur country sadly keeps workers down. Ur main export is people OFWs. Ur government should make English primary language spoken. Better educated English speakers will help ur economy in country and abroad. The Philippines seems to do as much as possible to hold back worker. Offload is so bad. Stopping ladies to get a better life with foreigners. SIM card registration again government. Control. Ur a free country that acts like a dictatorship. Give people more freedoms to succeed. Stop tying their hands behind their backs making them fend for what little jobs u have. Because of this I will not be living in Philippines. My GF is a Filipina. (I know no great loss for ur country) However foreigners that come come and go WITH THEIR GF AND WIFES will add more to your economy. But ur government is worried more about controlling u. It’s very sad. But as I want to not have all the issues the government causes bad. Internet goes down to much. Reception at times so so Ladies over 25 struggle getting jobs.

[@moderndaydrifter4672]

Great video, every one of those young ladies speaks very good English and I thank all philippino people for taking on the task of learning to speak English as it makes being in the Philippines as a tourist so much more enjoyable and easy. Take care everyone!

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thanks moderndaydrifter! Have a great weekend!

[@daveberlier7054]

Yes Cebu Manila etc speak better English a bit. But most are too lazy to speak to foreigners. Actually most do exactly like they do in Thailand etc. they see a foreigner with a Filipina and they ignore the foreigner and talk to the Filipina. Very rude. Missed opportunity to practice. I will not let my GF order my food. I order. If waitress doesn’t understand I ask for someone that does. If no one has enough I take my business elsewhere. Should not be serving English speaking customers if ur staff can’t speak well enough to get the order correct or service provided properly.

[@johnv5156]

Why do Ceba and Duma girls speak confidently in English? BPOs and foreigners.

[@thaimayoree1494]

Most of my Filipina friends are from province and they are not struggling in English. Infact, they are good at it with good pronounciation. I have friends in Cebu City and Pasay City and not fluent in English. Province or city, it depends.

[@GerbenWulff]

The worst thing is that they don't even teach normal English in the Philippines, they made up their own language: 'Filipino-English' which allows for a lot of room to say things in a way foreigners would not understand. I can understand that it is difficult to learn a European language as I am also struggling with Tagalog and Waray Waray, but when you create your own fantasy language that nobody actually speaks on a regular basis, you are setting yourself up for failure.

[@Lifeisforreallad]

Wow I didn’t know that the English language was considered difficult to learn

[@MsShipreck]

I am 74 years old and still don’t spell well!

[@TomScott__]

I would think that watching English movies with Tagalog subtitles might help. I don't have an ear for languages or music but I know people have learned that way over a long period of time.

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Appreciate the comment, TomScott!

[@tyrantfox7801]

The amount of exposure is the ultimate factor of proficiency in a language , no amount of doing exercises in grammer is going to help anyone speak

[@Bitcoin_hodl_4_LIFE]

Well the the other things province girl are way better then a city girl , province girl are kind honest and loyal .

[@kjelllautrup9519]

In compound I speak Tagalog/Rinconada as much as I can but outside compound I am too shy to speak Tagalog. I understand a lot of Tagalog but answer in English. Reverse shyness ;)

[@bluesart7]

Very enjoyable and interesting interviews, all the ladies are doing very well speaking English, and yes enviroment would make it more difficult to practice and develop English speaking, if it is not encouraged in Bicol. Read English books, practice online if they can, if it is important to them. Such beautiful people in Bicol. Well done Lorie and Johnny. God Bless🙏👍💫

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thanks, Bluesart! God Bless you too, our friend! Have a great weekend!

[@kevinjustein5835]

holy smoke, what a bunch of beautiful girls!

[@Mikeycambovideos]

The best way to improve the English speaking is to hire teachers with English as their first language (with no accent... such as American, British, Aus, etc). If your teacher has a strong accent, then what happens to the student? But obviously this isnt affordable. Also young Filipinos are shy and afraid of criticism, so that is a factor too.

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thanks for watching!

[@shihdach6936]

I agree but there’s youtube now. All they need is good internet connection, and voila! They can learn English anywere now from native speakers. That’s how i’m learning Spanish.

[@jonaskemper5348]

So young and will become a teacher soon 👍

[@travels129]

Ill teach them over coffee English

[@c17nav]

Your comment is fine.

[@jeffcoleman7859]

Great video!!! All of you ladies are really smart and very beautiful!! The young lady in blue has a stunning shy smile that can and will steal lots of hearts and I really like her long hair and Morena skin tone she is gorgeous

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Thank you so much! Have a great weekend, Jeff!

[@cisco4581]

I GUESS IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US FILIPINOS TO READ ENGLISH BOOKS OFTEN, , DO A LOT OF RESEARCH AND MENTORING

[@dochi1958]

As a Kano with 9 months in the provinces- it's simple, most Filipinos (both sexes) don't speak English because while they may have learned a lot of English in school, they naturally revert to their native dialect in their every day lives, and quickly lose any English ability they may have had. When you don't USE it, you LOSE it. Many can understand more English then they can speak and the few that might know English won't speak it to a Kano as they fear they may mis-pronounce a word and some are just shy. So don't expect to find English speaking Filipinos in most places. It's a myth that they can speak English. Out of HUNDREDS of Filipinos I've met, I can count on one woodshop teachers hand (less than 5) how many could actually speak more English then just a "Good Morning".

[@kevink1214]

I agree. I live in the province and English is very difficult for them and limited. The kids are a little better off speaking. I also agree that you will lose it if you don't use it. They don't have much opportunities to talk to foreigners in the province.

[@nerjoybabor9252]

You're fluent in english mem.smooth the way you talk.

[@TheFuentesFamily]

Aww thank you 😊