The Dialect Dilemma

You know what’s hard? It’s not carrying your another person and lifting her five feet above the ground. It’s not even taking up an entrance exam for College. It’s when you are very fluent in speaking your own dialect, but when it’s already difficult reading it. That’s hard.

Just a little a while ago, I had a sudden burden up on my shoulders. It was a rather boring Wednesday morning when I was suddenly pulled out from playing Feeding Frenzy. Who knew this could waste my time. I never knew where I was going. I was too innocent to know. Hah! Hah! What I didn’t realize is that I was about to embark to something I cannot back out. The people kept coming into that office as I sat and stare as one scary white lady spoke various things in front of us. I was like, “Okay. Why am I here?” Well, tomorrow’s the Solemnity of Immaculate Conception and that what they were planning about. I just sat there and waited for the meeting to finish. I went outside that room with only 19% knowledge of what I’m going to do. Hah! Hah! That’s not the worst part.

After one hour, we were given those pieces of paper which we are going to relate tomorrow during the group sharing. Okay. I did not read it at first. But when night came and I started reading them, damn it was so hard! I speak the dialect, but it’s so damn hard reading it, aloud! I would laugh at myself for being like that, but what else can I do? I grew up in a Filipino and English speaking school. I grew up barely speaking in the dialect. If we are to make a bar on my usage of my language and the dialect, the Filipino language would be higher than my Ilocano dialect. I can’t deny that fact. I would put the emphasis of the words on different syllables until I get the correct one. I don’t even know the definition of some of the words. Hah! Hah!

I read the small piece of booklet for about two hours aloud – with intervals of course because I was watching New Girl and Glee – and when I finished reading it, I was like, “Huh?” I only understood a little part of it. Okay, never mind the drama. Okay. Okay. Time to hit the hay. We’ve got a big day ahead.