Why English for Blogging
We are Filipinos. We write and speak in different dialects but we have a national language based in Tagalog so why write your blogs in English. Would that not be unpatriotic for a blogger who normally communicates in his native tongue to write his thoughts and opinions in a foreign language? Should this bother you?
I should say it is not unpatriotic. The target audience of most blogs is the whole world so it is just natural that they be written in a language understood by his readers. English is a universal language being used by majority of bloggers around the world. It is language of business and most people correspond using English as the medium.
Another big reason why Filipino bloggers must use the language is the fact that advertisers would only approve publishers in English. Their target market speaks the language; hence, they would only place their on English sites. Those of us who wish to make money on this dotcom business called blogging must necessarily do it in English.
Actually, the use of English in blogging should come naturally for Filipino bloggers. We were taught to write and speak the language from kindergarten till we graduate from college. It is the medium of instruction in our science and technology subjects. In the Philippines, even an ordinary folk can respond to a stranger who speaks with him in English.
How about café owners? Isn’t it that all your operating systems and application software are in English? You can install and make them work because you understand the language. If you blog in English, you are are certain that your fellow café owners and your other target audience will understand.
It will not be hard for you to do blogging in English. All that you need to do is review and practice correct spelling and grammar. Do not be afraid to commit some errors in writing your thought, opinions and knowledge of a subject. It is acceptable in the blogosphere. After all, we are not professional writers.
NOTE: Your response is welcome here but you may wish to proceed to Café Forum for your comment
I have a translator on my blog because as an American, I am always bashed for thinking everyone speaks English.
English is indeed the language of international business, and as such we need to observe the fact that blogging will be dominated in the English language. There are however reasons to preserve our national heritage and linguistic identities.
When we make the choice to communicate solely in a language which is not native to our local, we are making the choice to ignore those who may not have fluency in that language.
Perhaps we need to post a parallel message in our native language to even the score for everyone.
Thanks for the advice. I will seriously consider starting another blog in our native tongue. Actually, some personal are advising me to do the same.
My first readers were Americans. And I actually started my blog via inspiration from one American blogger.
Oh, i need to write it in English because i need opps. and that means i need money lol. BTW thank you so much for reminding me again about my homepage. I know it is loaded now and instead of removing some widget, i kept on adding a new one. Thanks for the review thru linkreferral. i appreciated it so much.