BPOs need to keep English language edge: Teleperformance

MANILA -- The Philippines should maintain the English proficiency of its workforce to take advantage of growing demand for the skill among business process outsourcing companies, the head of Teleperformance said Thursday.

Teleperformance will hire 4,000 to 5,000 more people until the end of the year to cater to its retail and healthcare clients in the US, according to its managing director for the Philippines, Travis Coates.

Coates said Teleperformance clients prefer "near native" proficiency when it comes to English. The Philippines is competing with BPOs in India and Latin America, he said.

"It’s not the only place in the world to do English so it’s another reason why the country needs to continue to be competitive," Coates told reporters on the sidelines of the opening of Teleperformance's newest location in Quezon City, it's nineteenth nationwide.

"The requirement for English language skill set continues to increase so the abilities and capabilities continues to increase and I wouldn’t say necessarily that we’re seeing as much supply around that specific skillset as perhaps we have in the past," he added. 

At Teleperformance, a "quality team" is also tasked to monitor workers' English proficiency and retrain them if necessary, he said.

Graduates of the expanded basic education system or K-12 helped sharpen students' English language skills, he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Iran bans English in primary schools after leader's warning

DUBAI - Iran has banned the teaching of English in primary schools, a senior education official said, after the country's Supreme Leader said early learning of the language opened the way to a Western "cultural invasion".

"Teaching English in government and non-government primary schools in the official curriculum is against laws and regulations," Mehdi Navid-Adham, head of the state-run High Education Council, told state television late on Saturday.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

UK unveils migrant language tests, misspells language

LONDON, United Kingdom - Britain's Home Office was left red-faced Friday after unveiling new English tests for migrants -- but misspelling the word "language" in its announcement.

Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday launched a £20 million ($28.5 million, 26 million euro) language fund to help women, particularly Muslims, who arrive in Britain after getting married but struggle to speak English.

He also said women from non-EU countries who fail to pass an English language test after two and a half years in the country could face deportation, drawing criticism from Muslim groups and opposition parties.

A Home Office press release giving details of the move Thursday spoke of a "new English langauge test" and had to be corrected.

Asked if Cameron was disappointed by the mistake, his official spokeswoman told reporters: "All of us are open to mistakes at times.

"The prime minister is pretty confident that his team speak English competently."

The error drew ridicule on Twitter -- broadcaster Anita Anand wrote it was "beyond parody", while user @DaveGoddard 1971 joked: "Makes you proud to be British".

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Muslim women must learn English or risk deportation: British PM

LONDON - Muslim women who fail to learn English to a high enough standard could face deportation from Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron announced Monday.

He also suggested that poor English skills can leave people "more susceptible" to the messages of groups like Islamic State (IS).

Cameron's comments came as his centre-right Conservatives launched a £20 million ($28.5 million, 26 million euro) language fund for women in isolated communities as part of a drive to build community integration.

Immigration rules already force spouses to speak English before they come to Britain to live with their partners.

But Cameron said they would also face further tests after two and a half years in the country to make sure their language skills were improving.

"You can't guarantee you will be able to stay if you are not improving your language," he told BBC radio. "People coming to our country, they have responsibilities too."

Cameron's government estimates that around 190,000 Muslim women in England -- about 22 percent of the total -- speak little or no English.

There are estimated to be around 2.7 million Muslims in England out of a total population of some 53 million.

'DISGRACEFUL STEREOTYPING'

Cameron said that a lack of language skills could make Muslims in Britain more vulnerable to the message of extremist groups.

"I am not saying there is some sort of causal connection between not speaking English and becoming an extremist, of course not," he told BBC radio.

"But if you are not able to speak English, not able to integrate, you may find therefore you have challenges understanding what your identity is and therefore you could be more susceptible to the extremist message."

His comments drew criticism from Muslim groups and opposition parties.

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, which campaigns for better community relations, accused Cameron of "disgraceful stereotyping".

"David Cameron and his Conservative government are once again using British Muslims as a political football to score cheap points, to appear tough," he added.

Andy Burnham, home affairs spokesman for the main opposition Labour party, accused Cameron of a "clumsy and simplistic approach" which was "unfairly stigmatising a whole community."

Ex-Conservative Party co-chair Sayeeda Warsi said her former boss's idea was "lazy and misguided" and a "stereotyping of British Muslim communities"

"My parents came to this country with very little English -- my mum's English still isn't great, even though she has been to English language classes," she told BBC Radio 4's World at One.

"I think it is lazy and sloppy when we start making policies based on stereotypes which do badly stigmatize communities."

Shuja Shafi, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, backed Cameron's call, but questioned his tactics.

"The prime minister's aim to have English more widely spoken and for better integration falls at the first hurdle if he is to link it to security and single out Muslim women to illustrate his point," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Selfie' beats 'twerk' as word of the year

LONDON -- "Selfie," a self portrait usually on a smartphone or webcam,was selected word of the year on Tuesday by the Oxford Dictionaries, based on a 17,000% rise in its usage from a year ago.

"Selfie" was chosen after it "gained momentum throughout the English-speaking world in 2013 as it evolved from a social media buzzword to mainstream shorthand for a self-portrait photograph," Oxford Dictionaries said in a statement.

The spike in popularity of the word, whose origin can be traced back to an Australian online forum in 2002, was based on "language research conducted by Oxford Dictionaries editors," the publisher said.

"Selfie" beat a number of other buzzwords of 2013, including "twerk" referring to dancing in a sexually provocative manner and which was popularized by singer Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards last August.

"The Word of the Year need not have been coined within the past 12 months and it does not have to be a word that will stick around for a good length of time," Judy Pearsall, editorial director for Oxford Dictionaries, said.

"It is very difficult to predict accurately which new words will have staying power, and only time will tell if these words have lasting significance," she added.

"Selfie" has spawned a raft of spinoffs, including "helfie" for a picture taken of someone's own hair, "belfie" for taking a picture of your own posterior and "drelfie" for a self portrait while in a drunken state.

The word's usage was based on statistical analysis of the Oxford English Corpus, which is a structured set of texts stored electronically, and specifically the New Word Monitor Corpus, Oxford Dictionaries said.

It said that the New Monitor Corpus collects around 150 million words in use each month, using automated criteria to scan new web content using the English language worldwide.

This is used to track and verify new and emerging words and senses on a daily basis, and the firm has a dedicated team of editors whose job it is to add new words to the Oxford English Dictionary and OxfordDictionaries.com using this data.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pinoys in demand as educators in Indonesia

BALI – Filipinos are in demand here as educators and teachers, the Philippine ambassador to Indonesia said.

Ambassador Rosario Aguinaldo said in an interview on the sidelines of the 21st Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that Indonesians see Filipinos as a valuable ally in their quest to improve their English communication skills.

“They want to be good in speaking English, and they have opened several international schools here. And because Filipinos are fluent in speaking the language, they hired a lot of Filipino teachers,” she said.

Aguinaldo said that aside from English, Filipino teachers are recruited to teach Science and Mathematics.

“We have a lot here in Bali, also in Medan and Surabaya, and not just in Jakarta,” she said.

“Perhaps this is our contribution, one big contribution here. And this is on top of the Filipino accountants, auditors who have remained as consultants,” she added.

Aguinaldo said there are around 10,000 Filipinos also work here as financial consultants, directors of hospitals, general managers of hotels and entrepreneurs.

The Philippines is reviewing various bilateral agreements with Indonesia to ensure that projects do not overlap and ensure that the full benefits of each agreement will redound to both countries.

“It is important that we see for ourselves the extent of their implementation, but because they have too many, we can’t implement everything,” she said.

She said trade relations between the two countries are also under review.

“We have had problems bringing in some of our products and we’re working on this now. Among them are bananas, shallots. We’ve had trouble, a little trouble, bringing them in because of the regulations,” she said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

BPO firm opens Eastwood facility

MANILA, Philippines - Human resource business process outsourcing (HR BPO) company Talent2 has opened a new 500-seat shared service center in Eastwood in Quezon City to better serve growing demand from  its clients.

In a briefing yesterday, Mary Sue Rogers, Talent2 global managing director said the new facility is the firm’s biggest in Asia Pacific and will serve as the central hub for its operations in the region.

“We picked the Philippines because of talent, time zone, English-speaking proficiency and its fun people,” she pointed out.

She also said the firm chose the Philippines as it is not only a good location for their operations but an important market as well.

“We don’t only see the Philippines as HR BPO location but also as a sales market where we can grow,” she said.

She noted that demand for HR services from firms with operations here as well as in Indonesia and Malaysia is growing.





The new shared service center, which occupies a seven-story building over a 3,000 square meter area in Eastwood, is seen to support the firm’s expansion and focus on the fast-growing Asia Pacific region.

The ne w facility provides services such as HR advisory, recruitment, payroll and learning to clients from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Services in the newly-opened facility are currently being carried out by 130 individuals and the firm expects to fill the 500-seat capacity sometime next

source: philstar.com

Sun and sea lure English learners to the Philippines

In the Philippines, English language courses come with poolside classrooms, field trips to the beach, and instructors doubling as tour guides.

English is widely spoken in the former American colony, and language proficiency schools have mushroomed across the country, catering to an expanding market of Asian and European students looking to combine English learning with tropical tourism.

French student Laura Samzun will soon be taking a test to enter university in the United Kingdom, and is under pressure to perfect her English. She chose to take classes in the Philippines due to lower costs.

"It's less expensive to go to Philippines, to come back in France, and to pay school (here) than to stay in France," Samzun said.

Fresh from a backpacking trip to Indonesia, she kicked-started her courses in June at the Cebu Pacific International Language School on the sunny island of Cebu in the central Philippines.

"I really wanted to see Asia, to travel. So I can travel and study by the same time. It's a good thing," the 22-year-old Toulouse native said.

There are around 500 schools offering language proficiency programs around the country, and one-fifth are concentrated in Cebu.

The island's proximity to white sand beaches and a laid back lifestyle are big draws for foreign students, who mostly come from big industrial cities.

The schools said their small student-teacher ratios allow for more focused instruction.

In four months of English proficiency courses, Chinese nurse Flora Wang said she has progressed from near-zero comprehension to carrying a conversation with ease.

"Actually really getting better. When I came here, I can't speak and understand anything. But, four months. During the four months, I improved a lot," said the 25-year old Beijing native who plans to move to the U.S. to study health care.

CPILS accommodates around 450 students per course period, from South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, and European countries like France and Russia.

The student population has ballooned from 60 students when the school opened 11 years ago.

Park Yoon Jae, a university student from Seoul, wants to land a job back home in a multi-national company, where speaking English is a primary requirement.

"Especially these days, (in) Korea, we have to speak English very well. Because almost all company want to, very high levels English skills," Park said.

The intensive English course work in CPILS runs an average of four months, in which students can take up to seven hours of lessons each day. A one-month course can cost around $1,000 USD a month, including accommodation and food.

In Cebu, the beach is just a half-hour ride from the city, and schools arrange island-hopping trips or diving lessons on weekends.

The Philippines aims to hit 4.5 million international tourist arrivals this year, a fraction compared to neighbouringThailand or Malaysia.

But English learning-tourism is unique to the Philippines, and Tourism Department Assistant Secretary Benito Bengzon said the sector can grow by 10 to 15 percent among Asians, and up to 25 percent among Europeans.

"The message here, apart from the tourism component is that it shows to the world our proficiency in English, our competitive advantage, and of course you can already mix it with the fun and enjoyable and memorable part of it," Bengzon said.

Last June, dozens of students finished their course at CPILS and earned their certificates. Some will start looking for jobs, while others will continue their studies, equipped with better English and bringing home memories of sunkissed holidays.

source: interaksyon.com

Ateneo, UP, DLSU among world's best schools in teaching English

Three Philippine universities are among the world's 50 best in teaching English, according to the 2012 survey by London research and ratings firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

Ateneo de Manila University led the three Philippine universities, placing 24th globally with a score of 68.9, a substantial improvement from its previous ranking of 35th.

Sharing the 32nd spot with the University of California Irvine, the University of the Philippines garnered a score of 65.7. De La Salle University placed 44th with a score of 63.1.

Universities in countries like United Kingdom and United States where the native language is English cornered the top five spots, in the following order: University of Cambridge, Harvard University, University of Oxford, Yale University, and University of California, Berkeley.

The universities were ranked based on academic reputation, employer reputation, and citations per paper.

source: interaksyon.com

How to raise a Filipino child in English

My child has just entered grade school and he can barely speak a straight sentence in Filipino.

I feel tremendously guilty. When he speaks to a tindera at the corner store, to the manong selling taho, or to the kuya who watches over them at school, he confidently expresses what he needs in perfect English.

They all smile and accommodate him like it's the most normal thing. I cringe inwardly.

My guilt in my child's delayed language education comes from knowing that he cannot fully understand the world around him.

In his toddler years, when his world was limited to his parents and a few other family members and friends, he was in no danger of being miscomprehended.

Today, as I push him towards independence and to explore the world on his own I realize that his lack in knowing the Filipino language can hinder him.

Never mind that, later on, his grasp of the "international language" can help him succeed. Right now my child has little to do with foreign relations or business opportunities.

He needs to be able to speak with the children at the playground, understand songs on the radio, appreciate Lola Basyang's tales, and say more than "para" to the tricycle driver.

We have a long way to go in those areas.

In the meantime, eavesdrop on conversations that I do have with my child.

Join us as we talk about Star Wars and Lego. Indulge us on his lengthy discourses on dinosaurs. And watch out for his questions about the Katipunan (Isn't that a road?), democracy (Why don't we have a king?) and why the woman who pushes the kariton asks for our trash while her children sit among the junk they gather.

My child may not speak the language but he knows he is Filipino. And, through efforts made at home and in school, my child gives and cares about it.

In the mind of someone that young, being Filipino can easily be something prescribed. It's another word on a form: name, age, nationality.

But is it, really?

Just last week, my US-based mother was having a chat with my son on Skype and their conversations quickly moved from toys to migration.

"Why did you have to leave?" he asked her. "Are you still Filipino?"

A quick "yes" on her part pacified him, but what affirmed him more was realizing how they - oceans apart - go through similar "Filipino" things.

Eating adobo, interjecting the pos and opos, singing the same national anthem are all small reminders that we are the same.

Over the summer, we chanced upon the dioramas at the Ayala Museum that depict the history of the Philippines from the first Filipinos in Palawan's Tabon Caves through the colonization of the Spaniards and the Americans, the Japanese Occupation, until the beginning of the Commonwealth.

What six-year-old would want to go through some 60 scenes, and its corresponding narrations, for an afternoon?

Maybe it's because of the visual nature, but he loved it. He loved seeing the battles. He listened to my commentaries at each stop. He was shocked to find out that Jose Rizal was killed.

Most importantly, he asked my favorite question: Why? Why did they come? Why did they fight? Why did they "capture" us?

What is a Filipino? Is that even the right question? What if we rewrote it to ask: Why be a Filipino? Or, better yet: How does one become Filipino?

In raising my child, I often wonder how to instill a sense of patriotism in him that goes beyond cheering for Pacquiao or voting for Jessica Sanchez. How to go beyond knowing how many islands we have, collecting Filipino books for the home library, or supporting locally-made products.

Citizenship, after all, may be a birthright but nationality has to be a responsibility.

My son doesn't know anything about why the latest impeachment trial was monumental or how come the K-to-12 curriculum is controversial or why the RH Bill is taking so long to pass.

But he does know that people in power should not be greedy, that he goes to school to become his best self, and that his body is changing differently from his girl classmates.

He knows all these because we talk to him. Yes, in perfect English.

But also, as much as possible, in a localized context - as a Filipino family that lives in the Philippines.

That's my loophole, I guess.

As I emphasize our lack of language mastery, I know that we make up for it in exposing him to his country, its many nuances, its tumultuous history, and its proud heritage.

Little by little, nationality shines, regardless of national language.

At the end of the day, I believe we are what we do, more than we are what we say.

Last week, I saw one of the best sights I've been missing for some time.

It was time to pick up the children from school and I knew I'd find my son playing, all sweaty and sticky, with his friends.

True enough, there he was, arms outstretched, blocking a playmate from passing through.

The kids were playing patintero.

It was at that moment that I saw what it meant to be a Filipino from a child's perspective.

It is about connections. He to his classmates as they learn to work and play together. To me as I remember my childhood. To his culture as he learns a local tradition. To his future as he creates skills that he will need as he grows up.

It is about heritage that is fluid and evolving and participative: What we raise our children to be will dictate the ever-shifting nature of being Filipino.

There were no words that needed to be said that afternoon. I mostly heard grunts, shrieks, and panting. They were Filipino kids playing a Filipino game.

In that moment, they couldn't have been more Pinoy.

article source: interaksyon.com