It’s DepEd vs. Jejemons
Recently, we heard this language fad – yeah, the jejemon language thingy – spread like wildfire among the youngsters of today. Not only the language became the fad but it also included some of the fashion too – the jejecap. And now, the fad is becoming more infectious (thanks to media), DepEd is now urging to purge the mentality out of the classrooms.
As it begins the yearly cleanup to prepare schools for the start of School Year 2010-2011, the Department of Education is also seeking to cleanse school-age Filipinos of the “jejemon” mentality.
DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno strongly “discouraged” young Filipinos from using jejemon spelling and grammar, especially in popular communication platforms such as text messaging.
“Dini-discourage lang namin, pag nagte-text sabi namin kailangan buong sentence at ang spelling dapat tama (We discourage them from using jejemon language especially in sending text messages. We want them to use the correct spelling and the entire sentence in sending text messages),” Valisno said in an interview on dzBB radio Saturday.
She said that communicating in jejemon might cause deterioration of young Filipino students’ language skills.
Sometimes, I receive texts, emails and FB comments written in jejemon language. There are also times that students who seemed to run out of words during their essays and other written exams, accidentally use some jejemon words or other informal Tag-lish words, just to express themselves. What I do with them? – I promptly reply that they should communicate properly and use proper words and languages. As an instructor, I try to correct the language use, because I am quite worried that this fad can have an effect on the language skills of the youth today. Though, I don’t turn into a grammar nazi since it doesn’t help with the correction at all. It does not contribute any sense of improvement towards the person, rather, the grammar nazi attitude is just instigating hate and undue perfectionism. Nobody’s perfect anyway, but everybody is entitled to their own room for improvement.
The media also plays a factor here – because of the media exposure in the news and shows, it inculcates a reverse effect among the youngsters. Instead of avoiding the use of hardly understood language, it even promotes the usage. Because of the media exposure, youngsters tend to think that its cool to use the language anyway.
Its not purging the mentality alone. The case of the jejemon fad reveals something to the educators, parents, and students: that the fad reflects the state of the language development among the youth today. Teachers are having headaches with their student’s confidence and language skills towards English – I bet that in a classroom, less than 10 students can speak English fluently ( I am referring to the public schools here). In some private schools, English is mandatorily spoken. Then, there is the never ending debate between English and Filipino which even complicates the language development issues of our youngsters.
I don’t necessarily refer that the public school system is a failure of some sorts but rather, the jejemon fad should alert the educators and parents to check what the heck the youngsters are speaking about. Are they putting more efforts in developing and enhancing language skills? Are they putting more efforts in building the confidence of youngsters to express themselves, both in native and foreign tongues? Have they thought of creative approach and teaching strategies in delivering language classes in school? The youngsters are trying to express themselves in whatever they can, unfortunately, this time, they chose the jejemon language to express themselves.
I remember a few years back: the language fads of textese and gay lingo also received some scorn from conservative and high fallutin English speakers. And now, the jejemons are in the hot water for their language. IMHO, in every society, there will be always changes. Fads come and go. So when you spot a fad occuring in a society, you should be more keen in knowing the cause and repercussions of that fad. Every change shows you something – a problem, difficulty, innovation or whatever. For the jejemon ish, it’s more on promptly correcting the language use, promote and strengthen the language skills as well as confidence of the youngsters today.
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silver is the blogger behind Dare to Speak Out, a personal and commentary blog.She graduated with a degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She posts blogs that ranges in different topics – from trivial to the political. She currently works as a freelance writer.
isa kang certified jejebuster, silvereta!
Hahahahha…ateng…hindi ako jejebuster…tiga korek lang ng assignment essays ng estowdents ko. hehehehhe…
i hate jejemons. jejeje
Si Sakpin ang jejebuster…Hehe.
Thanks for dropping by my post.
Agree ako sayo Silver, when my nephews/nieces text me using text lingo I simply reply “In English please!” If they don’t change their text the correct way, auntie is deaf & blind.
Hahahah…Maxi, parang gusto ko ding ireply yan sa mga nagtetext sa akin ng jejemon language: teacher is deaf and blind. cant understand engrish. hahahha.
alala ko boylet hehehe, pag nag-chat saken jejemon language! parusa haha! inaabot akong isang taon bago ma-uncover na minumura na pala ako hehe
Reynz,
Ichat mo using pinaghalong bisaya at french. Aywan ko lang kung mafigure out nya din. Hehehhe.
naka! dear silveretta! “i sharing you’re emote toward this thingys” hahaha “i once did kinda checking exam papers din” ay suskupo inay! karamba! my gulay! BRAINache and inabot ko! hahaha
Chi,
Ang moral lesson dyan, bumili ka muna ng gamot sa brainache bago ka magcheck ng papers.
I love the new term ‘brainache’
hahaha. i started using that term since i thought i’ve got more severe pain than headache. it wasn’t my head which is aching anymore, it was my brain. hahaha.
IMHO, we cannot fight jejemons – it’s a natural evolution of the language. Language is alive and will constantly evolve whether we like it or not. Can you imagine how Shakespeare must have felt when we started talking in this english instead of his:
“O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason. Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,And I must pause till it come back to me.”
How about if we just teach the students how to translate this jejemon language to the more formal acceptable form? We can instill in them the importance of learning how to talk and write in complete and correct sentences when the times call for it. We make our students realize that formal language comes handy when they are applying for a job or writing formal themes. Other than that, it makes perfect sense to text in jejemon language. When texting, we are billed according to the number of messages we send. The shorter the words, the more messages we are able to send. This is the reason why people was able to come up with the jejemon technique in writing. I thought it is creative and resourceful.
There are underlying reasons why language evolves…IMHO, we cannot fight these reasons. So we just accept and teach them to translate it in the form that is acceptable to the world. Another example is the evolution of the gay lingo, carry ba ng powers nating supilin ang languadacious mga sisterakang berde ang regla? WIZ, DIVANETCH?
hayst salamat! me tagapagtanggol ako hahaha! not because me jejemon akong boylet – but it could be dahil sa nakaka-impatsong educational standards saten kaya our kids decided to go the jejemon way hahaha! but i love them! let them enjoy their freedom. i’m not saying it’s right – but hey, it’s a privilege given to us by our constitution!
Kasi naman davah, what’s the big deal? Shorthand lang ang jejemon… parang stenography. Integrate na lang nila sa secretarial course para mag enjoy ang mga clerk of courts, HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!
Oo kutang, inaaway mo na naman ako. Piz. hahhahah.
Point appreciated there, Dean Kutz of PRE.
Kasi naman sumabay na lang tayo sa agos para hindi napaghahalata ang ating vital statistics, jejejeje!
Langya ateng! Vital estatistiks! HAHAHHAHAHA……
Super OA ang reaction ni Aling Mona ng DepEd ha. As long as jejetext is not being used in school papers and the works, kiver na. As long as hindi naman jejetext ang pagkakasulat sa term papers, keri na.
Oo nga naman, gay lingo is fine and okay, why not jejetext. In fairness ha, it really takes a lot of ‘talent’ in decoding it. Hahaha
Walang panama ang Da Vinci Code. Hahaha
Flanngggg!!! Inggit lang ang mga wranglers sa DepEd kasi di sila maka follow, hihihihihi… Katulad lang din yan ng pinalitan ang abakada ng alpabeto, galit na galit ang mga puritans, HAHAHAHAHA! Sa ganang akin, care ko kung mga jejemon man lahat ng students sa text. Importante lang kaya nilang mag shift sa formal language pag kinakailangan!
Kutz,
Naabutan mo ba yung ginawang Espanyol eklavu ang Filipino? Ay jusko! Nung college ako, gusto kong sunugin ang textbook ko sa Sining ng Pakikipagtalastasan dahil yung libro e sinasaksan ng sangkatutak na F at V!
Like this: alpabeto = naging alfabeto.
Litsi oo!!
Hay naku,, hindi na ako naabbutan ng alpabeto… generation Spanish-English-Pilipino ako…as in abakada. Nagmartsa ako sa kalye kasama ang mga puritans nung araw against sa alpabeto pero walang nangyari…naging alpabeto pa rin! Ngayon medyo masakit na mga joints ko kaya wiz ko na carry ang magmartsa kay from gay lingo to jejemon lingo, sali na lang akoh, jajajaja!!!
i hate the jejebusters more. the jejemons are here to stay so deal with it hahahha
Plokokokok! Walang magagawa ang mga haters at jejebusters! I say we sign a petition to replace stenography with jejemon, hihihihihi! Andyan na yan eh…sikat pati kaya pakinabangan na lang natin, weeeee!
@malen and kutz:
Pili kayo between the two: jeje busters or grammar nazis??
I hate the grammar nazis more…tulad nung nagsabi na 70 percent of my article here is purely grammatical flawed. So do ang mga grammar nazis ni Reynz and the rest of the Barrio writers.
Well, di nga ako perfect magsulat ng Engrish, pero I dont have the gall to act like a grammar nazi, pretending to have high editorial powers (as in sikat na EIC ng isang broadsheet or perhaps CNN) or someone who has a Phd in English or Linguistics.
Erratum:
Purely grammatically flawed.
Naiwan ng bus yung LY. Leche. hehehhe.
I am neither, jejejeje.
[...] x 2 ID’s safely tacked in her belt, just in case she be subjected to racial profiling in Arizona says: There are underlying reasons why language evolves, and we cannot fight these reasons. We cannot [...]
The problem with the students are their inability to write the correct language. If you read their paper works, their jejemons prevail. [probably the reason for mam mona's concern.] if the students are able to translate jejemons to correct languge form, well and good. imagine writing the text in cp in correct & complete form! gabihin ka sa ka ttext! Hirap mg teacher….sana dagdagan pa ang sahod naminnnnnn!!!!!!
@Dorcas,
I share the same sentiment as you. Knowing that most of the students here are having a terrible time with English, paano pa kung puro jejemon na silang magsalita at hindi na magsalita properly?
But then again, if they know how to speak and write properly (and good) then okay, they may use the informal language (jejemon, gay lingo or whatever) in their other informal activities. We are all aware that language is dynamic and change from time to time.
In short, ilagay lang sa tama ang paggamit ng lenggwahe.
The use jejemon as a teaching tool. Show examples of their work sa projector or any visual aid and ask them to restate it in formal english. Treat every mistake that the students make as a learning opportunity. It is not impossible to learn and be fluent in more than 5 languages – their vernacular, filipino, english, gay lingo, and jejemon!
should read “Then use jejemon”
Ateng,
In fernez, maganda itong suggestion mo. Magamit nga sa klase. Jejejejje….lolz.
Gusto mong pagsamahin pa ang gay lingo at jejemon vocabulary para mas enjoy. Halimbawa:
Inaasar – inookray
Walang pakialam – wiz kiver o wiz care
Matanda – wrangler(root word, gurang)
Tapos sa jejemon naman:
Inaasar – grrr
Walang pakialam – idk
Matanda – tnda
The from words you can transition to sentences and eventually sa paragraphs. Problema kasi sa mga bata, wala ng follow up sa bahay – mga computer games na yaya nila… ang what kind of vocabulary do they learn from these japanese made games and japanese anime shows?
As teachers we ought to do what we have to do. We have to be creative in order to reach the mind set of the students and connect with them. Only then can we facilitate learning.
Vavush!
jejemonics…the philippines is not getting anywhere
Awts. Buti na lang pokemon ang gusto ko, hindi jejemon. LOL.
may digimon din!
Oh my goodness, gracious…please…please…please stop making justification that language evolves. Come on people, I know that you can think better than that and I wish that your kids are smart enough to understand your reasoning.
Jejemon is WRONG and MUST be STOP IMMEDIATELY…read this first then you decide if this is good for the Filipino image.
Jejemon
1) Usually seen around social networking sites such as Friendster and Multiply, jejemons are individuals with low IQs who spread around their idiocy on the web by tYpFing LyK diZS jejejeje, making all people viewing their profile raise their eyebrows out of annoyance.”
Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jejemon
Other countries are browsing the internet everyday and some of you are making justification even the image of some Filipinos are becoming worse. Unbelievable mentality.
Daryl,
Languages do evolve. Otherwise, we will not have a multitude of languages out there. Jejemon is only a fad. Fads come and go.
as i’ve also known they have a new term for internet users in the philippines who are neither a jejemon nor a jejebuster they call them the nomenklaturas, these individuals use shortcuts but more understandable than jeje language, most of these people are mostly well rounded high school graduates who have more inclined shortcuts, nomenklaturas are also one of the closest allies of jejebusters but they pose no threat to the jejemons, nomenklaturas mosty enjoy watching jejemons being scolded by jejebusters, but grammar nazis are also trying to hit this individuals because they also use improper grammar. a usual nomenklatura types:
hello – helo
kamusta – musta
appreciation – apprcation/or aprcaxion
etc. etc.
as of now there only 2 classifications:
normal nomenklaturas and extreme nomenklaturas. normal ones are average users and do the same shortcuts as above, extreme ones are mostly otakus, deviants and linguists and have crazy interests, these people mostly either are too expressive or have hidden interests.
@taktika:
Thanks for sharing that info. Nomenklaturas. Nomenclature. Hmmm…