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We have 11 guests online| Many languages, even more dialects spoken by BYUH students |
| Written by Hemaloto Tatafu | |
| Monday, 16 November 2009 | |
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As one of the most international schools in the United States, it comes as no surprise that English is the second language for almost half of the BYU-Hawaii student body.
To some, English is their second language, but for others English is a third. This is true for those who come from countries that have many local dialects. In some governments’ efforts to unify a country, one language is promoted as the national language, which is usually used as the medium through which children are taught at school. Not only that, English is also taught as a way of preparing these children for the international world. As a result, students who come from these parts of the world usually learn at least three languages, English being one of them. Sasa Zibe, a junior in accounting from Papua New Guinea, a country with 820 languages, is among those who studied English as his third language. Growing up, Zibe said, he first spoke Tok Pisin, Papua New Guinea’s national language because that’s what everyone around him spoke. At the same time Zibe also picked up Zia, his parents local language. By fifth grade, Zibe started learning English, which, he admits, was a challenge. “I have to give credit to all my English teachers who were patient enough to teach me,” Zibe said. Sudhakar Seerapu, a freshman majoring in information technology, has a story similar to Zibe’s, with only one exception: Seerapu is from India and speaks five languages instead of three. Telugu was the language Seerapu grew up speaking. It is one of India’s 427 languages – India has the fourth highest number of languages. At school, Seerapu picked up his second language, Hindi, India’s national language. Hindi was necessary, according to Seerapu, because India’s 27 states have “their own cultures and languages,” and Hindi is the only way to communicate between them. Seerapu also picked up English as he continued attending school. His mission allowed him to learn two other languages. From the Philippines, Jonas Orbiso’s story is not very different. A sophomore majoring in information systems, Orbiso said he grew up speaking Cebuano, learning it from the “older people.” At school, Orbiso was taught Tagalog, the national language, together with English. Learning Tagalog and Cebuano, according to Orbiso, helped him with his English because it allowed him to “use different parts of the tongue” which helped with his English speaking.
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