Bisaya, Tagalog or Pilipino and English, or what I like to call Bistaglish, are languages I hope will be fluently and animatedly spoken for succeeding generations in my immediate and extended family.

On our third year in Australia, it dawned on me that my husband and I need to do all that we can so that our younger child can understand and speak Pilipino and Bisaya effortlessly. I broached the idea of moving back to the Philippines to my daughter. I explained that it is easier to learn these two languages if she is surrounded by native speakers. She immediately said, “But all my good friends speak in English, Mom.” She had a very valid point.

I remember an instance when a colleague of mine at ABS-CBN News told me that she was called to a parent-teacher’s meeting at her child’s school. My friend was a veteran reporter for the mainstream newscasts of ABS-CBN and was of course very proficient and prolific at churning out news reports in Tagalog. She was a tad embarrassed that she was not able to pass this on to her child.

We are on holiday here in Cagayan de Oro City and all the moms and dads I have spoken with in recent days tell me that their children are struggling in their Pilipino subjects at school. Relatives and friends in Cebu also agree that their young ones need to work more on their Tagalog fluency.

I recall that when I was still in primary school in Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Manila (Yes, my family is an adventurous, travelling lot!), my classmates used to exclaim that Math is their hardest subject. My daughter has been asking children her age about what their most difficult subject at school is and they all lament that, hands down, it is Pilipino. A close second is Araling Panlipunan or Sibika because it is taught in Tagalog. During my time in primary and secondary school, the latter subject was called Social Studies and taught in English. My niece who is currently being taught Araling Panlipunan in English says it is her favorite subject.

What happened, I wonder? How did it come to be that many of our children are not as fluent in Pilipino as they are in English? It could be the television shows, movies varied media content and songs we listen to, consume or watch. Maybe English is the primary language spoken at home, a practice which is hoped to give the young ones a competitive advantage at school and in their future careers. With many social media and other popular online content in English, exposure to the Pilipino language is becoming more limited, a factor which is not unique to overseas Filipinos but even in certain households in the Philippines.

Perhaps this segment of our youth who need to make an extra effort to do well in our national language is a small part of the overall school-going population. The fact that they and their parents identify this as a problem and are trying to address it proactively is cause to be hopeful. They mention strategies such as letting their kids watch Filipino television shows, teleseryes, listening to Original Pilipino Music or OPM, reading storybooks that have English on the left page and its Filipino translation on the other and having tutorials.

The language that flows naturally in my conversations with my husband is Bisaya. So even if he speaks Fookien, Chinese and I am fluent in Surigaonon, these two other languages are not too familiar with our children. There was a time when I experimented on speaking in Tagalog with my husband so that our children will slowly but surely learn. This effort continues to be a work in progress.

There have been many instances while in Australia when I suddenly hear Pilipino or Bisaya spoken in a parallel aisle to where I am standing at a supermarket. Or hearing someone exclaim, “Dito na tayo kumain (Let’s eat here)” while I am walking around in a shopping mall.

Once I heard a voice a cubicle or two away from my fitting room say, “Angayan kaayo ka!

Palita na!” Bisaya for, “It really suits you! Buy it!” More often than not, the other party or I will find an opportunity to say, “Magandang hapon po” or “Bisaya pud ko” and voila! We are instant friends!

It is hard to describe the instantaneous connection, camaraderie and delight that I feel when I hear any of these languages spoken. That immediate recognition that you are part of a shared cultural heritage. A feeling I want to ensure my children will also cherish and enjoy.