The State of our Educational System: A Sample

I received this SMS yesterday, which I am really having a hard time deciphering. The subject, KC Concepcion, is a local celebrity in the Philippines.

— quote —

KC Concepcion. Maganda, mayaman, sikat, nag-aral sa France, anak ng sobrang sikat. Ayos na sana ang lahat ngunit sa commercial niya ng shampoo

My Mama always told me to look your best…Always.

Nice grammar: Always told

Cguro din she always ate, always slept, always smiled. Hahahaha!

Remember guys, always prayed. Hehe. :-)”

— unquote —

Translated in English:

“KC Concepcion. Beautiful, Wealthy, Famous, Studied in France, Daughter of a famous person. She has it made, but in her shampoo commercial, she says:

‘My Mama always told me to look your best…Always.‘

Nice grammar: ‘Always told’

So, she must also have always ate, always slept, always smiled. Hahahaha!

Remember guys, always prayed. Hehe. :-)”

I need all your help on this, and please leave a comment on this blog post, but I really can’t get the joke, although I think I got the geist of the SMS message.

My analysis: The writer of this chain SMS message obviously wanted to mock KC’s grammar. The problem is, although I have not validated whether this is her exact statement in the commercial, I find absolutely nothing wrong with it. The statement “look your best…Always”, presumably being her mom’s exact words.

Neither do I find anything wrong with “always ate, always slept, always smiled” nor “always told”, if used in the proper context, as is the case here. I mean, what did they expect her to say? “My Mama always tell me…”?!?

Of course, the statement “Guys, always prayed”, which was meant as a friendly reminder, really written to be sarcastic, is grammatically wrong. I do think that we have bastardized the English language, as an example of much more, in the way we muddle up the participles of certain phrases, like:

“Sir, please registered before you enter”, “Please parked your car properly”,”Waiter, I will charged this to my credit card”, “Please don’t honked your horn, this is a school”, worse, “Students, please raised your hand if you have any question”. OMG!

I have always been skeptical of mainstream educational system in general, which is why me and my wife homeschooled our eldest child for 2 years. I must say that the experience was wonderful, and the fruits made it worthwhile. By force of circumstance, all our kids now go to ‘regular’ schools, but I am still not convinced nor happy, especially with what I see these days, this SMS included.

And although I am a product of a combination of Jesuit, Dominican, State and Private educational systems, I have much to want in the way we educate our children.

To the dogs, I tell you…

Your comments, please.