“Sa Aking mga Kabata”
Rizal was just an eight-year-old lad when he wrote this poem. At a very young age and a
boy who grew up speaking several languages, it is very inspiring to hear someone say these
lyrics with such great nationalism with great love of his own tongue. Reflecting our past, we saw
ourselves unconsciously patronizing foreign languages. We wanted to be those whites who have
slang tongues. Where have our native tongues has gone? We were gaining colonial mentality
without our awareness. The bad news is, we allow it to happen. And what Rizal was trying to
resound is that even our very own Filipino is also a language to be respected and valued. It is
also a language likewise with the angels and with the others. There should be no hierarchy that
the Filipino is the least. For rejecting it is like denying ourselves of who we really are.
Rizal wants us to love our own language and it is a gift from above that was given onto
us to be grateful of. It is a blessing that like any other nationalities we were gifted of. We are
aware that Rizal was motivated to write this poem during the time of Spanish supremacy because
we were under their colony. He addresses us to love our language for it is our step towards
liberty. As Rizal correlated it to a bird that can freely fly up in the sky, it has a will to fly
wherever it wants to go and whatever it wants to do. But if this bird is in a howl like us,
Filipinos, who cannot stand for what we believe is right, we will never experience independence.
A nation that loves a God-given language also loves freedom. “For language is the final
judge and reference upon the people in the land where it holds and sway.” A Filipino who loves
his native tongue will definitely fight for his freedom seemingly like a bird “lumilipad nang
pagkataas-taas para sa mas malawak na liliparan”, a person who preserves the marks of its
liberty, as man preserve his independence. Language is not merely a communication tool but as
an expression of one’s identity, of one’s individual and social consciousness. Without a common
identity, there could be no real sense of nationhood. Love and use of one’s native tongues was
one of the badges of a true patriot.
Rizal compared the person who doesn’t love his native tongue from a putrid fish. Just like
a fish which originally lives in water, stinks every time it goes out of its place. Like some of the
Filipinos that we could observe, we could see that when they have reached a foreign country and
adapted the foreign language and culture, they tend to forget their own. And as they have adapted
that culture, they will be so haughty to despise and scorn their own fellowmen. They hide and
cover their identity for being a Filipino even though it’s very discernible. They just make
themselves look foolish and shameful. And with the last two lines from the third stanza, Rizal
addressed to us that our own language must be cherished and should not be forgotten because it’s
a very valuable possession of our own country.
Rizal was just an eight-year-old lad when he wrote this poem. At a very young age and a
boy who grew up speaking several languages, it is very inspiring to hear someone say these
lyrics with such great nationalism with great love of his own tongue. Reflecting our past, we saw
ourselves unconsciously patronizing foreign languages. We wanted to be those whites who have
slang tongues. Where have our native tongues has gone? We were gaining colonial mentality
without our awareness. The bad news is, we allow it to happen. And what Rizal was trying to
resound is that even our very own Filipino is also a language to be respected and valued. It is
also a language likewise with the angels and with the others. There should be no hierarchy that
the Filipino is the least. For rejecting it is like denying ourselves of who we really are.
We, just like the other nations existing, have its own exceptional characteristics that we
can be greatly proud of, those distinct qualities of being a Filipino such that the blood itself that
runs through your veins, the culture, and your innate YOU is a certified Filipino that you can
never obliterate.
