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| Link to PMA forum; Tedaks | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 21 2005, 06:39 PM (4,361 Views) | |
| iced_man21 | Aug 29 2005, 11:53 AM Post #21 |
Trainee
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Excuse me, I happen to be one of those "snotty" kids who say wazzup just like hiphoppers that you were referring to. No offense taken, but I would appreciate it if you would give me the chance to share with you my point of view. Well, I admit there are cadets who speak horrible English. In fact, it has long been a problem with PMA cadets. If I may, i would like to share an anecdote that I heard from an officer. He said that cadets start out as perfectly good English speakers but then the whole fourth class system is partly to blame for the fact that cadets become horrible English speakers as they go on with their training in PMA. He even mentioned a certain female member of Class 2004, the daughter of a well-known Army general. He said that before she entered the PMA as a plebe, she spoke perfect English, a product of her stay at the country's most expensive and exclusive school for girls. But after a few months in the Academy, she was barely understandable when she spoke English. Although the above example was quite extreme, I believe there is some truth in it. Before I entered PMA, I was actively involved with writing for school papers. I was in fact, the Features editor when in was a senior in High School. I also had the chance to compete in Debate and Extemporaneous Speech contests. This is not about me, but all I'm saying is that there are cadets who started out well, but in the course of their training, somehow they become less effective speakers. The country's educational system has been on a downhill slide since i first attended school. I regret that the quality of elementary, high school and college "gradweyts" we had been producing are not quite as good as compared to the graduates from a few years ago. And yes, not all cadets are top students. In fact, most of the top students of the country no longer want to attend PMA. They prefer to go to schools such as UP, Ateneo, La Salle and other civilian schools. Why? The reason is that the profession of arms is a thankless job. There are a lot more of more rewarding employment opportunities for them outside. The cadets who attend PMA right now can be classified into two types, those who really want to serve the country and those who want to have a free college education that they can not otherwise afford because of poverty. So, excuse us if we seem to be "Wasting your hard earned tax money" with my miserable language and grammar skills. I'm sorry to tell you that I did not attend PMA for a free college education, I was already studying at a reputable school before I became a plebe. Neither did I enter PMA to become an English instructor. Yes, I can think of a lot of this country's leaders who have top-notch communication skills, but is that the only measure of effective leadership? Academic performance, even intelligence are not the only determinants of how good a leader a person will be. Need I remind you a certain alumni from Class 2004 who became the class valedictorian but who was deported from the US afew months after graduation? Yes, we are your future generals and I do not intend to let you down. I will do my job, no matter how unrewarding it may be. But please, cut us some slack, we are humans too, we are not perfect. Your top students do not want this job, they prefer to study at top schools and then go abroad. We are the ones who took this job, cause nobody else will. |
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| saver111 | Aug 29 2005, 12:01 PM Post #22 |
PDFF Moderator
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 "Wasting your hard earned tax money" 
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 Justice for Daniel Lorenz Jacinto HELP END PIRACY NOW!: http://www.itfseafarers.org/petition.cfm | |
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| fieldmouse | Aug 29 2005, 12:16 PM Post #23 |
Member
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So the implication is its the PMA system of instruction that is the cause of the cadets' deterioration. What gives and what can you suggest? You are certainly the exception as it is very evident that you write and speak English very well. Not all of us are equally proficient, even here and most of all the other cadets, but practice makes perfect and if your forum continue to tolerate the way cadets and civies post, then it will always be downhill. Cheers. |
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the mouse assault | |
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| Pendejo | Aug 29 2005, 12:46 PM Post #24 |
Member
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Well said IceMan. You express yourself very well. I am in agreement with the points you raised. May I add that the cadets emulate the way their instructors and officers speak. Mind you, many officers are not that good speakers themselves. I was the product of an exclusive school too and member of the elocution team and dramatics guild. There is indeed some truth to the fourthclass system mangling one's command of the spoken language. In my case, it made me a more commanding and assertive speaker but the use of cadet lingo and militarisque somehow changed my style in a negative way. Years of speaking before troops, military briefings and conferences reinforced that style inflecting it with a commanding tone. I became very conscious of that and over the years it has influenced my English in a more positive way now. I look at it now not as an impediment but as an element of style that military technical directors such as Dale Dye instruct actors playing military roles to emulate on screen. One can tell a former military commander that way. Your Moderators should set and enforce certain standards acceptable to the Corps. It should be made part of the rules. I cannot understand why Tedaks allows SMS talk. We frown on that here in PDFF. Do you remember our old eCav forum? Our moderators took disciplinary action against all members whether they be alumni, kaydets, officers, wive and cadets. SMS language was not allowed there. If you remember, even the use of the word "sir" was banned. Frankly, a lot of the silliness posted on your Tedaks forum comes from your girly friends. They have pussified your forum. Take control, boy. More power to you, kid. It's good to see you again. |
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| iced_man21 | Aug 30 2005, 10:27 AM Post #25 |
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Trainee
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Your points have been taken into consideration. I assure you that changes will be instituted in the forum to better reflect the ideals that are expected of a fourm like ours. Unlike your fourm, we do not have enough moderators who have the time to devote to the forum. We are not only cadets but also students and as such we do not have the luxury of time in the Academy. We do not want to waste your hard earned tax money so we spend most of the time doing our academic requirements. By the way, I was a proctor for the PMAEE last Sunday. There were very few applicants this year as compared to previous years. The main reason for this is the decision of the PMA administration to raise the grade requirement to 85. It was only 80 in the previous years. The Superintendent and his staff have recognized the problem of the Philippine education system and how it affects the quality of the students who apply for cadetship. They have recognized that students now are less competitive than before. The decision to raise the grade requirement is but one small step to raise the standard of the cadets that are admitted into PMA. It is also one way to raise the success rate of the Academy which recently stood at only 18%. This means that only 18% of those who are received on April 1st of their plebe year manage to graduate with thier original class 4 years later. |
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| Pendejo | Aug 30 2005, 09:37 PM Post #26 |
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They are taking suggestions very well. Good! http://www.pma.ph/ccafp/forum/viewtopic.php?t=299 |
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| Wardog | Aug 31 2005, 11:49 AM Post #27 |
'waggin my tail :-)
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Good that they are taking our comments positively. And we adults can become their examples by making our posts here at PDFF sensible and readable as we can.
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Anyone who comes to a counter-insurgency thinking it`s about killing terrorists is missing the boat. It`s really about winning the people. You can kill all the terrorists but then you`ve pissed people off and created 100 more. -Col. Bradley Becker | |
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| Evil Captain | Sep 4 2005, 01:02 PM Post #28 |
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Unregistered
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Mahihirapan sila. Sanay na sanay na sila sa salitang bading at kikay. |
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| maniegom | Sep 4 2005, 08:33 PM Post #29 |
Member
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Don't over generalize these cadets that low. You can be as eloquent as you want. What matters most is how they are taught and trained to lead. This is where more emphasis should be put at. |
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| deadeye | Sep 4 2005, 11:26 PM Post #30 |
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Trainee
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from class 2000 and below they have a good spoken and written english grammar otherwise it sounds irritating....masyado na kasing lax ang mga cadet ngayon. 
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| mon deux cent valeur | |
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