English language has always been one of the official languages of the Philippines and is spoken by the majority of Filipinos. As a matter of fact, our country is recognized globally as one of the largest English-speaking nations with the majority of its population having at least a degree of fluency in the language.
Aside from that, Filipinos are also known to have a strong customer service orientation. Hence, they are widely considered to be a great asset by business process outsourcing (BPO) companies because of their excellent communication skills and their good command of the English language.
But this old woman from Pidlisan, Sagada takes these skills into a new level. 76-year-old Lola Erlinda Doyog shows off her mastery of the English language when she talks to tourists about her village.
Despite having no formal education, the old woman surprised many tourists that visit their place the moment they started talking with her.
Lola Erlinda is also known as Lola ‘Englisera,’ because she spoke fluent English when tourists interviewed her about her community and their indigenous practices.
You can see in the video that the interviewer was amazed as he talked with Lola Erlinda, who is speaking the English language effortlessly.
“Nosebleed kami habang ini-interview si Lola ‘Englisera’ Erlinda Doyog, 76 years old, ng Pidlisan tribe sa Sagada, Mountain Province.” the interviewer wrote in a Facebook Post.
Based on the post, Lola Doyog does not have any formal education, either elementary or high school. Apparently, she learned to speak English from the American missionaries who went to their town to spread Christianity during her time. It is also said that most elders in the Mountain Province can speak the English language well, but cannot speak the Philippines’ national language, Filipino.
When the old woman was asked about her message for the tourists visiting their place, Lola Erlinda said:
“We are very happy for the tourist coming here or any visitors because we can learn some of their dialect… We appreciate those tourist who are coming to the falls…”
source: wowcordillera