myself I can keep a man like you? I couldn't keep my husband and he wasn't so much to look at."
She shook hands with Wilkie and Alice, giving them a wide and warm smile. "I'm a 27-year-old mother of two lovely kids, a boy of three and a girl of five," she started in response to the Professor's request. "I was happily married for a couple of years but then my man started drinking and womanizing. Finally he got some young girl pregnant and said he'd have to marry her or her dad would kill him. Well, for sure he was going to leave me, so why make it difficult and hurt the children? But then he couldn't give me any money. He said his mother would take care of the kids while I got a job. What else could I do? My own mother was dead and my father wouldn't help. Our daughter got sick and we needed money quickly for the hospital. I went to Manila and applied at a night club. At first they didn't want to take me because of the stretch-marks." She indicated her belly. "But I begged them to give me a try. I can dress up quite nicely and with my quality English, Japanese and Chinese, foreigners assume I'm high-class. While I was working there I learned Korean, Arabic, Spanish and Russian. I did a little time in jail when the club was raided by the police and we didn't pay them off. Overall I did very well financially, but made the mistake of sending too much money to my mother-in-law. She continued to demand even more for me to see my own kids. Finally I hired a lawyer, got them back and I now pay for a nanny."
"From all that experience, how do you feel?" Alice asked.
Phyllis frowned in thought. "You may know that we Filipinos are Catholics and I know it is a mortal sin to be involved in such criminal activity. I have confessed my sins many times but I still wonder if they have been forgiven. If not, I will go to Hell for Eternity, I know that. But it's for my kids, you understand that? If my children now have a decent life, whatever happens to me will be worth it. Anyway, I pray every day to the Blessed Virgin because I think maybe she will understand and put in a good word for me with Jesus. What do you think?"
The three others sat, lost for words for the moment. Finally Séamus said, "Talking as a fellow Roman Catholic, Phyllis, I wouldn't have any doubt about it. It's what they always taught us."
She grinned at him with genuine reassurance. "Other than that," she said, "I have been extremely lucky, of course. Who could have imagined a village girl from East Samar could afford her own nanny? Now this opportunity – it's all like a dream. My children will go to university! They're both very smart, you know."
The Professor gave the final of his four descriptions of the project to Phyllis. When talking about creoles , he added, "Actually, Phyllis, I think you already know a couple of authentic creoles, as well as several languages we call code-switching which are often mistaken for creoles."
Phyllis frowned as a polite way of inviting more explanation.
"Your national language, Tagalog ," Wilkie continued. "How much English do you normally mix with it?"
She laughed. "Depends a lot on whom I'm talking with. A Manila shop assistant, maybe five percent. A well-dressed business customer at dinner, maybe up to forty percent."
"Well we sometimes call that Tag-lish . Like a creole, it follows a perfect set of grammar rules. But unlike a creole it's not designed to bridge two speakers of different languages. Since users typically are fluent in both Tagalog and English, you just pick the words you like best. That's different from Chavacano , which I know you speak and is a true creole, developed when native Filipinos mixed with Spanish speakers."
"Ah," Phyllis smiled. "So that's why I picked up Spanish so quickly!" She shook her head. "Did a lot of Filipinos go to work in Spain?" Wilkie explained about the Spanish occupation of the Philippines for over
She shook hands with Wilkie and Alice, giving them a wide and warm smile. "I'm a 27-year-old mother of two lovely kids, a boy of three and a girl of five," she started in response to the Professor's request. "I was happily married for a couple of years but then my man started drinking and womanizing. Finally he got some young girl pregnant and said he'd have to marry her or her dad would kill him. Well, for sure he was going to leave me, so why make it difficult and hurt the children? But then he couldn't give me any money. He said his mother would take care of the kids while I got a job. What else could I do? My own mother was dead and my father wouldn't help. Our daughter got sick and we needed money quickly for the hospital. I went to Manila and applied at a night club. At first they didn't want to take me because of the stretch-marks." She indicated her belly. "But I begged them to give me a try. I can dress up quite nicely and with my quality English, Japanese and Chinese, foreigners assume I'm high-class. While I was working there I learned Korean, Arabic, Spanish and Russian. I did a little time in jail when the club was raided by the police and we didn't pay them off. Overall I did very well financially, but made the mistake of sending too much money to my mother-in-law. She continued to demand even more for me to see my own kids. Finally I hired a lawyer, got them back and I now pay for a nanny."
"From all that experience, how do you feel?" Alice asked.
Phyllis frowned in thought. "You may know that we Filipinos are Catholics and I know it is a mortal sin to be involved in such criminal activity. I have confessed my sins many times but I still wonder if they have been forgiven. If not, I will go to Hell for Eternity, I know that. But it's for my kids, you understand that? If my children now have a decent life, whatever happens to me will be worth it. Anyway, I pray every day to the Blessed Virgin because I think maybe she will understand and put in a good word for me with Jesus. What do you think?"
The three others sat, lost for words for the moment. Finally Séamus said, "Talking as a fellow Roman Catholic, Phyllis, I wouldn't have any doubt about it. It's what they always taught us."
She grinned at him with genuine reassurance. "Other than that," she said, "I have been extremely lucky, of course. Who could have imagined a village girl from East Samar could afford her own nanny? Now this opportunity – it's all like a dream. My children will go to university! They're both very smart, you know."
The Professor gave the final of his four descriptions of the project to Phyllis. When talking about creoles , he added, "Actually, Phyllis, I think you already know a couple of authentic creoles, as well as several languages we call code-switching which are often mistaken for creoles."
Phyllis frowned as a polite way of inviting more explanation.
"Your national language, Tagalog ," Wilkie continued. "How much English do you normally mix with it?"
She laughed. "Depends a lot on whom I'm talking with. A Manila shop assistant, maybe five percent. A well-dressed business customer at dinner, maybe up to forty percent."
"Well we sometimes call that Tag-lish . Like a creole, it follows a perfect set of grammar rules. But unlike a creole it's not designed to bridge two speakers of different languages. Since users typically are fluent in both Tagalog and English, you just pick the words you like best. That's different from Chavacano , which I know you speak and is a true creole, developed when native Filipinos mixed with Spanish speakers."
"Ah," Phyllis smiled. "So that's why I picked up Spanish so quickly!" She shook her head. "Did a lot of Filipinos go to work in Spain?" Wilkie explained about the Spanish occupation of the Philippines for over
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