Updates from English Is Cool!
By Paul Catiang

A joint advocacy of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), Eon, Inc., and Promoting English Proficiency (PEP), English Is Cool is a long-term endeavor that encourages Filipinos to communicate in English with better fluency, clarity and confidence.

After its launch in April of this year, English Is Cool immediately began with several awareness-raising advocacy events and campaigns, starting with the English Is Cool Expo at the SM Megatrade Halls, which was also held in April 2006.

The program also sponsored English Camps with Hands on Manila , which helped college students develop a platform for small-group discussions and informal practice, as the program is pushing for a lessening of the elitist stigma attached to the language.

From July to August 2006, the program worked in tandem with the Ayala Young Leaders Congress to assist certain colleges and universities in organizing their own school-based campaigns for English proficiency through their English Is Cool Gears up for School campaign. This campaign aims to encourage students, faculty and school personnel to practice the use of English. Self-improvement is also part of this program.

What stands to have the most impact, however, would be the English Is Cool Camps , a program participated in by institutions like the Far Eastern University , the Manila Doctors College , Fort Santiago , and the Central Colleges of the Philippines . With a total of over 700 participants, the program brought together students, faculty and several volunteers in practicing conversational English skills, with a special emphasis on idiomatic expressions, metaphors and euphemisms. As always, the aim of the program was to encourage speaking in English and to build confidence in communication.

English Is Cool targets Filipinos 30 years old and younger, which amounts to over 55 million people. The campaign is designed to create a sense of urgency and hope among the youth, and convince them that English is their ticket to the future. If English is perceived to be fun, a language they can aspire to learn, then their shyness can be overcome, leading to more practice in their daily lives. The proponents of English Is Cool also hope to show both the government and the academe of the necessity of benchmarking their English proficiency standards against internationally recognized and industry-accepted standards.