30 November 2005
FEATURE: ‘Filipiniponggo’ : This lady Japanese scholar speaks it
A JAPANESE lady scholar has impressed no end Dagupeños and Pangasinenses when she arrived here in October this year to gather materials for her dissertation for a doctorate degree at Kobe University in her country.
Thirty-year old Masako Inagaki is here alone to prepare a treatise on the topic “Politicians and their relationship with the people of Dagupan City” in order to complete her requirements for a doctorate degree.
Wonder of wonders, Ms. Inagaki, despite her fair complexion and Japanese features, could easily be mistaken for an ordinary Filipina because she speaks fluent Tagalog.
Try talking in English to this petite and bespectacled Japanese lady from the industrial and port city of Kobe in southern Japan, and you would be awed to hear her answering you in Tagalog.
Well-versed in international politics, Ms. Inagaki confessed she cultivated her Tagalog tongue when she was taking a masteral degree in cultural studies in Kobe University where she also earned a degree in political science.
The scholarly Ms. Inagaki had three professors who were fluent in Tagalog as they stayed in the Philippines and mingled with Filipinos for three or more years in the past.
These professors taught her the Tagalog language, Philippine culture and Philippine literature.
She could even be more familiar with the Philippine language, culture and literature than most Filipinos, past and present.
Her routine in gathering her material about politics in Dagupan includes a daily visit to a local newspaper office on A.B. Fernandez Avenue, where she pores over newspaper files include articles on Dagupan politics.
Thirty-year old Masako Inagaki is here alone to prepare a treatise on the topic “Politicians and their relationship with the people of Dagupan City” in order to complete her requirements for a doctorate degree.
Wonder of wonders, Ms. Inagaki, despite her fair complexion and Japanese features, could easily be mistaken for an ordinary Filipina because she speaks fluent Tagalog.
Try talking in English to this petite and bespectacled Japanese lady from the industrial and port city of Kobe in southern Japan, and you would be awed to hear her answering you in Tagalog.
Well-versed in international politics, Ms. Inagaki confessed she cultivated her Tagalog tongue when she was taking a masteral degree in cultural studies in Kobe University where she also earned a degree in political science.
The scholarly Ms. Inagaki had three professors who were fluent in Tagalog as they stayed in the Philippines and mingled with Filipinos for three or more years in the past.
These professors taught her the Tagalog language, Philippine culture and Philippine literature.
She could even be more familiar with the Philippine language, culture and literature than most Filipinos, past and present.
Her routine in gathering her material about politics in Dagupan includes a daily visit to a local newspaper office on A.B. Fernandez Avenue, where she pores over newspaper files include articles on Dagupan politics.
