A different kind of English

This is my favourite sign in the Philippines. It makes me smile every time I see it, and I get to see it in almost every shop, post office and bank...lucky me! English is one of the official languages here and as in every English-speaking country, the Philippines has it's own version. Sometimes I find that as hard as I try I can't be understood, and vice versa...and we're all supposed to speaking the same language!

Another language-related amusement comes out of the booming industry of bootleg movie subtitles. Since not everyone here speaks English well-enough to follow the fast-paced speech of many movies, there are often English subtitles for English movies. However, the person writing the subtitles may not have exceptional comprehension skills themselves, hence really funny subtitles to a native English-speaker. Have a look at the following photos showing the subtitles accompanying the movie Dodgeball. My parents and I watched it on a ferry to Bohol and the subtitles amused us more than the movie!


"Yeah, that is me, taking the bull bundle horn"


"They show us is fill in us by everything"