𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, I was intent on learning and studying Japanese. So when I was looking for courses in the schools that I applied for at that time (which were Ateneo and UP), I was delighted to encounter a degree program that offered full courses in Japanese. I was very fortunate to have been accepted in both schools, but then and there I ultimately chose the Linguistics program. However, I stumbled upon that 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳 when I was provided a primer during my freshman year. At that time, I didn’t quite understand it, and so I continued and went on my way.

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵. Having no background knowledge that I could carry with me from high school (on Linguistics) meant I had to start from scratch. I encountered so many foreign concepts, tools and ideas — the types of phonological changes, the IPA chart, syntax theories, etc. I also began to understand what that 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳 meant earlier.

But to me at that time, it felt like I was moving forward but completely against my personal goal. I asked myself, “Why can’t I just focus on Japanese?” “Why can’t I just study and learn the structure and nature of the Japanese language?” “Why 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?” I was even brazen enough to share some of these concerns in an introductory session of one of my Linguistics classes. At that time, my professor simply responded, “Well, I hope that you will learn things from this class that you can apply in Japanese.”

Perhaps, I could say that my first two years in the program was me “just going with the flow.” I did my best, but I accomplished requirements for the sake of finishing them. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel fulfilled. There was no direction. It felt purposeless.

𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. One thing I realized about journeys in general is that you don’t always have to be fully prepared or 100% sure from the very beginning. In fact, I still pushed through with the Linguistics program despite the disclaimer.

And so what did I do? I kept figuring it out — the reasons why I’m here, and why I am studying and learning about these things. I may have not gotten conclusive answers to these questions yet, but I realized that the lessons I’ve had were definitely not a waste. From an outsider’s perspective, it seems that Linguistics is a field consisting of “language nerds”. That the knowledge a linguist learns is “good that I know and others don’t” type of knowledge. That linguists function ultimately to simply contribute to its understanding of how language works.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. It is a science because at its core, it has the aim of describing language — its nature, origins, development (and how it continues to develop), and how it changes over time. Yet, it is also a 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 because in the pursuit of building our knowledge about language, it serves to make sense of the social realities surrounding it that shape us, such as language shift, language use in education (ex. medium of instruction), language (and dialect) discrimination and prejudice, the connection between language and identity, among many other things.

On a personal level, I learnt some of the reasons why my parents didn’t teach me their provincial languages, why I grew up mastering English before Tagalog; and in my journey in Linguistics, I realized that the lessons I had in my Lingg classes, albeit were not primarily focused on Japanese, were beneficial and provided me the tools to learn and grasp Japanese (ex. pronunciation, Kanji, pitch accent) in a much better way. Funnily enough, the aspects of linguistics that I hated the most from the beginning — phonetics and phonology — is what I would end up appreciating the most towards the end.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘨𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥. Ultimately, my journey in the BA Linguistics program taught me that you don’t need to be passionate about something from the very beginning. Instead, it taught me that 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬.

So to those who are unsure about their chosen programs, and to our underclassmen from the Linguistics department, if you feel uncertain whether this is truly for you, it is okay. Commit for now and do your best. Hopefully, you will eventually figure out the answers to your questions.