KEEPING IN MIND OUR MOTHER TONGUE

        Many invaders came and tried to invade our country. The cultures, traditions, beliefs some of these were really affected and yet had vanished. But one important thing is that or dialect was able to stand through years and had survived.

       Philippines is rich in many dialects. One of these is the dialect which is known as the third most-spoken language of the Republic of the Philippines. Yes, its the ILOCO, the Ilocanos medium of communication. We must be proud Ilocanos because Phlippines is a country of remarkable linguistc diversiy. There are over ninety languages spoken in the country but only seven are considered important and have an extensive written literature and history and our dialect Iloco is included among the seven dialects. This is so important that its because of this dialect where our place got its name. The entire region was then called by the ancient name " Samtoy" from "sao ditoy" which in Ilocano mean "dialect." But as time passes by, I have observed that Iloco is neglected now. For many would like to use other languages. Well its not that bad to learn other dialect but not to the extent that this dialect would be forgotten. Indeed, Iloco is a great dialect, why? Because of the many literary works where this dialect was used. Just like the Biag ni Lam-ang by Pedro Bukaneg . And this is being studied now by the students.That is why in order to know this epic one has to learn Iloco.

        It is so important to know this dialect. For this is one way of showing our love and respect to our place. Let us continue using this dialect. Let us keep in mind our mother tongue.Let us communicate through Iloco.