Leading German university launches Filipino language seminar

MANILA, Philippines (Update 2: April 30, 2020, 12:50 p.m.) — One of the leading Germany universities, Humboldt University (HU), is currently teaching a Filipino language seminar.

On Nov. 2, 2019, the Embassy of the Philippines in Berlin and the Department of Foreign Affairs, reported that “Advancing Philippine Studies Program at Germany’s premiere tertiary-level educational institution, Humboldt University, just launched its first Filipino Language classes”.

According to the press release, classes would be administered by Filipino language instructor Antonio Galang Jr. from the University of the Philippines, which would be offered to HU students for the Winter Term. 

Vincent Houben, chair of the Southeast Asian History and Society and Rosa Castillo, assistant professor of the Department of South East Asian Studies and Institute for Asian and African Studies (HU-IAAW) at HU, clarified that what the university offered was not a language program or course. 

“For the first time since Filipino seminars have been offered at HU-IAAW, students can now complete a full language module in Filipino and earn the necessary ECTS-credit points (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System). However, this is not a Filipino language program,” the two educators said in a statement.

“Students will not get a degree or certificate in Filipino language. All of these are done with the full academic freedom of Humboldt University Berlin,” they added.

Houben and Castillo said Filipino language seminars have been taught for several semesters at HU by Rey Agana and another semester by Catherine Abon in the past years.

The guest lecturers’ honoraria were then provided by the HU-IAAW but it could no longer be sustained due to lack of funds. 

The university educators said that it wasn’t the first time that Filipino language was taught at HU and elsewhere in Germany as several institutions have offered and are still offering Filipino language courses.

“For instance, it was previously taught at the Frankfurt Goethe University by Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Luquin of INALCO organised by Prof. Dr. Elsa Clave, as well as at Caritas in Cologne. Meanwhile, it continues to be taught in Divine Mertes in Hamburg and by Mary Lou Werning privately for developmental organizations in Cologne. It is also offered at the University of Hamburg, organised by Prof. Dr. Clave,” said Houben and Castillo in a statement. 

Both said the growth of the Philippine studies at HU did not begin with the Advancing Philippine Studies project.  

They said Castillo, with the help of her colleagues, has been “strengthening the Philippine studies component of the Department for Southeast Asian Studies since she was hired as an assistant professor in 2017.” 

“Aside from Dr. Castillo teaching and developing Philippine studies-related seminars, the Philippine Studies Series Berlin platform based at HU-IAAW, which she runs together with other Filipinos, Germans, and other nationalities since 2014, has played a significant role in these efforts,” they added.

The two educators said that the lone collaboration of HU-IAAW with the Philippine Embassy in Germany is the project Advancing Philippine Studies, which began in July 2019.

The Philippine Embassy in Germany and the DFA said the funding for the project was made possible through the assistance of the Office of former Senate Finance Committee Chair and now Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda under the Cultural Diplomacy funds of the DFA.

When Legarda, through the embassy, offered donation, HU educators “decided to allocate a significant amount of this donation to the honorarium of a Filipino language teacher to teach the full language module for four consecutive semesters on a guest lecturer contract (i.e. not a faculty member status).”

Castillo then proceeded to do the curriculum and administrative work for its implementation, according to HU educators.

They added that The Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino did not help in developing Filipino language seminars at HU.

HU, founded in 1810, is Germany’s premiere tertiary-level educational institution. It ranked 121st at the QS World University Ranking in 2019.

In May 2019, the Supreme Court ruled with finality that Filipino and Panitikan or Philippine Literature can be excluded as core subjects in college in the Philippines. — Rosette Adel

RELATED: It’s final: Filipino, Panitikan not required in college

Editor's note: An earlier version of the story showed that Humboldt University launched a Filipino language course for the first time in 2019. This has been corrected.