English, please?

The past few days, social media activities were mostly about the communication skills of the Philippines entry to the Miss Universe 2013 Ariela "Ara" Arida. Those who openly criticized her communication skills specifically her fluency in the English language were tagged as bash-ers by Ariella's supporters. With the discussion transitioned to the premise that supporters would always defend and  that bash-ers would always criticize, the conversation went rowdy and out of hand.

As a beauty fanatic myself, I tried to take note of some of the points raised on the forum about the importance of the English language in an international beauty competition like a Miss Universe.
 

1. That being articulate in English is a plus.


First, we'll start with defining the dimension of the Miss Universe competition. For a candidate to be crowned Miss Universe, she has to go through the preliminaries which involves  the Swimsuit, Gown and Interview portion. The scores earned from these 3 competitions are summed up or averaged to get a possible score of 9.99. This is judged by preliminary judges who are just named a few days prior to the preliminary competition. However, since Day 1, these judges are already there to observe and spot possible winners. Although they based their scores on how a candidate fares on these competitions, their decision is most of the time influenced by the impression they observe off-cam. 

So being articulate in English like Janine Tugunon and Olivia Culpo is an advantage as they are the ones being sent to be the face of the Miss Universe competition. In the Miss Universe 2012 pageant Philippines and USA had the most number of appearances in both TV and radio stations in promoting the pageant. That's the same advantage Venus Raj and Shamcey Supsup enjoyed in their respective Miss Universe pageant years.

2.) That confidence goes hand in hand with fluency in English.

Let me point out that whilst Ariella Arida's communication skills in English is not that excellent, it's not that bad either. Of course, she graduated from University of the Philippines (UP). One brand that a UP alumni is very consistent of, is being able to converse in English with ease. 

The reason why her English is being criticized is because of the upward trend of Philippines' placement in the Miss Universe pageant. Venus almost grabbed the crown had she not avoided answering the question the "major, major" way. That's the reason why Shamcey Supsup was picked over other candidates in the Bb. Pilipinas 2011 pageant. Her ease in conversational English would justify Venus' blunder the previous year. The same reason why Janine was conditioned to come back the next year and represent the country to the Miss Universe 2012 pageant. 

So technically, Philippines winning brand/signature for the past 3 years is being articulate in English. Again, whilst Ariella Arida's English might be fair under normal circumstances, it would require her to be of the same level with Venus, Shamcey or Janine to win the Miss Universe crown.

3.) That Latinas win international crowns without being able to speak English.

Contrary to popular notion, Latina candidates are trained and can converse in English. Speaking in Spanish is on purpose. Spanish words have sound-like endings -- which when used in a Speech, or during the Final Question and Answer portion brings about a certain artistic degree which can be easily associated with being smart. It's just like listening to song with lyrics rhyming at the end.

The only time Latina candidates speak English is when another non-English speaking country candidate like another Latina opt to speak in English.

In the Miss Universe 1993 pageant, the early favorite from Venezuela Milka Chulina only ranked 2nd Runner Up when Dayanara Torres opted to answer the question raised in Spanish without having to translate it in English. Once crowned, Dayanara Torres turned out to be very fluent in the English language.

Also, in 2005, four Latina candidates made it to the Top 5; Venezuela, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the other finalist being Miss Canada. With the Latina candidates knowing that Miss Puerto Rico finished her Political Science degree Summa Cum Laude, and being very good in English, all the four Latina finalists were compelled to speak in English. Apparently, Puerto Rico's supposedly edge became Miss Canada's advantage being a natural English speaker herself.

That means that speaking English is for them just an option and is only being used when the need arises. Venezuela's Irene Esser last year was compelled to speak English knowing that Philippines, Australia and USA are fluent in English. She must have thought that the dimension of the competition at that point is being able to speak and converse in English. On a side note, had she opted to answer the question in Spanish, the results of the competition would have changed to her advantage.

4.) That Melanie Marquez won Miss International 1979 despite her English.

What we need to consider here is the format of the pageant. With due respect to Gemma Cruz Araneta, Aurora Pijuan, Lara Precious Quigman, the way a Miss International pageant is being judged is not based on the final question at all. Even in the Miss World pageant. Once a candidate has been perceived by the organizers to being able to embody the qualities they are looking for as a Miss International (or a Miss World), the contest is over. 

Also, Melanie Marquez' confidence level is so infectious that she set the mood of the competition by that time. Ariella Arida doesn't have the same confidence level.

5.) That the Miss Universe pageant is not a call center with an English-only-policy.

Being in a call center industry myself for almost a decade, it saddens me that the need to speak English becomes just an option to us. We don't have to work in a call center just to be good in English. Conversely, we don't have to be good in English just to work in a call center.

More than the facade of speaking English, we should focus more in using this as a tool to better convey our thoughts and message across. Ariella was quoted the wrong way when she said that "Latina representatives win crowns even they don't speak English" when all she wanted to say was that "Latina representatives win crowns without having to speak English". What we say can be conceived in another way with just a wrong word choice.

There's no need to work in a call center just to learn English and join Miss Universe in the same way that by simply working in a call center means being a potential Miss Universe. 



English is a language and is a tool we use to communicate. Whilst being and not being able to speak in English doesn't define us for who we are, it's very important for us to take pride in being comfortable using it to communicate. As to Ariella not being that comfortable in English, let us all respect that by being objective with our criticism. It wouldn't help our country highlighting the bad stuff without offering a resolution or an alternative. No matter what we say, Ariella is now in the midst of the competition. It would be better if we support her at this point. If she doesn't win because of her English, then we have somehow made our point across. Hopefully, it's an area that the Miss Universe Philippines training team would focus on in the future. If she wins, whether we admit it or not, we would take pride in being Filipinos for sure.

Just like what Janine Tugunon answered last year, "Being a Miss Universe is not about being able to speak a specific language. It's all about influencing and motivating other people. So long as your heart is to serve and you have a strong mind to show to others, you can become Miss Universe."