I get what you're trying to say, but honestly, this comes across as a bit condescending toward Filipinos. You seem surprised that not every Filipino who knows English speaks it with perfect grammar and fluency, but for many Filipinos English is a second or even third language. Being able to communicate in English doesn't mean claiming to be a native speaker or an advanced user. And comparing the Philippines with Spain by simply splitting it into "Filipinos know lots of words but can't form sentences, while Spaniards either don't speak it or speak it properly" is a pretty sweeping generalization. There are Filipinos who speak exceptionally fluent English, Filipinos who are conversational, and Filipinos who struggle with it. Same goes for Spaniards. What you're describing isn't really "culture shock." You've discovered that language ability exists on a spectrum. 😭 Also, grammatical accuracy is only one part of communication. Someone can make grammar mistakes and still communicate effectively, understand you, express themselves and handle daily life in English. That's still meaningful language ability. Instead of seeing it as "Filipinos surprisingly can't speak English as well as I expected," it'd be worth thinking about why English is so widespread here in the first place, in a country with hundreds of local languages and huge differences in education and exposure. There's definitely a difference between being able to communicate in English and being highly proficient. But that difference doesn't need to be framed as a flaw in Filipinos.

Language keeps changing. People in Singapore speak their own version of English too. It's only "poor" if you judge it purely by the standards of specific English-speaking countries. Filipinos also speak Tagalog, and both are official languages, so this is what being bilingual or multilingual looks like. Just saying, as a Westerner myself, it's hard to tell whether you're quietly putting Filipinos down and dressing it up as "culture shock" or a "cultural observation."

Nobody expects us to be perfect in English, since it's our second language. Are you expected to be perfect in English and German when your first language is Spanish? You're just another foreigner looking down on us.

Man, it's 2026 and this counts as culture shock. Humanity is regressing lol

When only a small part of the population learns a language (what you're seeing in Spain), it's generally the more "intellectual" or polyglot type. People with a natural knack for languages and an inner drive to master them. Once it spreads across the general population, it includes ordinary people too. They often don't have that same deep motivation to learn the language thoroughly, or the time, money or energy for it. They learn enough to get by. Even if you can't have deep, complex English conversations with people, the fact that they know basic English is a huge help. Try traveling somewhere like rural Vietnam or China; you'd be completely lost (especially before phone translators).

Lol so many butthurt Filipinos. No wonder we're called the most emotional people. OP was just sharing observations from his point of view. I get what he's trying to say, but I'm not sure what his point is. I don't see any belittling here. He didn't say Filipinos are ignorant or stupid. I don't get the reactions here. A valid reaction would be to disagree and say why.