¿Cómo se pronuncia Women, one, y once? The University of Santo Tomas Press and Its Shift from Spanish to English

: In 1611 the Dominicans in the Spanish colonial Philippines established a college-seminary that is now known as the University of Santo Tomas. For the next three hundred years until the first two decades of the 20 th century the medium of instruction was Spanish. The University operated a printing press that served the needs not only of the school but also of the Dominican order and other institutions besides. Because of its various patrons the University Press ran publications in different languages, which in the last decade of Spanish rule (1890-1898) included not only Spanish and Latin but also Greek, French, and various Filipino languages. In 1898 the Philippines was sold by Spain to the United States of America, and the first English manuals, with corresponding Spanish and Tagalog texts, began to be printed in Manila in this year. The University, which remained in Spanish hands, now faced the challenge of an ever-growing English-speaking studentry. Eventually, the rector made the tough decision that English be the language of instruction in all classes and laboratories beginning with the academic year 1924-1925. This article attempts to show how the Philippines, and the Dominicans in Asia’s oldest university in particular, confronted the change from Spanish to English through the publications of the University of Santo Tomas Press. The University Press printed an outline 1 This article is a slightly revised version of a paper delivered at the conference, Southeast Asia in Evolution: Trans-Pacific Agency and the City, c.1850-1941 , Chinese University of Hong Kong, June 24, 2017. The author acknowledges with gratitude the assistance of Ian Morley who convened the said conference. All images in this article are from the Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomás (AUST). 2 Regalado Trota José can be contacted at trotajose13@gmail.com.