Learn Tagalog Online
Learning Tagalog: Fluency Made Fast and Easy, Online Edition
Also available as ebooks and as print books
About the Course
What people say
“By far the best for me”
“I really enjoy your course. I have many different kinds of learning material but yours is by far the best for me.”
— Jaclyn Webb
North Yunderup, WA, Australia
“It is absolutely worth every penny!”
“I have tried a couple of books from Amazon, as well as paid for 3 months of ******* ***** and I can honestly say that neither have helped me nearly as much as your lessons! I’ve subsequently cancelled my ******* ***** account, and my Tagalog book is collecting dust ever since I found y’all’s website! It is absolutely worth every penny!
“I like how you not only break down every sentence into its literal, and English translation, but you also provide very good reading per lesson when needed, such as linkers, accents, and pronunciation!”
— David Roberts
San Antonio, Texas, United States
“Hands down the best online language program I have ever found”
“OMG - this is hands down the best online language learning program I have ever found. I am storming through these lessons and already getting involved in conversations in Tagalog. No complaints. No suggestions - just wanted to say this is awesome. Definitely worth the $99 I paid.
“Really great resource. I shared it with a couple of my friends who work in the Philippines and speak some Tagalog, and they were like ‘I wish I had known about this, this is awesome!’”
— Chris N.
Yokohama, Japan
“This format… is absolutely perfect”
I just finished lesson 60 and have to say this is one of the best courses I've ever gone through. This format of dialog + translation + grammar notes is absolutely perfect. After getting about halfway through the course I was already able to work my way through Tagalog conversations and YouTube videos, with a transcript and the help of a dictionary. …
The course made learning Tagalog feel easy and fun, especially with the humor built into most dialogs. I know I still have a ways to go, in particular with regards to vocabulary, but I feel I'm now ready to stand on my own two legs in Tagalog as I try to internalize everything. If you ever make a similar course for another language, regardless of what language, I would happily go through it! …
I've been sharing the course with everyone I know, even people not currently learning Tagalog. …
I started each day reviewing the previous 6 lessons for about a half hour using the mp3s then spent a half hour learning a new lesson on the website. I also listened to all lessons on random when driving around in the car.
I do plan on reading through the grammar guide and have been using it heavily when reading. Thank you again for making such a great resource available! Tagalog would be a much bigger challenge without this course available!
— Michael Nock
Norfolk, Virginia, United States
Note from Learning Tagalog: Michael finished the course in 3 months! He spent about 1 hour per day on active learning, and some more time on passive listening. An inspiring example of what dedication can do. Congratulations, Michael!
“The words you guys teach are more relevant than other courses”
“I always wanted to be fluent in Tagalog so I can talk to my in-laws and all my lola’s and my wife’s friends etc. Even though they all understand English, they don’t really speak it, so it would be cool to just all speak in Tagalog.
“I really like the lessons that you and Fiona have developed. I think it’s the best material I’ve come to use out of everything I’ve found so far. I like how it shows you the literal translations and then the part of what it actually means. Also the words you guys teach are more relevant than other courses. Like in ******* ***** or ******** my wife would always point out that certain words sound too formal or that nobody actually uses those words anymore. I tried various iOS apps but they are all just vocab words and they don’t actually help with grammar at all. I’ve tried ******* ***** and its OK but I got bored of it. I’ve tried the audio-only lessons from ******** but it’s way too hard without any visual supplementation, I would have to ask my wife what they are saying because it got too complex.
“So far your lessons have been really good and I just got the audio versions so I can just listen to it in the car as well for more supplementation. Anyway, thanks again for all the work you guys do!”
— Josh Yee
Sacramento, California, United States
“Just what I have been looking for”
“I am originally from Wales UK and retired here in the Philippines with my wife. I have been searching for a Tagalog course for a while, having tried various books, dvd’s etc. Now having discovered your Learning Tagalog Course, I am absolutely delighted with it. The format and contents are just what I have been looking for. Maraming salamat!”
— David Williams
Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
“Your product is phenomenal… I think your program is the best by far-and-away”
“Your product is phenomenal. If you ever want me to serve as a positive "customer reference", I will be happy to do so. I decided to learn Tagalog after becoming engaged to a first-generation Filipina. I wanted us to be able to speak Tagalog in our home, so that our child might be exposed to her culture on a daily basis.
“I was not able to afford ******* *****, and after much searching I settled on a program called *******. At $10 a month, it seemed like the best deal. However, I paid for ******* each month for one year (totally $120), while I was able to get a student discount on your program ($80). I have learned far more in four weeks with your program than with an entire year of using *******.
“If anyone wants to learn to actually speak and understand practical Tagalog, I think your program is the best by far-and-away. For example, I am around a Tagalog-speaking family several days a week. I had to ask ‘what is ‘talaga’? What is ‘di ba’?’. These are extremely common (and important) phrases I heard constantly, yet at lesson 40 in *******, they had still not been mentioned. These were in lessons 1 and 5 of your program, as they should be.
“Additionally, ******* uses an English-based model for grammar, which is not correct, and has given me many bad habits to unlearn.
“The best evidence is the fact that after using your program for two or three weeks, I was better able to understand her family’s conversation than after a year of using the other program. I just wanted to commend you on such a thorough and useful course, and to serve as a reference for anyone else hoping to learn Tagalog. I would recommend your program as the best available (and most affordable as well).”
— Ben Black
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
“Makes learning very easy and enjoyable, great value for money”
“I just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful resource you provide through the learning tagalog online classes and grammar guide. The logic of your courses goes far beyond what I have found anywhere else when learning languages in the past. It makes learning very easy and enjoyable, and is great value for money.”
— Shelly Forceville
Calwell, ACT, Australia
“So much better than anything else”
“I have studied lots of language material, not only Tagalog, and I have to say that what you have produced is so much better than anything else. Well done to both of you and your team for sixty excellent learning tools. I have your ‘Essential Tagalog Grammar’ in both electronic and hard copy and, again, what a fantastic publication.”
— Andrew Youhill
North Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
“The subjects are well chosen… A great introduction to the culture”
“I just wanted to let you know that I have completed the course. I really enjoyed it and feel it is very practical. I’m from New Zealand but I live in Quezon City as a volunteer for Jehovah’s witnesses. My goal is to integrate into the culture here so that I can share what the bible teaches with those in the community. Often throughout the course I would have aha moments when I finally understood a saying I hear all the time, like ‘oo nga e’. The subjects are well chosen too: if I didn’t live in the Philippines already it would have been a great introduction to the culture. I need to now create more opportunities for speaking to practice what I’ve learned. Thank you for putting together this excellent course.”
— Jessamy King
Quezon City, Philippines
“The best material I have ever used”
“I am learning with your course, which I find the most suitable among the other Tagalog materials. It’s simply the best material I have ever used.”
— Jongkyun Oh
Seoul, Korea
How it works
1. Real-life dialogues
Only with real-life dialogues will you learn what people really say in everyday situations, with the right choice of words, intonation, nuances, emotions and typical expressions. You’ll learn truly useful material from day one.
2. Audio and pronunciation marks
Using a combination of audio and pronunciation marks, you’ll learn the correct pronunciation, including where the long vowels and glottal stops are, and you’ll remember the words and phrases more easily.
3. Literal and natural translations
The literal (word-for-word) and natural (whole-sentence) translations will help you understand what every Tagalog word means and how the sentences fit together. Also, you’ll save time by not having to look up words.
4. Grammatical and cultural notes
With the grammatical and cultural notes, you’ll deepen your understanding of Tagalog through examples, short explanations and references to the grammar book.
5. Comprehensive grammar reference
With thousands of practical examples in an easy-to-use format, Essential Tagalog Grammar will be your grammar companion, even long after you have reached fluency.
6. Exercises
The exercises are an ideal way to practice and reinforce the vocabulary and sentence patterns in the lessons and to check your progress. Just like in the lessons, you’ll only find practical and authentic sentences in the workbooks.
7. Well-thought-out structure
The lessons have been carefully designed to teach you the most important topics first. The built-in repetition will enable you to pick up the patterns intuitively and speak Tagalog fluently.
What you’ll learn
Course Curriculum
Lessons 1–20 | Course Book 1
CEFR level A1*
Takes 15–30 hours
- pronunciation
- greetings and common expressions
- all pronouns
- to go somewhere, to be somewhere (or not)
- expressing that something exists (or not)
- to have something (or not)
- expressing how things are (or not)
- some adjective intensifiers
- expressing that something is intended for someone or something
- basic verbs, vocabulary and sentence patterns
- polite speech
- buying something
- introducing people, pets and things
- days, months, past, future, telling the time
- giving directions
- questions
- expressing likes, dislikes, wants and needs
- numbers, prices and counting
- comparing things
- expressing agreement, doubt, wonder and other emotions or nuances
- na, pa, naman, pala, yata’ and other enclitic particles
- cultural insights through situations and dialogues
- about 30 verbs**
Lessons 21–40 | Course Book 2
CEFR level A2*
Takes 15–30 hours
- verbs, verb affixes and their aspects
- -um-, mag-, ma-, maka-, makapag-, -in, maki-, i-, -an, magpa-, pa-…-in, pa-…-an, ipa-, ipag-, makipag-. Some of these verb affixes have different meanings depending on the verb.
- complex sentences with clauses
- more vocabulary and expressions
- further consolidation of material from Lessons 1–20
- cultural insights through situations and dialogues
- over 90 new verbs**
Lessons 41–60 | Course Book 3
CEFR level B1*
Takes 15–30 hours
- more verb affixes: ika-, mag-…-an/han, mang- (At this point, you will know how verb affixes and aspects work, and you will be able to learn new ones easily.)
- recently completed aspect
- noun affixes
- adjective affixes
- ordinal numbers, other number expressions, dates
- sentence patterns used in written Tagalog and formal spoken Tagalog
- more vocabulary and expressions
- further consolidation of material from Lessons 1–40
- cultural insights through situations and dialogues
- over 55 new verbs**
* Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels have been defined to standardize proficiency levels in language learning accross languages. The level indicated here is the CEFR level that best corresponds to that part of the course.
** You will learn over 175 roots combined with various affixes. You will also learn how to use pseudo-verbs; may, mayroon/meron, marami and wala’ (for “to have,” “there is/are/was/were (not)” etc.), and verbless “to be” sentences.
For tips for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners, and more info on the course and our method, download the course book sample (PDF).
Try Lesson 1 free! No sign-up required.