There are many reasons you need to learn the Tagalog language or other Filipino dialects.  The most effective to learn is to immerse yourself in the Filipino Culture.

1. You know someone (wife, husband, a friend, a friend of your friend, neighbor) who is a Filipino and you want to get to know him/her better.
2. You don’t want to be out of place if you plan to visit the Philippines. Filipinos prefer using their language when they meet each other.
3. You are serious about getting to know a Filipino who doesn’t speak the English too well.
4. There are just many Tagalog one-term words that have no exact one-word English term translation.
5. You want to blend more with the Filipino people when they are using the language.
6. You don’t want to feel that people are gossiping you because you just don’t understand what they are talking about.
7. You are dating a Filipina and wants to ask her for an engagement in Filipino.
8. You are lost in the Philippines, and you come across with a Filipino who cannot express himself/herself in English. Most Filipinos may understand English, but there are still many who cannot express themselves in English.
9. You are in a store to buy a very important thing and you don’t know what is the Tagalog of what you are trying to buy. The seller might not be familiar with the English term, you will end up not finding what you need.
10. You are traveling to the Philippines and you ended up staying in a remote area where people don’t have any idea of what you are talking about unless you speak their local dialect.
11. You are going on a date and your partner prefers to see a Tagalog movie.
12. You are going to a restaurant and you see some weird photos of foods (described in Tagalog).
13. You have a spouse that nags using her/his own Filipino terms.
14. Your Filipino partner can speak English, but can’t write English or the other way around.
15. You want to impress the parents of the Filipina you are dating, marrying or married with. Older people in the provinces always prefer their dialect.
16. Filipinos love karaoke on parties and they sing many local songs.
17. You are in a public place, and everybody is talking in Tagalog. You should, at least, get a discernment of what is going on.
18. There are many bargains in Public Market and you hear a noise about a certain product but you just don’t understand.
19. You want to teach English as the second language to Filipinos.
20. You want to live in the Philippines for good.

Here are some important Tagalog words associated with learning the Filipino or Tagalog Language.

Audio Below

Pilipinas – Tagalog term for the Philippines.

Pilipino- a person who is of Filipino decent or a citizen of the Philippines. It can mean the language a Filipino speaks.

Tagalog – a common word used to refer to the Filipino language. The standard and national language of the Philippines.

Pinoy –  refers to a male Filipino.

Pinay / Pilipina – refers to a female Filipino (Filipina).

Common Dialects of the Philippines

Cebuano (also Bisaya or Binisaya) is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people, mostly in Central Visayas, most of whom belong to the Bisaya ethnic group. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino languages.

Ilocano (also Ilokano) is spoken in northwest Luzon, the Babuyan Islands, Cagayan Valley, Mindoro, and areas of Mindanao. The language is also spoken in the United States, with Hawaii and California having the largest amount of speakers. It is the third most spoken non-English language in Hawaii after Tagalog and Japanese, with 15% of households.

Hiligaynon (also Ilonggo) is concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Guimaras and Capiz, but it is also spoken in the other provinces, such as Negros Oriental, Antique, Aklan, Masbate, Palawan, as well as in many parts of Mindanao such as Koronadal City, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and in other parts of North Cotabato. It is also spoken as a second language by Kinaray-a speakers in Antique, Aklanon/Malaynon speakers in Aklan, Capiznon speakers in Capiz and Cebuano speakers in Negros Oriental.

Waray (also Waray-Waray, Samar-Leyte, Winaray, Binisaya nga Winaray, Samarenyo, and Lineyte-Samarnon) is the fifth-most-spoken native language of the Philippines, specific to the provinces of Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Biliran, and in the north-east of Leyte Island (surrounding Tacloban).

Kapampangan is the language spoken in the province of Pampanga, most parts of the province of Tarlac, and some parts of Bataan. Kapampangan is also understood in some municipalities of Bulacan and Nueva Ecija and by the Aitas or Aeta of Zambales.

Central Bikol or commonly called as Bikol Legaspi or Bikol Naga is the most-spoken language in the Bicol region of southern Luzon, Philippines. It is spoken in the northern and western part of Camarines Sur, second congressional district of Camarines Norte, the eastern part of Albay, the northeastern part of Sorsogon, San Pascual town in Masbate, and southwestern part of Catanduanes. Central Bikol speakers can be found in all provinces of Bicol and it is a majority language in Camarines Sur.

Maranaoan is an Austronesian language spoken by the Maranao people in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur in the Philippines, and in Sabah, Malaysia.

Tausug is a language spoken in the province of Sulu in the Philippines, in the eastern area of the state of Sabah, Malaysia, and in North Kalimantan, Indonesia by the Tausūg people.

Maguindanaon is an Austronesian language spoken by a majority of the population of Maguindanao Province in the Philippines.

Chavacano or Chabacano is a Spanish-based creole language spoken in the Philippines. The word Chabacano is derived from the Spanish, meaning “poor taste”, “vulgar”, for the Chavacano language which was developed in Cavite City, Ternate, Zamboanga, and Ermita

Kinaray-a is an Austronesian language spoken by the Karay-a people, mainly in Antique Province in the Philippines as well as Iloilo and other provinces on the island of Panay. It is one of the Visayan languages.

Surigaonon is spoken by Surigaonon people in the province of Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Sur, and some portions of Agusan del Norte especially the towns near the Mainit Lake, Agusan del Sur and Davao Oriental.

Masbateño is a Bicol–Visayan language spoken by more than 600,000 people, primarily in the province of Masbate in the Philippines.

Aklanon is spoken in the province of Aklan on the island of Panay in the Philippines.  Its unique feature among other Visayan languages is the close-mid back unrounded vowel [ɤ] occurring as part of diphthongs and traditionally written with the letter E such as in the name Akeanon (Aklanon).

Ibanag language (also Ybanag or Ibanak) is spoken by up to 500,000 speakers, most particularly by the Ibanag people, in the Philippines, in the northeastern provinces of Isabela and Cagayan, especially in Tuguegarao City, Solana, Abulug, Cabagan, and Ilagan City and with overseas immigrants in countries located in the Middle East, UK and the U.S.A.

Yakan is the language of Basilan Island in the Philippines.  It is the only Bornean language in that country.

Eskayan is an artificial auxiliary language of the Eskaya clan of Bohol, an island province of the Philippines.  It is grammatically Boholano, the native language of Bohol, with a substituted lexicon.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org

>>> Read more stories about the Filipino Culture while you learn the basics of the Filipino Language.

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