The Philippine National Anthem embodies everything that is Filipino. It epitomizes the spirit of the Filipino people, their hopes, dreams, ideals, and their love and affection for their country — the Philippines.  Learning the words of Lupang Hinirang (Chosen Land) isn’t only about memorizing the song so that you’re not left out when everyone is singing it during appropriate occasions. Learning the Philippine National Anthem is also learning about and loving the rich history of the Philippines and appreciating the struggles of its people in the past.  This guide features the Philippine National Anthem, its history, its words, and its significance to the Filipino people and even to those who wish to learn the Filipino language and the... Show more

Online classes may be the norm these days, but nothing can beat an actual classroom experience. If you're planning to study in the Philippines one day or currently are, it will help a lot to learn and master Filipino classroom phrases. Not only will it enable you to communicate with your teachers and classmates more effectively, but it will also help you get the most out of every class you take. This guide will introduce you to over thirty school words and phrases in Tagalog, from basic greetings to common classroom instructions to useful expressions you can use when conversing with teachers and fellow students. Let’s begin! Table of Contents Basic Greetings Common Instructions and Commands Used by Teachers Phrases To... Show more

The Philippines has so many good restaurants. And when we say that, we mean that traditional Filipino food is not only unparalleled in taste and quality but that there are many places to eat in the country that let you experience authentic Filipino cuisine. For a foreigner visiting the Philippines, the overall quality of your experience eating at a Filipino restaurant is determined not only by the quality of the restaurant itself but also by how well you are familiar with Filipino restaurant phrases.  Knowing how to book a restaurant, compliment a staff, or order food in Filipino may not be vital but can significantly improve your overall experience dining at a Filipino restaurant. For that reason, we made this guide just for you. Here,... Show more

Knowing how to break the ice by starting a conversation is an important social skill. You don’t have to be an eloquent speaker to achieve it, though. The key is confidence. However, to gain confidence, you need to know exactly what to say to gain other people’s trust—all the more if you’re trying to strike a conversation using a language you’re just learning. But that’s the reason we’re making this guide. In this guide, we’ll teach you how to start a conversation in Tagalog. The good news is that Filipinos are not intimidated by small talk. As a matter of fact, most Filipinos welcome it. That said, you shouldn’t worry if you’re not very fluent in the Tagalog language yet. Filipinos are generally friendly, and if you allow them, they... Show more

The origin of Tagalog vocabulary and its significant grammatical differences compared to English make it relatively difficult for many people to master. The Foreign Service Institute has listed Tagalog as a Category III language, making it as challenging to learn as Hebrew, Greek, and Russian. The good news is that everything should be smooth sailing once you’ve gotten past the hurdles of things like verb–pronoun relationships, verb conjugation, vocabulary, and pronunciation. And, if you’re reading this guide on advanced Tagalog phrases, it means you’ve gotten past those hurdles. It also means you’re ready to take on more challenging aspects of the Filipino language. Don’t worry: challenging doesn’t always mean complex, and advanced... Show more

You’re reading this guide for one reason—you’re ready to move on to the next level of Filipino proficiency! And there is no better feeling than being more confident with a language that you’ve worked hard to master. Now that you’ve gotten past the beginner stage, it’s time for you to learn a few intermediate Filipino phrases that you can naturally use in conversations. The words and phrases you learned at the beginner level will serve as the foundation of your continued Filipino studies. The ones you’ll learn this time will help you have more fluent conversations with native speakers. They’ll also guide you through conversations when native speakers use expressions that are normal to them but may be unfamiliar to you. We will... Show more

Listening is the most important part of learning a new language. Yes, you need to master the basics of writing and speaking, but everything should start with listening. Even newborn babies go through a period of silence where all they do is listen to and absorb the sounds around them.  It’s no secret that Filipino (or Tagalog) is a difficult language to master. One easy aspect of learning Filipino, however, is that the words are spelled as they’re pronounced. This makes listening to Filipino podcasts easy and enjoyable, even for relatively new learners. And if you’re wondering whether there are any Filipino-made podcasts that are worth listening to, you may be surprised to discover that there are actually a lot.  Filipinos are among... Show more

Being able to advance from one level to the next when learning a new language is so satisfying. Nothing beats the excitement of knowing that you’ll soon be able to communicate using a language other than your own. This is especially true when learning Filipino, a language influenced by so many other languages. Before you can move on to the next level, though, you’ll first need to master Tagalog phrases for beginners. There is no skipping this step. The good news is that basic Filipino phrases are not that difficult to pick up. Most Filipino words have direct English translations, and the word order is also similar to that of English. Moreover, in this article, we have prepared more than a couple dozen basic Filipino phrases for... Show more

The fact that you’re here to master advanced Tagalog words is proof that you’re ready to be as fluent in Filipino as you are in your mother tongue. It also means you’ve been studying Filipino for about a thousand hours already! Yes, according to the Foreign Service Institute, a language like Filipino takes approximately 1100 hours to learn. What does this step forward mean for you? It means that you’ll be more comfortable producing well-structured sentences regardless of the subject matter. You’ll also have an easier time understanding texts with implicit meaning. Most importantly, you’ll be more confident expressing your ideas spontaneously because you won’t have to grasp for the right words anymore. In this article, we’ve prepared... Show more

It takes 200 hours of studying basic Filipino grammar and vocabulary for students to reach the intermediate level. So, if you’re reading this right now, you deserve a round of applause—it means you’re ready to take things to the next level! By the end of this lesson, you’ll find it a lot easier to comprehend everyday words and expressions about people and work. You’ll also learn new words in a variety of categories that you can use to describe people, things, your emotions, and even the weather.  We’re talking about around 300 intermediate Tagalog words and phrases, which is a lot. A great way to master these words is to use them in context. It’s also ideal to study them by theme, which is why we’ve categorized them this way... Show more