How difficult is it to learn Tagalog for a native English speaker?

8 Comments

1. A V says:

   November 17, 2009 at 1:39 am

   Learning any language depends on the person learning it.
   If you keep an open mind, are willing to learn, are not embarrassed to pronounce new words incorrectly, and practice gradually everyday (preferably with native speakers), then you can become fluent in no time. This goes for any language.
   One of the key elements to learning a new language is to learn things you can and will actually use in everyday life. "Where’s the bathroom?" is a phrase you will actually use if you go to the Philippines. Learning a phrase like, "The map to the city is very old" is practically useless.
2. NVA SKATER says:

   November 17, 2009 at 1:39 am

   well im filipino also and its not tht hard since u already know spanish.

   since spanish and tagalog are pretty much the same
3. Paula Alexandra says:

   November 17, 2009 at 1:39 am

   I guess it won’t be too hard for ya.

   I’m also a native english speaker and half-Filipino and when I was tutored to read, write and speak in Filipino (the Tagalog dialect), I found out that you can actually incorporate english words in it easily.

   Filipino has a lot of words taken from Spanish, you’ll see that it can be spelled a li’l differently but still close to the actual Spanish spelling like Jabon = Sabon or Viaje = Biyahe or Corriente = Kuryente

   As for the combination of english and filipino, just to give you an idea, examples are "Okay lang" = "It’s okay" or "Kaka-graduate lang niya" = "He/she just graduated" but this combination thing is used mostly for english words that doesn’t have any Filipino equivalent, although, from what I’ve found out, people use the combining techinique more often nowadays.

   Good luck!
4. jamia says:

   November 17, 2009 at 1:39 am

   it’s would be really easy ’cause in tagalog: you pronounce the words phonetically, there isn’t a lot of grammar rules, but the verb conjugation is a bit hard(but, french is harder=D)….
5. jose o says:

   November 17, 2009 at 1:39 am

   It’s not easy for a native English speaker. But with your skills in Spanish, you should have an easier time especially with pronunciation and recognizing many familiar words in Tagalog that are derived from the Spanish language.

   The best way to learn is to practice by talking to people who speak Tagalog. However, finding participants with the right patience can be difficult to find. The other best alternative is to learn by speaking (writing) in Tagalog through chatrooms. If you can manage to carry on a conversation through chat, you can learn to manage a conversation verbally.

   Good luck!
6. askur says:

   November 17, 2009 at 1:39 am

   well i am a filippino

   since you know a little spanish some words are the same with tagalog words and no its no tha hard to learn tagalog i studied chinese and i passed the test!
7. krovanh says:

   November 17, 2009 at 1:39 am

   1. ) Just add "mga" (pronunciation: "ma-nga") to pluralized tagalog nouns.
   Example: Book-Books = Libro-Mga libro
   Child-children = Bata- Mga Bata

   2.) "Nasaan"(pronunciation: "Na-sa-an") means "where(interrogative pronoun)"
   Example:Where is ana?
   Nasaan si Ana?

   Where is the cat
   Nasaan ang pusa?

   Where is the school?
   Nasaan ang paaralan(paaralan means school)
   (Note: Always put "si" before the noun if it is NAME OF A PERSON. If it is improper noun use "ang")

   "Bakit" means "Why".
   Example: Why are you like that?
   Bakit ka ganyan?

   Why is it red?
   Bakit pula ito?

   "Kailan" (pronunciation: ka-i-lan) means "When" (interrogative).
   Example:
   When will you go?
   Kailan ka aalis?

   When should I go?
   Kailan ako dapat umalis?

   "Sino" means "Who"(interrogative).
   Example:
   Who is Ana?
   Sino si Ana?

   Who is the teacher?
   Sino ang guro?

   3.) "Ba" is use for interrogative sentences.
   Example:
   You are beautiful
   Maganda ka

   Are you beautiful?
   Maganda ka ba?

   4.)Tagalog has only 3 verb tenses. And these are Past, Future and Present Continuous.

   To make verbs in future tense just double the first syllable of the word.
   Example:
   dance- will dance
   sayaw- sasayaw

   eat- will eat
   kain- kakain

   drink- will drink
   inom- iinom

   I will eat spaghetti
   Kakain ako ng spaghetti

   I will drink milk
   Iinom ako ng gatas

   To make verbs in past tense is complicated. Copy the first letter of the verb and then put "u" (If the first letter of the word is a vowel, just put "u". Put "m" from the first vowel of the first syllable.( I hope that i explain well it to you)
   Example:
   dance- danced
   sayaw- sumayaw

   eat- ate
   kain- kumain

   drink- drank
   inom- uminom

   I ate spaghetti
   Kumain ako ng spaghetti

   I drank milk
   Uminom ako ng gatas

   OR just add na- before the root word.
   Example.

   I already ate that
   Nakain ko na iyan.

   I already take/drink my vitamins.
   Nainom ko na ang bitamina

   I danced with Ana/ I danced Ana
   Nasayaw ko si ana

   To make verbs in present continuous is much complicated. Copy the first letter of the word and put "u" after it. Put "m" before the first step and add the first letter of the first syllable, after that put the root word after those two steps. (I hope that i explained it well)
   Example:
   dance- dancing
   Sayaw- Sumasayaw

   eat- eating
   kain- kumakain

   drink- drinking
   inom- umiinom

   I am eating spaghetti
   Kumakain ako ng spaghetti

   I am drinking milk
   Umiinom ako ng gatas

   5.) If you heard the word "taga-", it means that you are living
   in a particular place.
   Example:
   Taga-Maynila (living in Manila)

   I am living in Manila
   Taga-Manila ako

   I live in California
   Taga-California ako

   "Taga-" also means "the one who".
   Example
   clean- linis
   cleaner- taga-linis

   read- basa
   reader- taga-basa

   I am the reader
   Taga-basa ako

   6.) "Naka-" means wearing something.
   Example:
   Naka-pula (wearing red. Pula means red)

   I am wearing red
   Naka-pula ako

   I am wearing T-shirt
   Naka-Tshirt ako

   7.) Politeness. Use the word "po" for polite sentences.
   Example
   Where are you?
   Nasaan ka? (impolite)
   Nasaan po kayo? (polite)
   (Note: Kayo is the plural form of "ka". Whenever using the word "po", you must pluralized the pronoun. So, "Nasaan po ka?" is wrong!

   8.) To make nouns in adjective form, just add ma- to the root word.
   Example:
   Beauty- Beautiful
   Ganda- Maganda

   Noise- Noisy
   Ingay- Maingay

   Heat- Hot
   Init- Mainit

   It is hot today
   Mainit ngayon (mainit- hot, ngayon- today)

   Ana is beautiful
   Maganda si Ana

   9.) English nouns ending in "-tion, -sion", to translate in tagalog, just replace -tion, -sion to "-syon/siyon" and change the letter "c" to "k", "v" to "b" if there is.
   Example:
   Population- Populasyon/ Populasiyon
   Version- Bersyon/ Bersiyon
   Nation- Nasyon/ Nasiyon

   10.)"Na" means already done/already/already happened in the past.
   Example.
   I ate my breakfast
   kumain na ako ng almusal.

   I already take a bath.
   Naligo na ako

   "Rin/Din" means too/ also.
   He also danced
   Sumayaw rin siya

   I also ate my breakfast
   Kinain ko na rin ang almusal.

   Me too.
   Ako rin.

   "Raw/Daw" is used when something is not yet proven or you are not sure of something. It is commonly used it interrogative sentences. "Raw/Daw" is also used in commanding.
   Example:
   Ana said you should eat at the canteen.
   Sabi ni Ana kumain ka na raw sa kantin.

   What did Ana told you?
   Ano raw sabi sa ito ni Ana?

   11.) "Pinaka-" is use for superlatives
   Example:
   Most beautiful
   Pinaka-maganda

   Tallest
   Pinaka-mataas

   The tallest mountain in the world is the Mount. Everest.
   Mount. Everest ang pinaka-mataas na bundok sa mundo.

   Ana is the most beautiful
   Pinaka-maganda si Ana

   "Mas" (means "than") is use for comparatives
   Example:
   Mount. Everest is taller than K2.
   Mas mataas ang bundok Everest sa K2

   Ana is more beautiful than Sarah
   Mas maganda si Ana kay Sarah

   Now, you almost know on how to speak tagalog. The second step is to memorize some tagalog words.
8. Nikki says:

   November 17, 2009 at 1:39 am

   Spanish and Tagalog is pretty much the same (most: same pronounciation but different in spelling) so it will be easy for you to learn it ^_^

   Example:

   1st:

   Tagalog: tsinelas
   Spanish: chinelas

   2nd:

   T: karne
   S: carne

   3rd:

   T: sapatos
   S: zapatos

   4th:

   T: garahe
   S: garaje

   5th:

   T: bisikleta
   S: bicicleta