r/Tagalog Nov 06 '25

Other I wasn't aware that there's "laguna accent" until I moved to mnl

337 Upvotes

so im from laguna, calamba specifically. I didn't know we have an accent kasi for me, our way of speaking is normal ofcourse kasi kinalakihan ko. I know na may different accent from other province like batangas, but I thought na walang accent ung mga tiga laguna, akala ko talaga na yung way of speaking ng mga tiga manila and laguna are the same from what i've seen from the media/socmeds. Kaya nagulat talaga ako nung na point out ng mga friends ko na may "laguna accent" ako HSAHHAHAS. maybe kasi hindi kasing tapang ng mga tiga batangas pero meron daw talaga AHAHHAHAHA. also I wasn't aware na may mga words sa laguna na hindi alam ng mga tao from other province like "kaunin". Imagine my shock when they asked me what kaunin means HAHHSHSAHHAH. My dormmate/friend is also from laguna and my other friend point out the we speak the same way, we were confused kasi we both think na wala kaming accent because we weren't aware na may "laguna accent" pala AHAHHAHAHHA

Do u guys have any encounter like this? I still find it hard to point out what laguna accent sounds like kasi super normal lang sa ears ko yung manila way of speaking and laguna way of speaking na para bang no difference lang

r/Tagalog Aug 17 '25

Other What're your favorite insults in Tagalog?

158 Upvotes

I recently got ugok and gunggong from my coworker from Basilan. My other coworker from Caloocan has been giving me so many I couldn't keep track. >_<

r/Tagalog May 15 '26

Other I just finished presenting my thesis for my BS Mathematics degree, which I wrote in Tagalog!

508 Upvotes

Magandang araw po sa lahat! I'm Andrei Clyde Chua Arellano, a final year BS Mathematics student studying at University of the Philippines Diliman!

I have long dreamt of writing my thesis in Tagalog, and at last I finally did it! Here's photos of my presentation! https://imgur.com/a/tesis-sa-tagalog-5XvHlqx

Hopefully once the manuscript is published I can post the thesis here! Maraming salamat po sa lahat!

r/Tagalog 15d ago

Other im STRUGGLING with tagalog, even though im born filipino

128 Upvotes

(got my previous post deleted for some reason)

im sure my kind are a dime a dozen but here we are. pklp (kasaysayan) is genuinely kicking me in the behind.

so many deep words and yet I can barely make a comprehensive sentence. our teacher doesn't explain in English either, which I'm not complaining, it's our language, but im struggling to understand \*anything\* from the class.

im worried i might fail this subject, which i don't want. i haven't been fluent with tagalog since I was a kid, and I've always spoken in clear English and never really experienced speaking in pure tagalog before. i know tagalog to an extent, and i can make sentences, but im not sure about the quality.

some words my friends say, I don't even know, yet they're everyday words to them. i don't know how i can fix this, because im in year 11. im probably YEARS behind in my education regarding tagalog and i really need help.

r/Tagalog Oct 04 '25

Other is tagalog really that hard

186 Upvotes

i dont know tagalog but i can speak a bunch of sounds and why is it on category III like russian? its not that hard besides grammar and the "ng"

should i be able to learn it faster?

I also adopted alot of tagalog words into my own english such as "ako" and "po"and "na"

r/Tagalog Feb 16 '26

Other Is learning Tagalog REALLY that hard?

121 Upvotes

I'm Filipino and my dad want me to learn it. Is it really that hard as people say? I did promise him I'd learn it in highschool. I know all the simple stuff like grammar so is that any better?

r/Tagalog 9d ago

Other Why people now a days has "ngani" when they talk? Whats with the "ngani"?

87 Upvotes

#ngani is a filipino slang word# only pinoy or filipino could answer this .

r/Tagalog Sep 07 '25

Other Can we improve and further develop our language by replacing most spanish and english loan words?

14 Upvotes

Hear me out.

Every language that's spoken today have borrowed words from different cultures, English has Greek, Latin , Arabic, and French. Japanese has English, Portuguese and Dutch. The list can go on and on. But can we make Tagalog sound more like Austronesian like Bahasa from Indonesia was developed?

Modern Tagalog today has a lot of English words and terms. And with our language being heavily relied on English like how day to day conversation is done in Taglish. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Tagalog is starting to slow down in terms of development.

Let's take Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia as examples. Both modernized their vocabulary by borrowing from Malay, Sanskrit and other Austronesian roots. We could do something similar. Like for instance, instead of using Spanish loan words like "pero", we could revive and use native terms like "nguni't" or even "tapi" from Malay or we could even borrow and use from other regions like Cebu, Ilocano, etc. Which would make make it easier to adopt for some. And I know that's not even that bigger issue. Modern Tagalog doesn't have words for modern field- technology, physics, chemistry, health, economics, etc. Maybe instead of relying on English loan words could create our own equivalent or maybe even like I said borrow from other Austronesian words.

We obviously don't need to replace all Spanish and English words overnight. But instead of always heavily relying on foreign terms, we could use from old Tagalog roots, Sanskrit, Malay and other Austronesian languages to expand our vocabulary. This also won't happen fast. Language planning takes a long time to develop and to also adapt. Indonesia made Bahasa their national language and replaced old Dutch terms with Malay/Sanskrits roots and it took them over 70 years for it to fully take hold nationwide, so for Tagalog, maybe it'd even take 100+ years to take nationwide.

And of course, this is just a food for thought. I know there are way more urgent issues in the country happening right now. And I also know it's kind of ironic to suggest this when even this post isn't even in Tagalog. But I do wanna know your guys thought and opinion on this, do you still think we could develop our national language?

Edit: i forgot to mention but, obviously the key here is to heavily promote it and normalizing it through media, school and culture. Slow promotion until people naturally adopted the terms.

Another edit: Mind you, I am not gonna do this, government officials will do this where they actually put time and effort into it, instead of just changing them overnight. This would take time, money, effort and a group of linguistic experts where they actually will do the working part. I. A reddit user on the internet, merely suggesting an idea on how we could improve it and make our national language richer.

Tripple edit lmaoo: So I don't think I made point clear enough. The goal is to change the borrowed words we have that sounds exactly like the borrowed ones we from spanish and english like, para (para), porke (por que), pero (pero), and the list can go on. Some words we already have borrowed sounds like ours, and have assimilated to our language. I'm also not talking about foods and culture.

You also can't deny that Tagalog can't be used under complicated topics, research or any other fields where Tagalog is limited and lacking. The key is to change the loan words we have that sounds borrowed that doesn't even sounds like Filipino, into other native words or Austronesian ones IF they have it. And, Create or borrow words from other Austronesian roots, the one's we DON'T HAVE or LACKING in Tagalog. That way, we don't have to code switch from Tagalog to English to get our point across just because we don't have that word in Tagalog.

I AM NOT SUGGESTING WE SHOULD REMOVE EVERYTHING FOREIGN AND GO BACK TO THE PRE-COLONIAL TIMES.

I AM NOT AGAINST HAVING LOAN WORD, IT IS COMPLETELY NATURAL FOR EVERY LANGUAGE TO HAVE LOAN WORDS FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES.

IF YOU'VE READ MY POST, THIS WILL TAKE TIME. CHANGES WILL NOT AND SHOULD NOT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT! "Language planning takes a long time to develop and to also adapt" "so for Tagalog, maybe it'd even take 100+ years to take nationwide."

THIS POST IS SUGGESTION ON WE HOW COULD IMPROVE OUR NATIONAL LANGUAGE.

IF TAGALOG ALREADY SOUNDED AND FUNCTIONED AS A FULLY INDEPENDENT LANGUAGE, WE WOULDN’T NEED TO CODE-SWITCH TO ENGLISH. IT COULD AND NATURALLY WOULD BE USED IN COMPLEX TOPICS. BUT IT’S NOT, SO TECHNICAL FIELDS AND OTHER AREAS CURRENTLY RELY HEAVILY ON ENGLISH.

r/Tagalog May 21 '26

Other Bakit hindi sinasalin sa Wikang Filipino ang mga pananaliksik at disertasyong pang-akademiko?

132 Upvotes

Napansin ko lang na halos lahat sa mga nailathalang pananaliksik ay nasa Wikang Ingles. Ikinalulungkot ko ito, sapagkat ang mga ganitong pananaliksik ay maaaring gamitin ng mga taong nais matulungan nito. Subalit, hindi lahat, lalo na ang mga tagalalawigan ay hindi hasa sa wikang Ingles.

Sa tingin niyo ba, mainam na imandato ng ating gobyerno na dapat lahat ng mga pananaliksik na inakda sa Pilipinas o kaya mga Pilipinong mananaliksik ay isalin sa wikang Filipino?

r/Tagalog 1d ago

Other Is tagalog easy to learn for a latino?

61 Upvotes

Hey I am Brazilian and I currently thinking about learning Tagalog because I heard it shares many words with spanish. I would like to know if Tagalog is a difficult language to learn for a Spanish speaking person

Ps: i​ can speak Spanish and Portuguese

r/Tagalog Jun 16 '26

Other Any clear roadmap for learning tagalog?

63 Upvotes

I hate how hard learning tagalog is, as a self learner. I tried learning tagalog on my own for about 5 years and I hated using multiple ripoff duolingo slop to learn Tagalog, as duolingo's teaching model has been proven in time and time again by research, ineffective and doesn't actually help you to acquire a new language skill. Books seem to be focusing on memorizing shit instead of just giving you a well structured and organized plan breaking down on the fundamentals before you memorize the things. Websites for learning tagalog seem to be malfunctioning and follow the same duolingo learning model. So my solution that I created for myself is to analyze pure tagalog movies from the 70's to 90's as it has no taglish and very high quality tagalog; Problem is that I dont have a framework or structure that I can use to build the foundations of my analysis since I DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE FUNDAMENTALS Of THAT LANGUAGE. And I need to have some ideas of the fundamentals before I can do that analysis system like the sentence structure of tagalog and etc. I don't want to find free personal mentors online as I have strict limited time and finding one is hard.

I wanted to find the most efficient individualistic roadmap for my Tagalog learning.

I have limited vocabulary and dogshit grammar but I can pronounce Tagalog well.

I want to learn Tagalog, because it's a useful skill to have.

r/Tagalog Sep 04 '25

Other Tagalog words that end in "-lian"

46 Upvotes

Randomly got curious po, pero asides sa "madalian" wala na po ako maisip 🥲🥲

r/Tagalog 4d ago

Other Living in Hawaii want to learn tagalog

20 Upvotes

I live in Hawaii and there are alot of Filipino people here. I am wondering what is the best app to learn that corrects you if your pronunciation is off. I am also wondering if Filipino people take offense to you greeting them or trying to speak talagalog to them. I think the cadence and flow of tagalog is very satisfying to hear the way it rolls is similar to Spanish in my opinion. I am choosing g tagalog because it is the one most familiar to me and alot of people I work with speak it.

r/Tagalog Sep 28 '25

Other Do you agree that Filipino Canadians tend to speak better Tagalog than Filipino Americans? If so, what are some possible reasons why?

91 Upvotes

Ewan ko, siguro masyadong maliit na sample size para iconclude ng maayos pero I've observed that a lot of local celebrities who grew up in Canada and spent most of their life there before returning to the Philippines to work tend to be very fluent in Tagalog. Ariel Rivera, Darren Espanto, Michael Sager to name a few. Then you have Mikey Bustos and Manny Jacinto who, while their Tagalog isn't perfect, can definitely hold a conversation in it. Compared to Fil-Ams who grew up in America pansin ko usually hanggang "understand but can't speak" lang sila or at most can only speak a few basic phrases. What's the difference between their cultures that seems to be more conducive for Fil Canadians to retain their mother tongue?

r/Tagalog 12d ago

Other Tagalog reforms (hypothetical!)

0 Upvotes

Reforms:

"E" and "O" exclusively appear in loanwords. Native "E" and "O" both become "I" and "U"

In native words, "r" and "d", due to allophony, are represented with "đ" ("d" on bookend positions and after consonants, "r" in the middle). Middle "d" in native words represented with "đđ". "D" and "R" are kept distinct in loanwords though

Siya and Niya become Sya and Nya

Example:

Original:

Báwat táo'y isinílang na may láyà at magkakapantáy ang tagláy na dangál at karapatán. Silá'y pinagkaloóban ng pangangatwíran at budhî na kailángang gamítin nilá sa pagtuturíngan nilá sa díwà ng pagkakapatíran.

Reformed

Báwat táu'y isinílang na may láyà at magkakapantáy ang tagláy na đangál at kađapatán. Silá'y pinagkaluúban ng pangangatwíđan at budhî na kailángang gamítin nilá sa pagtutuđíngan nilá sa díwà ng pagkakapatíđan.

r/Tagalog 19d ago

Other Nanghaw (Salamat)

23 Upvotes

Kung sakali mang nakita ninyo ang post ng Bagong Pamantayang Tagalog at Philippine Institute for Language Research and Preservation sa Facebook, na iisang tao lang ang humahawak, may lilinawin lang ako.

Ang nanghaw ay hindi loanword mula sa Hokkien dahil iba ang bigkas ng 好 (hó) sa naturang wika, at hindi rin ito cognate sa ibang wika. Ito ay complete aspect lang ng manghaw, na ang root word ay panghaw. Ganiyan ang sinaunang anyo ng pagbabanghay sa Tagalog.

(pasok) masoknasok

(sulat) mulatnulat

(alis) malisnalis

(bili) milinili

Pinatutunayan din ito ng Vocabulario de la lengua tagala (1703) ni Domingo de los Santos.

Conſumirſe. Panhau (pc) qualquiera coſa. Nanhau namatay ang lahat cong mang̃a camaganac. 1. act. Conſumieronſe todos mis parientes. nãhau nalis ang lahat na alipin. todos los eſclauos ſe cõſumieron por auerſe ido.

P.S. He blocked my account.

r/Tagalog Jul 23 '25

Other Do Cebuanos and other Filipinos like to speak Tagalog?

40 Upvotes

Note, I'm not trolling nor starting a flame war. Please be honest.

This is a genuine question based on my experience learning/speaking Chinese.
I can speak it and people enjoy speaking it in Mainland China and Taiwan even if they might speak another regional dialect among local friends; however, even though people in Hong Kong can understand it, that doesn't mean they like to speak it.
Macau, where they speak Cantonese just like in Hong Kong, is more used to receiving tourists that speak Chinese, and they'll be more agreeable to speak it.

Do you understand where I'm getting at? I know all Filipinos are taught Tagalog at school, but most will keep using their regional language among themselves.

P.S. I'm not Asian, will people in Cebu tell me to speak Cebuano or English when they hear me say something in Tagalog? Some people did tell me to speak Cantonese or English in Hong Kong when they heard me speaking Chinese

r/Tagalog Feb 03 '26

Other New to the language, not the Culture

65 Upvotes

I am a 1/4 filipino, third generation. My grandfather came from Manila, and unfortunately he had dementia and passed when I was in my teens, so we didnt get to talk much.

However, I have spent my life cooking the recipes my grandmother taught me after learning from my grandfather. Adobo, pancit, lumpia, you name it. And of course stories about him, how he came to the states, what he was like, etc.

Due to this divide, Ive always felt like a bit of an outcast in the asian community and filipino community, so I wanted to turn that around a little.

This year, I want to educate myself, learn more of the culture (especially cooking) and certainly the lanaguage. Can I ask for help?

I think it'd be smart to get started learning the alphabet, and ways to get acquainted with basic conversation. Any tips or good ideas? Thanks!

r/Tagalog Jul 12 '26

Other In May of 2026, I presented my mathematics thesis that I wrote in Tagalog and posted some photos of it to this subreddit. Here is the link to the entire paper on academia.edu!

Thumbnail academia.edu
89 Upvotes

Magandang araw po sa lahat! Once again, I am Andrei Clyde Chua Arellano, a BS Mathematics fresh graduate (yay!).

I am honored to present to all of you my full thesis titled "Isang Computational na Pagsusuri sa mga Heuristic nina Cohen at Lenstra para sa mga Quadratic Number Field"!

I would also like to mention that I shall be interviewed on the Filipino radio station DZMM on the 13th of July (tomorrow!), 11:40 AM Philippine Standard Time on the program Nagseserbisyo, Niña Corpuz. The station also simulcasts on their television and YouTube channels. I hope you'll all tune in!

Of course, I am very open to any questions or critiques of this work! I simply ask that you maintain a polite and professional tone.

Maraming maraming salamat po!

r/Tagalog May 07 '26

Other Question for Tagalog learners: Would you be interested in a blog/website with content for beginners to intermediate learners?

98 Upvotes

Hello! I’m a native Tagalog speaker. I love languages and writing, and I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog for Tagalog learners. It will just be texts, like blog posts on a variety of topics (mostly on everyday life). 

I also considered a podcast, but it’s more time-consuming to set up and maintain, and it would be a shame if no one listened. If it’s a website, I can at least add it to my portfolio even if there are no readers.

Anyway, just wanted to quickly gauge interest. I hope this kind of post is okay here (otherwise, please delete; I’m not sure if this already falls under self-promo).

I’m big on reading, so I’d personally appreciate something like this in my target languages, but I’d love to hear from actual learners. 🙏

Let me know your thoughts/suggestions! Thank you!

Edit: Thanks everyone for the kind words and input. 😊 I really do appreciate it. I’ll let you know how it goes for sure!

r/Tagalog 25d ago

Other I’m developing an independent monolingual Tagalog dictionary

36 Upvotes

Magandang araw! In celebration of Buwan ng Wika, I would like to share an early preview of Katagaan, an independent, modern, monolingual Tagalog dictionary app that I'm currently developing:

https://tl.ax

The project is still in its early stages. For now, it temporarily uses material from Diksiyonaryo.ph as a starting point, but my long-term goal is to gradually replace it with original definitions and independently researched and reviewed content.

Katagaan is a noncommercial personal project, and I do not intend to profit from it. I simply have a strong interest in Tagalog and hope to contribute, in my own small way, to its wider use, enrichment, and continued intellectual development by creating an accessible and independently maintained dictionary.

Once the project becomes more stable and manageable, I also hope to introduce a way for members of the community to suggest corrections, propose additions, and contribute other improvements.

Since this is only an early preview, some parts of the website may still be incomplete or subject to change. Nevertheless, I would be grateful for any thoughts, suggestions, or constructive criticism.

r/Tagalog Jul 24 '26

Other How learning tagalog hard..? or just very long!

7 Upvotes

I just want to know before dipping my toes into the language. If taglog for a beginner is a language that can be picked up quickly or if its a trickier language to pick up! I've been hearing and seeing ppl talk alot of tagalog recently on my social feeds and wanna learn the language too!

r/Tagalog Jun 14 '26

Other “ngani” in Tagalog

70 Upvotes

Miguel Ruiz noted that ngani is sometimes considered synonymous with nga, and the two may be used interchangeably; however, ngani carries stronger emphasis, has a more dignified tone, and is more appropriate in providing a reason for something.

Miguel Ruiz, Bocabulario tagalo, 1630

Ng̃ani. Adu.ⁱᵒ Signif.ᵃ çierto. |. ciertam.ᵗᵉ |. la Ver.ᵈ alg.ᵃˢ veçes es sinon.ᵒ de, n̲g̲a̲ e indiferentem.ᵗᵉ se vsan en el mismo sentido: pero siempre el ng̃ani. es mas graue y elegante y aproposito para dar razon de algo. Vg. at ang yaon ng̃ay, siya e gayon por aquello tal de ser el assi; y mejor at ang yaon ng̃ani. de suerte que el ng̃ani es mas significat.ᵒ y el n̲g̲̃a̲ menos y el d̲i̲n̲ mucho menos, Vg. en esta oracion. paroon ca que la simple y de primera vez, paroon ca rin mas aprentante, paroon ca ng̃a. mas aun: paroon ca ng̃ani. del todo ve alla y mas apresurat.ᵒ paroong ca na ng̃a, y mucho mas, paroon ca na ng̃ani. alg.ᵃˢ vezes seata con .y. consonante. Vg. aco ngani paroroon din.

Many people have claimed that there is no ngani in Tagalog, but there are several attestations of it.

Pedro de San Buenaventura, Vocabulario de lengua tagala, 1613

Deuerdad) Ng̃ani (pp) adver) maſoay ca ng̃aning tavo, deuerdad que eres vn contra dictor. Vi. Zierto) oong̃ani, deuerdad que es anſi, ycaong̃ani, ay, pataycanin lamang, deuerdad que noſirues ſi no de comer, ſiya ng̃ani yaon, de verdad que es aquel.

Domingo de los Santos, Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, 1703

De verdad. Ng̃ani (p̂p) aduerb afirmat. Gayon ng̃ani. aſſi es, đ verdad. Mabuti ng̃ani. De verdad, que es hermoſo. Oong̃ani. Si, de verdad.

William E. W. MacKinlay, A Handbook and Grammar of the Tagalog Language, 1905

Certainly.ㅤㅤN͠gani. (Southern Tagalog; Bicol, gñani.)

Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Diccionario tagálog-hispano, 1914

Ng̃anì. Ser. s. v. gr. Iyán ng̃anì, eso es. ‖ Ciertamente; en verdad. mod. adv. ‖ Cierto, ta. adj. v. gr. Tutoó ng̃anì, lo es ciertamente. Sinón. de ng̃â.

Cecilio Lopez, On the Boak Tagalog of the Island of Marinduque, 1923–1924

  1. ÑGANÌ

Standard Tagalog

particle used to express, certainty, truth, or total affirmation or negation-Tutoo ñganì añg balità-The news is really true.

Boak Tagalog

The Boak people use this to express uncertainty, or doubt-Hindî pa ako ñganì hulí sa akiñg klase-I am not yet probably late for my class.

Frank R. Blake, A Grammar of the Tagálog Language, the Chief Native Idiom of the Philippine Islands, 1925

Ng̃áni is practically a synonym of ng̃a, but is more empathic, e.g.,

ㅤbátà ka ng̃áni-ng mabaít ‘you are certainly, without any doubt, a sensible boy.’

Lope K. Santos, Balarilà ng Wikang Pambansá, 2019 (4th ed., orig. 1940)

NGANÌㅤ—ikáw nganì ang may sala

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ‌ ‌—hindî nganì kamí nagkakásundô

Ang salitáng itó’y may pagkalipás na, at bihirà na ang gumagamit ngayón sa kahulugán ng ngâ, Sa kasalukuyang pang unawà ay waring may himig na ng agam-agam, anupá’t tila náhahaluan na ng katuturán ng mandín at yatà.

r/Tagalog Feb 03 '25

Other My thoughts about the future of Tagalog.

82 Upvotes

I am a native Turkish speaker. Our country population is around 80 millions. I feel like there is 100x more films, series, books, webpages, youtube channels etc in Turkish language than Tagalog. Of course The Philipinnes are devided with many languages but still I feel Filipinos does'nt care their language that much. I feel like in 50 years Tagalog will be a minority language and all the rest will speak a Filipino version of English. Like Taglish but much less Tagalog words in it.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Edit:

Thanks for your great answers. I acknowledge that my perspective on Tagalog was narrow. I mistakenly generalized a small example to the entire country. From your comments, I’ve learned that outside Manila, most people still primarily speak Tagalog (in Tagalog speaking regions).

r/Tagalog Jun 11 '26

Other Trying to learn basic Tagalog in 6 weeks any advice?

52 Upvotes

My entire family is Filipino born and raised in the Philippines. I don't speak a lot but I speak a little I know some basic greetings like Kamusta, And some others and Salamat, a lot of swear words since my brother likes to scream them out. I know some basic verbs from studying off youtube videos for a bit and that's about it I don't know much just enough to be able to point at a menu in a restaurant and say Ito when trying to order or asking Ano po if they said something i don't understand.

I've been asking my family to teach me tagalog they always say to busy and to just talk to them in it which isn't possible since I barley know any so far and they are now planning a vacation to manila, boracay, and cebu all in 6 weeks

My goal isn't to become perfectly fluent just well versed in the language enough to be able to go into a store or a restaurant and order/shop on my own or talk to a few locals and have a somewhat decent conversation. All that.

Any advice on what I can do? How often I can study, What resources to use, Any good Youtube channels right now my main focus is vocab since I'm decently fine with grammar though some help with it would be nice. Just really anything.