How to Use

Learning Tagalog on Tagalog Learning is simple: follow each day's instructions carefully. The most crucial part of your learning will always be input: reading, listening, watching, and absorbing as much Tagalog as you can, consistently.

The first lessons are being written now. This page explains how they work, so you're ready for Day 1.

Reading Tagalog

Tagalog is written in the Latin alphabet, mostly the way it sounds: each vowel (a, e, i, o, u) has one sound, and every letter is pronounced. You can start on Day 1 without learning anything first. A few things are worth knowing:

• ng is one sound, as in English "singer", and it can begin a word: ngayon ("now").
• Two short words aren't read as they're spelled: ng sounds like "nang", and mga (which makes a word plural) sounds like "manga".
• Everyday writing doesn't show which syllable is stressed, or where a word ends with a short catch in the throat, so some words look the same but sound different. That's one more reason to learn by listening: the audio shows you what the spelling doesn't.
• Many words come from Spanish, like mesa ("table") and kutsara ("spoon"), and many from English, often spelled the Tagalog way.

Why Input Matters Most

Traditional language learning tries to make you speak before you're ready, forcing you to memorize grammar rules or drill vocabulary out of context.

But when you're pushed to speak too early, you're often just guessing, making mistakes, and creating bad habits. Instead, our method emphasizes constant exposure to natural, understandable Tagalog, similar to how children learn their first language.

Required Reading: Input - what it is and why you need it

Daily Lessons: How to Use Them

Each day's lesson comes with clear instructions: simply follow along step by step. If you've comfortably finished a day's content, it's perfectly fine to continue to the next lesson. But don't rush, and take breaks if you're tired. Enjoying the process is crucial; if you don't, burnout is inevitable.

Using a Lesson Page

Every lesson is one short conversation. Press Play all to hear it from start to finish, or the round button next to a line to hear just that line. The line being played is highlighted, so your eyes can follow along. The voices are AI voices, one for each speaker, chosen to sound like everyday Tagalog. These settings help as you go:

• Repeat plays each line two or three times in a row.
• Speed slows the audio down to 0.8× or 0.6× without changing the voice.
• Hide English covers the translations with soft bars so you can test yourself. Tap a covered line to peek at it.
• Word hints: point at a Tagalog word (or tap it) to see which English words it means, and the other way round. With Hide English on, it uncovers just that word.
• Listen only hides all the text, for pure listening.

On a computer, the keyboard works too: R plays or pauses the whole dialogue, 1 to 9 play a line, E hides or shows the English, and the ← → arrows go to the previous or next day.

When you've finished a lesson, press Mark as done. Your progress is saved in your browser (no sign-up), and the course page and the menu then show where you left off. If you spot a mistake in a line, press the small flag next to it to tell us.

Respect Is Part of Every Lesson

Tagalog speakers show respect with a few small words. Po, and opo for "yes", go to older people, strangers, customers and anyone you'd speak to formally; ho and oho are a little more casual. To one person, kayo (the plural "you") is more respectful than ikaw. Between friends, and to people younger than you, they're left out. People also call each other Kuya, Ate, Tito, Tita, Lolo and Lola ("big brother", "big sister", "uncle", "aunt", "grandpa", "grandma"), even outside the family.

You don't need to study the rules. Each lesson's situation says who the speakers are and how they know each other, and across the course you meet every combination: women and men, students and teachers, parents and grandparents, bosses, customers and old friends. Notice how they speak to each other, and the right words will start to feel natural.

Maximizing Your Input

Your goal is simple: get as much input as possible. This doesn't mean just focused study; it means immersing yourself in Tagalog as often as you can, even passively. Listen to Tagalog podcasts, YouTube videos, teleseryes (TV dramas) or OPM songs while you walk, exercise, cook, or commute. Much of what you'll hear mixes in English words and phrases (Taglish), especially in Manila: that's normal, and it makes a lot of real Tagalog easier to follow.

AJATT famously emphasizes this: passive listening helps your brain get accustomed to Tagalog sounds, making the language feel natural over time.

How to Use Anki Every Day

Reading and listening alone aren't enough: we're not children anymore, so input needs reinforcement. To truly internalize what you meet in the lessons, use the provided Anki decks daily.

These decks review the sentences you've encountered in your lessons. Don't worry about grammar rules like verb focus, markers such as ang, ng and sa, or affixes (and Tagalog has plenty!).

Instead, focus on understanding each sentence: grasp what each part is doing without stressing over specific grammar terminology. Grammar study comes later, much later, and only if you feel the need once you're already comfortable and advanced.

Importing an Anki Deck

1. Install Anki. It's free on computers (apps.ankiweb.net) and on Android (AnkiDroid). On iPhone and iPad, the official app is AnkiMobile, which is paid.
2. On a lesson page, download the day's deck. Each deck holds every line of that day's dialogue: the Tagalog on the front of a card, and its English translation on the back, with its audio.
3. Open the downloaded file: double-click it on a computer, or open it with AnkiDroid or AnkiMobile on a phone. The cards go into a deck named after the level and the day, for example "Newbie::Day 12".
4. Review in Anki every day. New days add to the same level, and Anki decides when each card comes back.

Importing a deck again later updates its cards instead of adding copies.

Enjoy the Process and Avoid Burnout

Learning a language should be enjoyable. If you're feeling exhausted, slow down. Remember, this isn't just about learning Tagalog; it's about getting used to Tagalog. Meeting Tagalog every day, even passively, makes it part of your daily life. Eventually, it becomes natural, comfortable, and even part of your identity.

If you consistently engage with the language through input, you'll soon find yourself thinking in Tagalog. When you've had enough exposure, the desire to speak will naturally emerge, and you won't need to force it. It'll come as naturally as breathing.

Don't Give Up: We're Always Here

Learning Tagalog is a journey, not a race. If life gets in the way and you take a break, that's fine. We'll always be here. Simply come back whenever you're ready, pick up exactly where you left off, and keep going.

Trust the process, keep reading and listening, keep reviewing, and above all, enjoy yourself. Tagalog will become a natural part of your life before you know it.

If this free course has helped you in your Tagalog journey, please consider supporting the project. It's a one-person effort, and even small contributions help keep it running and free for everyone.