Learn Tagalog Fast!

Can We Really Have You Speaking Tagalog in Just Ten Days?

Hard to believe, isn't it? Till you ask yourself one simple question: How did you learn English as a child? Did you wade through text books? Did you struggle with grammar? Did you drive yourself crazy trying to get the accent right?

No. You just "picked it up." You heard adults speak, and you uttered your first word. Well, that's how the Pimsleur method works. It's the natural way to learn Tagalog.  

In easy half hour "bites" on CD, our scientifically sequenced lessons will have you speaking Tagalog the way they do in the Philippines–or you pay nothing. Guaranteed. Just give it a try.

Why it's Important to Learn Tagalog

If you ever do get a chance to travel to the Philippines, take it. It's a beautiful country with so much to offer. With 7,107 islands comprising the Pacific archipelago, you will never run out of interesting and inviting places to visit. Nearly every island provides a tropical paradise with white beaches and turquoise waters. You'll also find coral reefs, and subterranean caves only accessible by water. Learn Tagalog before you go, and you'll be better able to find your way around, and speak to the friendly, proud people of the Philippines.

Since the 1940s, many millions of people from the Philippines have emigrated to the United States and other countries around the world, and established large Philippine communities in many cities. Being able to speak Tagalog would allow you to engage the people of those communities, and experience their culture in a way you otherwise wouldn't be able to.

Because many Philippine families are quite large, and due to the number of émigrés, many Philippine-Americans still have numerous relatives living in the Philippines. By learning Tagalog, you would be better able to communicate with your parents' and grandparents' extended families, especially if you're fortunate enough to visit them in the islands.

Conversational Tagalog vs. Academic Tagalog

While Tagalog can be written using the Latin alphabet, true Tagalog uses a system of symbols called the Baybayin alphabet. These symbols don't designate letters, but instead signify sounds and syllables. Trying to learn Tagalog in a traditional classroom setting is an ongoing effort for non-native speakers who may struggle to learn those symbols, some of which are difficult to differentiate in writing. Even when written in the Latin alphabet, Tagalog can be nearly impossible to decipher.

This is where the Pimsleur Approach's superior language learning method comes in very handy. Rather than having to learn an entirely new alphabet, or a system of unfamiliar symbols, you can learn Tagalog just by listening to a native speaker who will instruct you in the most common words and phrases you need to get around, and to be conversational in Tagalog. You'll be able to hold a conversation with a native Tagalog-speaker in a very short time.

A Logical Way to Learn Tagalog

Only after 20 years of scientific research did Dr. Pimsleur hit upon the right method to teach language–by watching his own children. Children have the ability to pick up languages quickly and naturally. What makes Pimsleur courses so successful are the specific scientific principles that replicate the speed and ease at which children learn languages. Read more about how this unique system–which has been purchased by the FBI–works.

No matter what situation you find yourself in–making new friends at a party, in a business meeting or negotiation, or just asking the way to the railway station or a good restaurant–you will find Pimsleur has given you the right Tagalog words and phrases, the ones that come naturally, without thinking. Read more about what you'll learn with Pimsleur.  

Tagalog Facts

Tagalog is related to Hawaiian. It's also related to Javanese and Malay, but doesn't sound like any of them.

Tagalog means "river dweller." Because the language's history is unknown for the most part, it's not known how this name for the language came about.

Tagalog is the official language of the Philippines. It was declared as such in 1897, in the country's first constitution.