A beginner-friendly course — a complete A1–A2 foundation in fundamentals, grammar, culture, vocabulary, and practical conversation.
Organized by CEFR level: begin with A1 and build up to A2, or jump to any topic. Reference and practice tools are at the bottom.
Both, really. Filipino is the national language of the Philippines; Tagalog is the language it was built on. Standard Filipino is essentially the Manila variety of Tagalog, expanded with a 28-letter alphabet and open borrowing from Spanish and English.
For a learner the practical answer is simple: the grammar is identical. The focus system, the verb affixes, linkers, particles, pronouns, enclitic order — learn them here and you have them in both. What you study on this site is the variety taught as Filipino in Philippine schools, under the name most English speakers search for.
Where the two names genuinely diverge — the spelling of loanwords, formal school and media register, Taglish, and the real argument over whether "Filipino" fairly represents Cebuano, Ilocano and Hiligaynon speakers — this course takes it up directly, in Lesson 1 and across the advanced tier.
A good habit, and the one this course recommends: say Tagalog for the language you are studying, and Filipino for the national standard.
Foundations and first survival: sounds and sentences, verbs, numbers, family, questions, and everyday topics.
Alphabet, vowels, pronunciation, stress patterns, and your first words.
VSO word order, the focus system, markers (ang, ng, sa), and questions.
Conjugation through time, the focus system, verb families, and aspect.
Native, Spanish, and English number systems, telling time, money, and days.
Kinship terms, pronouns, the respect system (po/opo), and address conventions.
Ask about anything — ano, sino, saan, kailan, bakit, paano, alin, ilan, magkano, kanino.
Describe the world around you — mga kulay, panahon, at damit.
Say what hurts, ask for medicine, and name the days and months.
Real interaction and fuller grammar: conversations, parts of speech, modals, negation, and requests.
Survival phrases, cultural expressions, food culture, modern slang, and scenarios.
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, particles, and word-class flexibility.
The glue of Tagalog: may/wala, the linker, the full pronoun family, particles, demonstratives, and comparisons.
Say what you want, need, can, and should do — gusto, ayaw, kailangan, pwede, and dapat.
The four ways to say no — hindi, wala, ayaw, and huwag — and exactly when to use each.
Ask people to do things — the paki- prefix and the politeness dial, from blunt to gracious.
Learning skills, reference, and practice across the whole course.
Type any Tagalog text and hear it read aloud, with syllables, stress, and phonetic transcription.
Every word from all the lessons in one searchable place — with audio and links to where each is taught.
Short conversations and passages that recycle the vocabulary — with audio, a hide-English mode, and comprehension questions.
The most common everyday phrases on one printable page — greetings, questions, numbers, and emergencies.
Track your progress against the CEFR A1–A2 "can-do" goals, with progress bars that save as you go.
500+ searchable words across 8 categories with pronunciation and examples.
Using AI tools strategically — prompting, workflows, and the SMART framework.
24 new lessons — the full focus system, aspect, conditionals, register, argument, idioms, and real fluency.