r/Tagalog • • Oct 06 '25

Linguistics/History Parents are part of the problem

1.4k Upvotes

Can we talk about the current generation of parents that we have? I have seen countless remarks on how children today are already familar of speaking in english at a very voung age while struggling to speak in tagalog. Alam naman natin na the parents are a part of it. I have observed this especially when I noticed my own relatives reciting english words for their children to repeat it back to them. It is just sad that it became the standard that we live in. Imbes na laruan at maglaro sa labas ang bata, nanonood nalang ng youtube sa gadget. Can you believe that children don't even know what cartoons are? Maybe its all just a fact of change that we stuggle to understand but, given that our children experience more struggle in learning tagalog, I think that is pretty alarming considered in the educational state we're in.


r/Tagalog • • Oct 12 '25

Linguistics/History A white mom spoke better Tagalog than Filipino kids who primarily speak English

778 Upvotes

SKL. Based ako sa US. So today, our group hosted an event for families. I went up to offer something to this little girl, maybe around 6 or 7 years old. Then her mom translated what I said in Tagalog.

Isip isip, baka kako kaka immigrate ni kid from the Philippines, and the mom was just helping her out. Mom is white and dad is Filipino so half si kid. Turns out in speaking with the mom, they’re both learning Tagalog together because she wants her daughter to grow up knowing how to speak her dad’s language ❤️

And get this, si mommy ay invested talaga and mas marunong mag Tagalog para maturuan niya ‘yung anak niya. And she was soooo fluent! Like legit, her pronunciation was on point! You’d think she lived in the Philippines for years but she's only visited twice for short periods.

It really hit me. Ang ironic lang, kasi ang daming Filipino parents na English lang tinuturo sa mga anak nila. Meanwhile, here’s this white mom doing everything she can to keep her daughter connected to her Filipino roots.


r/Tagalog • • Aug 21 '21

Confirmed: TAGALOG is coming to Duolingo!

776 Upvotes

Duolingo just announced in DuoCon 2021 that they're adding a Tagalog course along with Zulu, Xhosa, Maori, and Haitian Creole.

I'm very excited and glad about this project finally coming to life after it has been suggested so many times in the Duolingo community. I think this would be a big step for people learning Tagalog as there are very limited course about it. I can't wait to see people rant on the perplexing grammar haha.


r/Tagalog • • Sep 05 '20

Please do not refer to any Filipino as Filipinx. Filipino native here. Thank you.

658 Upvotes

r/Tagalog • • Jan 25 '22

I just knew I have to share this!

588 Upvotes

r/Tagalog • • Sep 25 '21

MEME: Only Filipinos will understand this… "Tayutay"

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564 Upvotes

r/Tagalog • • Dec 01 '25

Linguistics/History Would you agree that Filipino/Tagalog-language humor is quite inaccessible to international audiences?

542 Upvotes

Our colloquial language has evolved into something laden with humor na tayo lang ang nakakaintindi.

Examples include (1) changing spellings (ex. "beke nemen"), (2) jejemon (ex. "aquoh lang twoh"), (3) trendy phrases (ex. "na para bang"), (4) jumbling words (ex. "omsim", "petmalu"), atbp.

You have to be fluent in the language to be able to perceive what makes these colloquialisms funny kasi they don't really have direct translations.

I'm asking this because I've been watching foreign reactors react to Filipino content (i.e., movies, shows, Ppop).

As a kdrama/kpop fan, I feel like Korean-language humor is accessible to me as someone who didn't know the language because the translations are spot on and carry the same weight of humor even when translated to English (which I would later on realize once I studied Korean and started to know what they were saying.)

When I watch foreign reactions to Filipino content, maraming times na sobrang benta sa akin nung mga sinasabi dun sa Filipino content whereas the reactors don't find anything funny... which I attribute to how the translations fail to capture the essence of our untranslatable Filipino humor.

It makes me wonder if this makes it more challenging for Filipino content to be enjoyed on a more international scale kasi parang ang niche ng humor natin, and a lot of this humor includes language wordplay which one has to know first before appreciating.


r/Tagalog • • May 15 '26

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

507 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 • • Aug 18 '21

If you tell "assault is a sin" to both native English speakers and a native tagalog speakers, they would both agree.

496 Upvotes

But both will have different understanding.


r/Tagalog • • Sep 25 '21

MEME: Only Filipinos can relate!!! Pwede na po bang paliguan yung tuta ng 3 months? (Di daw kasi malinaw) 😂

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474 Upvotes

r/Tagalog • • Jul 11 '22

Pepsi ad (2011) – Tagalog idioms

457 Upvotes

r/Tagalog • • May 30 '26

Grammar/Usage/Syntax As a Swedish learning FIlipino (Tagalog), what's the difference between ng and nang?

440 Upvotes

Hej! I'm Nørvik! I'm currently learning Filipino (Tagalog) since I want to be in the loop with my friends from Manila! They speak in a mix of English and Tagalog, which they would often call "Taglish," if I remember correctly...

Now, I'm well familiar with how Pangngalan, Pang-uri, and VSO/VOS agreements work, but I'm quite confused about how the case markers on ng and nang are used in a sentence. Do you use ng and nang interchangeably, where ng is simply the abbreviation of nang, or are there grammar rules on how ng and nang are placed in a sentence?

Det skulle betyda mycket om någon lokal kunde förtydliga detta, stort tack! Do please let me know if I've been mistaken!

Exempel"ng""nang"
VSOKumain ng isda ang pusa.Tumakbo nang mabilis ang bata.
VOSBinili ng lalaki ang kotse.Umawit nang malakas ang babae.

r/Tagalog • • 6d ago

Linguistics/History First time ko manood ng mga Old movies... Na-culture shock ako.

434 Upvotes

First time ko manood ng mga lumang pelikula sa Youtube, yung mga 1960s na digitally restored, ito mga napansin ko.

Unang una sa lahat, ang sarap nilang pakinggan managalog, sobrang poetic, tapos yung accent ibang iba sa accent ngayon. Pinanood ko yung Heneral Luna, Goyo, at Quezon, hindi nila magaya yung paraan ng pananalita sa mga legit na lumang pelikula noon. Mga palabas ngayon sa TV, sobrang common na ng taglish, kaya nakakatuwa lang na makarinig ng mga nananagalog nang puro at walang kahalong english, para sakin parang may hiwaga kung pakinggan.

"Tanging Ikaw" (1968)
Panaog - Madalas nila itong gamitin pamalit sa salitang "Lumabas/Paglabas". Dahil panay matataas yung bahay noong araw at palaging may hagdanan, kaya sa halip na "Lumabas ng bahay", palaging "Pumanaog" ang gamit nila.

  • "Maaari ba akong manaog mamayang gabi?" ang salin ay "Pwede ba akong lumabas mamayang gabi?" Linya ni Susan Roces.

  • "Subukan mo lang pumanaog at malilintikan ka sa akin" Eksena to sa lalaking lasinggero na gustong lumabas at pumunta sa mga kainuman niya pero ayaw ng asawa.

  • "Utang na loob, manaog ka na rito, baka kung ano pa sabihin ng tao" Ang salin naman sa linyang ito ay "Utang na loob, lumayas kana rito, baka kung ano pa sabihin ng tao" nga pala ang kyut kyut ni Susan Roces dito.

Kaliskis - Ito yata yung gamit nilang pamalit sa katagang "Kilatis??"

  • "Marunong kang kumaliskis ng manok?" tungkol ito sa panabong na manok, si FPJ yung bida at parang marunong siyang kumilatis ng manok kung malakas ba itong ilaban sa sabungan.

"Baryo Eat Bulaga" origin name ng Eat Bulaga? Name ni Susan Roces sa pelikula is "Anastasia Walang Gulat" Bulaga? Gulat?

  • 1968 yung pelikula, ngunit "Sinaunang panahon" ang tawag nila sa paraan ng panliligaw na pinagsisibak ng kahoy at paghaharana sa babae, bilang Gen Z para sakin sinaunang panahon na yung 1968 kaya medyo natawa ako kasi sa utak ko around 1970s or 80s ginagawa yung panghaharana o pagsisibak ng kahoy para sa nililigawan.

"Mga Reyna ng Vicks" 1958

  • Peksman - nagulat akong marinig yung salitang 'to, akala ko sa 80s or 90s lang ito nanggaling.

    • "Hindi na ho ako nagsisinungaling, peksman oh." sabay pinaghook pa ng nagsalita yung dalawang hintuturo niya. - Sino nakakaalam ng Etymology nito?

  • "Nakikipagligaw" sa halip na "Nanliligaw"?

    • "-na sinasabi kong, nanggagaling sa mga nakikipagligaw sa akin..." ang weird lang niyang pakinggan para sakin.

"Busabos" 1957

  • "Lapat na lapat" sa halip na "Fit na fit".

    • "Ang ganda Inay(tungkol sa bistida), lapat na lapat sa katawan ko." Ang sarap talaga pakinggan kapag walang taglish sa tagalog sa totoo lang.

  • Katipan - Kasintahan

  • Pagkit - May salita pala tayo para sa "Honey", nalaman ko rin yung mga salitang "Pukyot" si Jollibee, at "Pukyutan" beehive.

  • Naninibasib? Hindi ko alam kung ano 'to. "Kung gusto mo siyang kagalitan, hindi ganyang para kang tigreng naninibasib."

  • "Sa dakong huli" sa halip na "Sa bandang huli".

    • "Ang lahat ay ibig 'kong malaman mo, sapagkat, ayaw kong magdanas kayo ng kapaitan, at pagsisisi sa dakong huli." Nung marinig ko yung linyang 'yan, napaWOW na lang talaga ako. Kasi ganyan ba magsalita mga tao noon? Sobrang poetic e haha. Hindi naman siguro no?... Nalaman ko rin na spanish pala galing yung salitang "Bandá".

"Dangkasi" Hindi ko matandaan kung saang movie ko ito narinig, ngunit naalala ko ito madalas 'kong sabihin noong bata ako(around 2015), madalas ko kasi siyang marinig sa mga matatanda sa amin. Kaso noong namayapa na yung mga matatanda halos nawala na rin yung gumagamit niyan kaya natigil na rin ako gamitin. Akala ko dati samin lang ginagamit yan, ngunit nagulat ako nung marinig ko yan sa isa sa mga lumang pelikula.

Mga tagalog words pa na narinig ko sa ibang old movies ngunit hindi ko alam ang kahulugan. (Di ko rin sure kung tama yung pagkakarinig ko sa ibang words, yung movie kasi mahirap na maintindihan yung audio sa katandaan )

  • Lingapin

  • Pumapalatak

  • Ipininid?

  • Tumatalima

  • Kapilia

  • Lamerda? Lamyerda?

  • Kalugodlugod

  • Tungkil?

  • Nagbibitaw ng pakapos

  • Nagsasalita ng pakapos

  • Pihikan

  • pakikitalamítam

  • Masatsat

  • Nakakahili?

  • Kinakalungya ka ng malas


r/Tagalog • • Apr 18 '25

Pronunciation why do a lot of us say “am” instead of “ang”?

346 Upvotes

e.g. “am pangit”, “am puta”, “am bango”. those are just few examples. and we typically spell them in one word only, mostly on text since it’s informal. may rules ba sa paggamit niyan? hindi naman bagay kung sasabihing “am ganda” imbes na “ang ganda”.

please be nice po since i’m not a tagalog native speaker and nag aaral currently sa metro manila, from northern samar.


r/Tagalog • • Nov 06 '25

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

334 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 • • Oct 03 '26

Vocabulary/Terminology Re: “Tayo na” usage in Forgotten Island

316 Upvotes

To everyone complaining about this in Forgotten Island, please be more culturally aware of Tagalog culture.

“Tayo na” is still widely used in the Southern Tagalog provinces including Batangas, Quezon, OrMin, and Marinduque. Manila Tagalog is not the only form of Tagalog and what sounds formal to you is everyday speech for us.

The contracted “ay” in words like “ika’y/ako’y/siya’y” aren’t limited to songs or literature here.

Regardless of the widespread usage, small linguistic communities should still be represented. This line of thinking would exclude so many minority communities from being represented because it is not what “most” people use.


r/Tagalog • • Nov 03 '25

Grammar/Usage/Syntax What is the current context when we say 'kain po' when eating?

303 Upvotes

Napansin ko to my whole life without actually understanding the context behind it. Napapansin ko lang na parang naging common greeting siya and I think its suppose to invite someone to your feast when you are eating. Pero sometimes parang naging gesture nalang siya that makes sure that we're eating properly. I'm not really sure, correct me if I'm wrong.


r/Tagalog • • Aug 02 '21

Feeling discouraged after 3 years of studying Tagalog

293 Upvotes

Hey y'all, I'm a Fil-Am from California who's been studying Tagalog since August 2018. It's my 3 year anniversary since starting my language learning journey and while I am proud of sticking with this through tough times, I've been also feeling an intense sensation of disappointment with myself. So to clarify this post before moving on, this is just me venting about my struggles and insecurities. If you decide to read on and even comment, thank you.

My identity as a Filipino-American has been something I needed to accept for a long time. I grew up around mostly White people, with some Black and Hispanic people in my life. Both of my parents immigrated to the States back in the 90s, so while I was exposed to many people in the Filipino community here, I never felt that I really fit in. I developed insecurities cause I wasn't the ideal Filipino boy growing up who was sociable, athletic, and spoke Tagalog to all the titos and titas. All I had was that I was a well behaved, hard working nerd who got good grades.

I didn’t realize this at the time, but I started studying Tagalog so I could alleviate these insecurities and feel more Filipino. I wanted to feel like I am enough for my parents and that I could fit in with the other Filipino kids growing up and be more popular. In other words, I felt like I was too White or Americanized inside to be a “true Filipino”.

As a result of these insecurities, I unconsciously linked my ability in Tagalog to my self esteem. I jumped into language learning not knowing what the hell I was doing, so I spent the first 2 years busting my ass off while not making much progress at all. Rather than curiosity, I was driven by my feelings of inferiority. Eventually, I had to confront my insecurities and accept the fact that I’m never gonna be a “true Filipino” nor a White American. I have to find the confidence within myself to accept my identity as a Fil-Am, and make peace with reality.

Despite my efforts, I still felt hurt inside when the 3 year anniversary mark of my studies passed. I have improved a lot in my language learning skills, and have grown a lot as a person since I started. But my Tagalog speaking skills is honestly dogshit with the amount of time I put into it (daily 30 min - 1 hr). I’d say that I speak at an A1 level according to the CEFR scale. I naturally stutter a little bit when I speak English, but I feel so much anxiety when communicating in Tagalog that I can hardly reply at all. And when I manage to squeak out a reply, it is laden with stutters and lacking in confidence.

I posted here because I need to get out of my own head and talk with people who’ve been in the same boat as me. Unlike Mandarin, Arabic, or Japanese, hardly anyone looks up to Tagalog for being a particularly difficult language. I know there are plenty of intuitive and easy things about Tagalog, but there has to be a reason why I struggled so damn much for this many years, right? Cause if Tagalog is really an easy language to learn and given the work I put in with the meager results I’ve attained after these 3 years, then my only conclusion is that I’m simply too stupid to learn Tagalog, full stop.

---- Addendum ----

Again, thank you so much to those who read and commented on my post. I normally try not to dwell on these thoughts but today was a particularly difficult day. Sorry if I come off as wanting pity or anything, but honestly, I think I need validation and emotional support. I’m always open to criticism though! I have plenty more to learn after all. I still plan to continue studying Tagalog but I need the impetus to continue through more years of study. Thankfully, I got most of my language learning shit together, so I at least can make progress in a more structured fashion.

Okay y’all, take care of yourselves, peace~

EDIT: Oh my goodness, so many replies! Imagine my surprise to wake up and and find so much support and camaraderie from this wonderful community. Thank you thank you thank youuuu!!!

I've yet to comb through and address everyone's comment so far but regardless, I feel extremely blessed to have you guys supporting me and supporting each other. I hope that this post also helps other people in similar situations find their way through their obstacles, language learning or not. Anywho, please be patient as I respond to everyone cause it'll take some work haha


r/Tagalog • • Aug 14 '20

To non-American Tagalog learners re: filipinx

293 Upvotes

Since this is a language sub there's something i want to say about a new term used by Fil-Ams

If you see Americans using the term “Filipinx” please know that Filipinos in the Philippines don't really identify their selves with that. Maybe you can call American Filipinos that. Bastá huwág nyo kamíng bwisitin hahaha

EDIT: we don't also call our selves “Pacific Islanders”


r/Tagalog • • Sep 22 '26

Vocabulary/Terminology What word is this I keep hearing?

291 Upvotes

It’s this word that sounds like “bale” or “bali”.

Example:
Today I went to the barangay hall and said, “dumating ako ngayon para kunin ang certificate of residency ko”

They responded with, “Bale/bali po, balik ka bukas”

It sounds similar to the Spanish word “vale,” which means “alright,” or “sounds good.” I’ve also heard it when at cash registers paying for things. But whenever I ask my girlfriend what this word is, she acts like I’m crazy and says it doesn’t exist. I’m guessing I’m pronouncing it wrong.


r/Tagalog • • Jan 13 '22

Tagalog Mathematics

284 Upvotes

r/Tagalog • • Sep 07 '26

Vocabulary/Terminology What does “pinaka” mean?

264 Upvotes

From studying Filipino, I know it obviously means “most” or like as a superlative, but I’ve heard people use it in sentences where translating it to “most” doesn’t really make sense

Actually examples I’ve heard are “ito yung pinaka trabajo mo” “malamig yung pinaka sauce nya” “yan na yung pinaka kanin ko”. I understand what each sentence means if you remove the “pinaka”, so does adding it change the meaning of the sentence?

EDIT: Thanks to those who answered, I think I get it now. My next questions:

  1. ⁠Is the use of “pinaka” as explained grammatically correct or is this only conversational?

  2. ⁠Is this a Manila Tagalog thing or do other Tagalog dialects also use this?


r/Tagalog • • Apr 22 '25

Vocabulary/Terminology What are the forgotten words of tagalog that we no longer to use? And why?

248 Upvotes

Sometimes we use malalim na tagalog, what about those forgotten na talaga?


r/Tagalog • • May 01 '25

Vocabulary/Terminology Is the word "ay" even used by filipinos?

245 Upvotes

I've been trying to learn tagalog for a little while, and while practicing with a pinoy friend of mine recently, he told me that even though it's not necessarily incorrect, I should completely refrain from using the word "ay" (which I generally take to mean 'is' or 'are') if I want my tagalog to sound more natural. He went as far as to say that it's "not true tagalog" and was made up to fit tagalog into a european grammatical structure. Is this true? Do filipinos really never use the word ay? Ano ba yan?


r/Tagalog • • Sep 15 '22

Anong tagalog ng "orgasm" ?

238 Upvotes

Magkaiba ba ang salita na ginagamit sa babae at lalaki? Thank you pooo

EDIT: nakalimutan ko lagyan ng serious answers only, this thread has gone out of hand lmao😭