11 Best Books To Learn Tagalog

In today’s unpredictable world, we should prepare ourselves ready for new experiences. In this article, we will provide you with some details regarding the top books to learn Tagalog and a few bits of information about the Philippines’ culture, traditions, and beliefs. Ready to flip pages? Let’s get started!

My Voyage Toward Tagalog

I have always been a language lover right from the beginning but never got my attention towards Tagalog since a few years back. One fine day, I was busy in my office, and my boss suddenly asked me to join a meeting. I got up from my seat and rushed towards the meeting room.

The meeting was about a business trip to the Philippines as we had some orders from there. The trip was about to leave next week, so we had to prepare our luggage. The first thing that came to my mind was the language barrier.

I instantly searched for their national language, and Filipino and Tagalog showed up. It immediately caught my attention. Their alphabet is relatively easy to follow, especially for those who are used to the Latin alphabet. The same can be said for the pronunciation rules. But aside from those two, I do not know much about the language then. Due to this, I made it a point to look for resources about it.

I searched online the Filipino lecturers who used to teach Tagalog to beginners and approached one of them. He used to send me audio recordings and lists of books with all the essential rules of their realistic dialogues for heritage learners.

It was quite challenging initially, but I got the basics with proper guidance. Fortunately, I was able to understand Tagalog before the trip. My language improved when I reached the Philippines and started interacting with Filipinos.

11 Best Books To Learn Tagalog

Based on my experience, using books can undoubtedly help you upgrade your linguistic capabilities in your chosen language. For this reason, I’ll share with you some books that literally changed my life as I learned this Asian language.

Tagalog For Beginners: An Introduction To Filipino, The National Language Of The Philippines

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Author 

This is an outstanding book that reveals the basics of the Tagalog Language. It was written by Joi Barrios. Joi Barrios holds a Ph.D. from the University of Philippines in the field of Philippine literature. 

She has been teaching Filipino and Philippine literature at different Universities like the University of California and as an associate professor at the University of Diliman. She had received fourteen national library awards. She also had the honor of TOWNS (ten outstanding women in the nation’s service) in 2004.

Key Features Of The Book

  • It provides an accurate and quick tour toward learning the Tagalog language, just like native Tagalog speakers.
  • It provides helpful suggestions for communication skills you require while interacting with a sizable Tagalog speakers community in everyday situations.
  • Furthermore, it has a link for online audio recordings.
  • It also incorporates the exercises and activities that every grammar book offers to better the readers’ language learning.
  • It is a user-friendly guide.
  • And a specific section guides native learners (people of Filipino descent and also outside the Philippines) the instructions about how to make the best use of this book in real-life situations.

Tagalog-English/English Tagalog Standard Dictionary (Hippocrene Standard Dictionaries)

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Author 

Dr. Carl Rubino wrote this fantastic book. He has taught Filipino and Ilocano at the University of California. He has a background in typology. He gave lectures on four different continents on Philippine linguistics.

Key Features Of The Book

  • Tagalog has 17 million speakers worldwide. This book provides Tagalog words with English Translations and English words with Tagalog Translations.
  • It has 20,000 total dictionary items.
  • Furthermore, it has many expressions of idioms, derivations, loans, and slang words.
  • It is a grammar book and solves all the problems of Tagalog Grammar.
  • It is considered a supplementary book along with Tagalog courses.
  • It also has a pronunciation guide which helps many readers who usually face pronunciation problems.

Intermediate Tagalog: Learn To Speak Fluent Tagalog (Filipino), The National Language Of The Philippines

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Author

Maria Josephine Barrios also wrote this book, mostly called Joi Barrios. She holds the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Philippines in the field of Filipino literature. She has taught fiction and literature at the UP Likhaan, a creative writing center. 

This skilled teacher is a winner of many awards like the Palanca Award and the most prestigious Literary Award. She has also mastered many fields like poetry, translation, acting, scriptwriting, etc. She is also a commendable activist who wrote for freedom during the Marcos Dictatorship.

Key Features Of The Book

  • This book is designed for learners who want to advance their Filipino Language.
  • This book is not for beginners or for people who do not even understand the basics.
  • This book has 20 well-constructed topics for all things related to Tagalog language skills.
  • It provides a guided introduction to learning Filipino.
  • It contains stories and real-life conversations for Philippines language learners.
  • It also contains cultural info about this national language.
  • Furthermore, it incorporates writing exercises that even enhance the learning processes.

 Lonely Planet Filipino (Tagalog) Phrasebook And Dictionary

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Publisher

The Lonely Planet is one of the top travel guide book publishers across the globe. They literally have books for every country out there, which is why many travelers usually purchase their books before going there.

Key Features Of The Book

  • It fulfills all of our travel needs because it contains all the essential details required to learn the phrases and vocabulary of Tagalog necessary to have a first conversation with the native speakers.
  • It mainly focuses on the new words required to use while traveling.
  • It can also be called a grammar book because it covers the grammar rules associated with this new language.
  • It has carefully-paced explanations of numbers, time, dates, and pronunciations to learn phrases.
  • Its practical focus is on the language students and also on the people who have to travel there. It provides pocket-size assistance in learning Tagalog words.

Tagalog Picture Dictionary: Learn 1500 Tagalog Words And Expressions

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Authors

Jan Tristan Gaspi wrote it along with Singing Maria Rosa Marfori.

Jan has studied at the University of California in the field of Arts. He has also been an assistant researcher with a Professor in writing Tagalog textbooks. On the other hand, Singing Maria Rosa Marfori graduated with a degree in Bachelors in Philippine studies at the University of California. She also has experience teaching the Filipino Language to foreign students at the University of U.P. Diliman and Ateneo de Manila University. She also has shown mastery of co-writing Instant Tagalog and Essential Tagalog.

Key Points Of The Book

  • It includes 1500 Tagalog words with their Tagalog scripts. It also added the romanized version of Tagalog words that would help you reinforce pronunciations and their English meanings.
  • It incorporated hundreds of colored photographs.
  • Example sentences are provided with every word to clarify the concept about their usage, making language learning easy.
  • The best feature of this book is that it provides online audio recordings by native speakers of this national language which further solves the knots, if any. This is a fun and easy way to learn Tagalog and other languages.
  • Forty different topics cover all the essential needs of any traveling person or basic communication like ordering Filipino food or booking a cab.

Let’s Learn The Tagalog Kit

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Author

Laura Armitage wrote this book on language learning. She was born in Korea, in the beautiful city of Seoul, and was brought up in Andover. She completed her BA at the University of NH. She taught at a school level for four years in Seoul. She was also a translator and translated many postscripts. She earned U.S, K-8 teaching certifications. She is married and has three children.

Key Points Of The Book

  • It is a flashcard kit beneficial for visual learners.
  • It comes with Tagalog flashcards that are divided into different themes like numbers, family, colors, etc.
  • There is an easy and straightforward description, along with words, for every picture.
  • Designed for kids but can also be used by adults to learn Tagalog.

Pan De Sal Saves The Day

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Author

It is written by Norma Olizon-Chikiamco song with Mark Salvatus. Norma earned the Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for this book. She has also earned the outstanding Journalism Award and a national book award from the Manilla Critics circle. On the other hand, Mark has illustrated two children’s books and was awarded by the Philippines board for books for young people and also from the national book Awards-Manilla Critics Circle.

Key Points Of The Book

  • This sweet book originated for children.
  • It provides an award-winning story of the young Filipino girl who gathers her self-esteem after she spends some time with her classmates.
  • This story inspires young people throughout the world.
  • That courageous young girl named Pan de Sai used to underestimate herself and was stuck in an inferiority complex. She found her appearance strange and thought she did not have a melodious voice enough to participate in the Glee Club. Furthermore, she did not even like her name.
  • Suddenly, a miracle happened in her life, and she mustered up the courage to take a stand against all of her complexes. She got up to fulfill all of her dreams and recognized her innate talent. Her classmates also admired her.
  • This is a story for everyone in the world who thinks of himself as an outsider, and this story  teaches how to gather the courage to gell in,
  • It tells everyone has unique characteristics of their own. All you need is to get up against all of your fears and recognize your strength.
  • It is commendable, easy to learn the basics, and understand the meaning for beginners.
  • It is provided in both English and Tagalog.

Tagalog Short Stories For Beginners

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Author

This book was written and published by Lingo Mastery. They also have books for other languages.

About The Book

  • It is an innovative education for learning Tagalog.
  • It has provided the short stories in Tagalog but with no English Translations.
  • This book is for learners who have already reached advanced levels.
  • But the good thing that counts is that it provides a summary of every Tagalog Story, so you can understand what it is about if you have not reached an intermediate level in learning Tagalog.
  • It provides 20 interesting stories that kill your boredom.
  • It conducts tricky Questions to test your Language comprehension in the Tagalog language.

Dingding, Ningning, Singsing And Other Fun Tagalog Words

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Book

Tricia J. Capistrano wrote this book. She is an excellent author who also has published a few articles on credible platforms like Newsweek.

Key Points Of The Book

  • This charming book provides an easy way to learn Tagalog with unique colorful Tagalog words.
  • One of the words is Kilikili which means Armpit in the national language of the Philippines. Reading this word might cause a tickle match for some readers.
  • This book is sizable for kids and beginners.
  • It is a creative tool for language learners with colorful and fun words.

Bahay Kubo And Other Filipino Folk Songs For Children

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Publisher

This book is a compilation of Tagalog words and cultural songs perfect for children. Christopher Gannon headed the selection of all the information included in this book.

About The Book

  • This sweet book contains the 22 best folk songs for the kids with their English translations.
  • Perfect for kids who wants to learn easy Tagalog words
  • Reflects the Filipino characteristics and beliefs through the introduction of the Filipino folk songs

Salamat Po!: Learning About Showing Respect In The Filipino Culture

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Author

This book is written by Join Chloe, a half-Filipino based in New York.

About The Book

  • This book is best suited for kids as it contains an easy way to learn Tagalog phrases relevant to the culture and values of the Philippines.
  • Cultural information is presented with colorful themes.
  • Excellent and entertaining illustrations of the themes attract many readers and language learners.
  • Simple and easy-to-understand vocabulary is used to facilitate the readers.

Filipino Celebrations: A Treasury Of Feasts And Festivals

Books To Learn Tagalog

About The Authors

This book is written by Liana Romulo along with Corazon Dandan-Albano. The publication rights are under Tuttle Publishing.

Liana Romula graduated from Barnard College in New York City. She is a great writer, and her writings include My first book of Tagalog words, Filipino Children’s favorite stories, and Filipino Friends. Her hobbies include scuba diving and yoga etc. On the other hand, Corazon Dandan-Albano graduated from the Philippines college of fine arts. She was a great painter from the beginning. She has illustrated many commendable books like the legend of Bamboo and a lot more. She has the honor of writing more than thirty books.

Key Points Of The Book

  • This book provides a fascinating history of every cultural holiday.
  • It includes all the fun activities like keywords, songs, and unique customs associated with each holiday that attract the newcomers to reading.
  • All the details have both English and Tagalog translations.
  • It encourages the kids to learn all about Filipino culture and festivals

[Bonus: Learn Filipino- Level 1 Introduction To Filipino]

Books To Learn Tagalog
  • This is an audiobook that teaches us the basics of the Tagalog language. Furthermore, it provides pronunciation lessons that improve listening comprehension.
  • Key grammar concepts add more shines to the language learning voyage.
  • It facilitates the learning process while doing every task. You do not need to take your time out and learn. You can take lessons while driving, doing home chores, etc., just by putting your headphones in.
  • Online audio included real-life conversations by native speakers that clear the concepts.
  • It has also incorporated review tracks that provide the learners with the chance to repeat every single word aloud.

Wrapping Up

Books To Learn Tagalog

Tagalog is the national working language of the Republic of the Philippines. It has played an essential part in the development of the Filipino language, which is the national language of the country. Aside from Tagalog, other dialects are spoken in areas away from Manila.

There are lots of online apps one can use to learn any language like Tagalog. However, not all of them are the same. One of the well-known apps that you should not miss out on is the Ling App.

The Ling App is a revolutionary application that comes with all the relevant lesson units for learning Tagalog and 60+ other languages. Aside from that, it features challenging lessons and an AI bot that can help you practice your skills in the chosen language. So take a second out from your routine and install the Ling App to start learning the right way.

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