Philippines are an extremely popular travel destination and this article will highlight some of the essential words and phrases for travel in Tagalog.
Tagalog (Wikang Filipino) is the national language of the Philippines. As part of the Austronesian family, its influence reaches into European languages as well.
1. Ask for directions
As part of any trip abroad, learning the local tongue is usually an essential first step. Tagalog is no exception – in fact, its Malayo-Polynesian roots make it relatively straightforward for travelers.
Additionally, Tagalog is an ergative-absolutive language which distinguishes between its subject and object in intransitive verbs. Furthermore, Tagalog boasts its own alphabet called baybayin that utilizes consonants with inherent vowels along with diacritics to change their meaning.
Learning these key words will enable you to ask for directions in any circumstance, even without GPS. They’ll also help when someone tells you to wait in front of a landmark or hotel, like when they ask you to wait “in front of” it. Furthermore, “under” (meaning near or adjacent something else) could provide useful direction information – for instance a great coffee shop might just be underneath that iconic bridge you have wanted to check out!
3. Ask for a room
No matter whether you plan to stay for an extended period, or are simply traveling quickly through your country of origin, knowing the appropriate Tagalog terms for accommodations is essential. In Tagalog, rooms are called SILID; adding adjectives allows for more specific requests.
Filipinos traditionally used soap and a palo-palo, or wooden laundry hammer, to wash their clothing. Now, however, Filipinos can learn more about Tagalog language with our engaging visual learning app – try it free today!
4. Ask for a meal
Philippines cuisine is legendary, and you are likely to experience some delicious Filipino meals during your trip. Knowing Tagalog language makes ordering easier as many words sound similar to their English equivalents making learning it a simpler task for travelers.
Tagalog nouns and adjectives typically end in either an -s or an -an ending; unlike in English, however, these forms do not indicate gender. They can also be combined with an article na to form plural nouns – just like English does – to make plural. Additionally, its word order differs significantly from English’s; for example when discussing people, personal markers si or ni are often added before nouns that refer to an individual; “friend” in Tagalog being an example;
Filipino, the standard form of Tagalog, is the national language of the Philippines and boasts over 80 million speakers globally. You can easily learn this second-most widely spoken Asian language at home using language learning apps designed specifically to support learning it.
5. Ask for a tip
Learning a foreign language can be an incredible way to deepen your knowledge of another culture and open up a whole new vista on life. Plus, it can be fun! Tagalog or Filipino is one of the world’s most widely spoken tongues – making learning it all the easier than you might expect!
Due to its colonial history, Tagalog contains many English and Spanish loan words that come from its colonial past; nevertheless it remains an Austronesian language closely related to Indonesian, Malaysian, Polynesian languages like Hawaiian.
Tagalog can be learned quickly by those familiar with English or Spanish, due to its consistent pronunciation (ua becomes uwa, n becomes ny, and j becomes h). Furthermore, unlike European languages that combine vowels into diphthongs for pronouncement purposes like English does; Tagalog uses separate vowel pronunciation.
Immersing yourself in Tagalog is the key to mastery. Doing this may involve watching shows or movies dubbed in Tagalog, listening to Original Pilipino Music (OPM), or attending concerts featuring these new words – training your ears and mind both to recognize and subconsciously pick them up as new vocabulary is learned.