02/09/2026
๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฑโ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. ๐
No Google at our fingertips.
No Facebook groups.
No YouTube tutorials for almost everything.
And definitelyโฆ no ChatGPT.
Just books, handwritten notes, photocopied materials, personal experience, conversations with Filipinos, and a lot of:
โOkay, how do I explain this in a way my student will actually understand?โ ๐
More than two decades later, Iโm still hereโstill teaching Tagalog, still learning, and still amazed at how much a language can bring people together.
Over the years, Iโve had the privilege of teaching Tagalog to people from very different walks of lifeโexpats and Fil-Ams, foreigners married to or dating Filipinos, professionals relocating to the Philippines, business owners and CEOs, and even celebrities and social media influencers.
I wonโt name names. ๐ค
A teacher learns very quickly that ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ. ๐
But every student has taught me something, too.
Some wanted to communicate better with their Filipino partner.
Some wanted to connect with their spouse/BF/GF or in-laws.
Some simply wanted to stop smiling and nodding during Filipino family gatherings while secretly wondering:
โ๐๐ป๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด-๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ป๐ถ๐น๐ฎ?โ ๐
And then there are the moments that remind me why I love teaching.
When a student finally survives a Filipino family gathering without panicking.
When they make their first Filipino friend using Tagalog.
When they understand a joke without needing it translated.
When their Filipino partner or family suddenly hears them speak Tagalogโand smiles.
๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐๐.
Of course, teaching Tagalog has its challenges.
๐ง๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ. ๐
And sometimes pronunciation can createโฆ unexpected situations.
One of my English-speaking students once confused โtamadโ with โtamod.โ
Letโs just sayโฆ that was one Tagalog lesson neither of us was going to forget. ๐
But that's also what makes language learning beautiful.
You make mistakes.
You laugh.
You learn.
You try again.
And somewhere along the way, you're not just learning words and grammarโyouโre learning ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ธ, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐, ๐ท๐ผ๐ธ๐ฒ, ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐, ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐.
Thatโs why after all these years, I still believe that teaching Tagalog is not simply about teaching a language.
๐๐โ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐โ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ.
From the days of handwritten notes and photocopied lessons to today's world of Zoom, social media, online resources, and AI, one thing hasn't changed:
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.
To my fellow Tagalog teachers and Filipino language educators:
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด?
And to all Tagalog students and Filipino language learners:
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐, ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐โ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ด?
Iโd genuinely love to hear your stories. ๐ต๐ญโค๏ธ
And if you're still learning Tagalogโor thinking about finally learning itโmaybe itโs never too late to start. ๐
๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐น๐ฎ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ด ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ท๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฑ.
Hereโs to more conversations, more connections, more laughter, and hopefullyโฆ fewer โtamad/tamodโ mispronunciation incidents. ๐๐ต๐ญ
