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How to Use the

Let’s Learn Tagalog

Language Learning Kit

Introduction

Kumusta? (How are you?) Maraming salamat (thank you very much) for your interest in learning and teaching Tagalog, the basis of Filipino which is the national language of the Philippines. Tagalog is the most commonly used Southeast Asian language in the United States and the lingua franca of Filipinos worldwide, so by learning it you will be joining more than 1.5 million people in the United States, and many more millions around the world!

Let’s Learn Tagalog is an introductory language learning kit especially designed to help all children from preschool through elementary level to acquire basic words, phrases and sentences in Tagalog in a fun and easy way. The flashcards can be used as a learning tool in a classroom setting, at home, at parties, in travels, or anywhere that learning can take place. It is intended for learners who have little or no background at all in the language.

Read & See!

This flashcard set contains a total of 64 words organized into 11 thematic categories including My Family, Animals, Colors, Food, Going Places, Clothes, At My House, Opposites, The Things I Like to Do, My Body, and Numbers. All of the words are illustrated; the pictures serve as effective visual aids to help children learn and remember each word’s meaning. The words themselves were pedagogically selected, and also reflect cultural objects and items, such as the water buffalo (the national animal of the Philippines) and slippers (common footwear in the Philippines).

The cards may be used in any order. Learners can focus on one theme at a time; they can build up their vocabulary at their own pace, by adding more themes. For example, older learners might find it interesting to start with the category on My Family, followed by At My House. Younger learners can start with easy-to-discuss concepts such as Numbers and Colors.

Listen & Repeat!

Accompanying the flashcards is a containing audio files of the words. Each word is pronounced twice: at a slow and then a normal speed. To put the words in context, each word is also used in two sample sentences, again pronounced at a slow and then a normal speed. The sentences have been carefully constructed to reflect what children actually say in everyday settings. Learners will be able to construct their own phrases and sentences by substituting words in the sample sentences.

A bonus category (see page 11) features a list of 17 basic words and expressions like opo (yes), hindi po (no), and maraming salamat po (thank you very much) that can enrich your new Tagalog phrases.

Learn & Play!

Let’s Learn Tagalog also includes nine interactive activities to reinforce learning of the new vocabulary. The activities are designed to make learning fun and interesting for children. Variations of the activities are also provided to make them more challenging and more appropriate for different age groups.

Listen & Sing!

Included in the are songs to reinforce the vocabulary learned. The music is a combination of traditional and contemporary songs, and you will recognize some of your new vocabulary words. Listen to them at home, in the car, in the classroom, and sing along!

About the Country

The Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia composed of three main islands, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It is an archipelago with 7,107 islands in all. Almost 150 languages are spoken in the Philippines, with languages differing in various parts of the country.

About the Tagalog Language

You probably already know the 26 letters of the English alphabet. It will help you learn Tagalog.

The Tagalog alphabet consists of 20 letters (five vowels and 15 consonants). These are:

A B K D E G H I L M N NG O P R S T U W Y

A challenge for a Tagalog language learner is the pronunciation of words or syllables that start with the NG sound since this sound does not appear at the beginning of English words or syllables. The NG sound is similar to what you say in the word sing-along.

Pronouncing Tagalog

The Tagalog language is very easy to pronounce for the English speaker. It is almost phonetic: Words are pronounced as they are spelled except for a few words such as ng (pronounced “nang”) and the plural marker, mga (pronounced “ma-nga”).

To master basic pronunciation in Tagalog, you will need to know the five vowels:

a (ah) as in father, far

e (eh) as in end, carpet

i (ee) as in eve, see

o (oh) as in obey, open

u (oo) as in food, moon

All the letters in a word are pronounced and there are no silent letters. If a word has two vowels next to each other— one right after the other—then each vowel is pronounced as a separate syllable. For example:

Oo (yes) is pronounced as o…o: oh-oh.

Saan (where) is pronounced as sa…an: sah-ahn.

When there are two vowels together, just remember to say each one separately and clearly, and you will be on your way to sounding great!

Stress

In Tagalog, where you put the stress in a word is important. A difference in stress (the emphasis you put on a particular syllable) causes a difference in meaning. Stress marks are not part of the Filipino writing system. However, for the purpose of learning new words, marks are placed over the syllable that must be stressed. For example:

báka (cow)	baká (perhaps)
hápon (afternoon)	Hapón (Japanese)
táyo (we, us)	tayó (to stand)
gáling (come from)	galíng (good)
Tagálog (basis of the Philippine national language)

Using the Polite Word Po