Learn to speak Tagalog without even trying with 10 books below! Tagalog is used as the mother language of over 19 million Filipinos. Furthermore, it’s chosen as the national language of the Philippines and taught widely in schools. So, if you want to learn Tagalog for working or traveling, the selected books below will help you.
1/ Tagalog for Beginners – Level: Beginner
- Full name: Tagalog for Beginners: An Introduction to Filipino, the National Language of the Philippines
- Author: Joi Barrios
- Price: $15.79
- Rating: ⭐4.4
- Level: Beginners
“Tagalog for Beginners” is one of the best books to learn Tagalog by yourself. Activities and exercises are fun and very useful. Tagalog language and history notes are easy to read and remember, so learners can broaden their knowledge about culture and customs. Besides, it provides realistic dialogues to familiarize yourself with Tagalog life, so you will not be overwhelmed when talking with a native speaker then.
2/ Elementary Tagalog – Level: Beginner
- Full name: Elementary Tagalog: Tara, Mag-Tagalog Tayo! Come On, Let’s Speak Tagalog!
- Author: Jiedson R. Domigpe, Nenita Pambid Domingo
- Price: $21.96
- Rating: ⭐3.4
- Level: Beginners
The second position belongs to Elementary Tagalog. This book compiled all the basic things, including cultural notes, vocabulary list, reading texts and reading comprehension exercises, learning activities, grammar sections, and other exercises for improving the 4 core skills. All are accompanied with online audio. The book is just everything you need to get started learning Tagalog. Highly recommended!
3/ Basic Tagalog – Level: Beginner
- Full name: Basic Tagalog: Learn to Speak Modern Filipino/ Tagalog – The National Language of the Philippines: Revised Third Edition
- Author: Paraluman S. Aspillera, Yolanda Canseco Hernandez
- Price: $12.69
- Rating: ⭐4.4
- Level: Beginners
Basic Tagalog is a simple and easy Tagalog book for beginners. With this book, you’ll be able to learn over 2,500 vocabulary and phrases with their expressions, a bidirectional dictionary, cultural notes, and sentence patterns, real-life dialogues, practical exercises, downloadable flashcards, concise grammar explanations, and more! We are confident that by the end of this course, you will have already handled any Tagalog challenges.
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4/ Easy Tagalog Phrase Book – Level: Beginner
- Full name: Easy Tagalog Phrase Book: Over 1500 Common Phrases For Everyday Use And Travel
- Author: Lingo Mastery
- Price: $9.90
- Rating: ⭐
- Level: Beginners
Lacking reference materials is one of the popular difficulties when learning Tagalog, especially travelers. So, we bring you a book that can help familiarize yourself with the most popular phrases used in daily conversation. And its name is “Easy Tagalog Phrasebook ”, which is written by Lingo Mastery, an intelligent linguist. It is the best Tagalog book for beginners with over 1500 frequently used phrases in Tagalog, so you can use this guideline to communicate with local people during your journey.
5/ Tagalog Picture Dictionary – Level: Beginner
- Full name: Tagalog Picture Dictionary: Learn 1500 Tagalog Words and Expressions – The Perfect Resource for Visual Learners of All Ages
- Author: Jan Tristan Gaspi, Sining Maria Rosa Marfori
- Price: $15.99
- Rating: ⭐4.7
- Level: Beginners
“Tagalog Picture Dictionary” is one of the best choices to learn Tagalog for self study. This picture dictionary contains 1,500 of the most commonly used Tagalog words and phrases. Each word and sentence is written in a Romanized version to help you know how to spell it correctly. Besides, it packed 40 different topics with basic grammar and tons of colorfully illustrated photographs that can help your Tagalog learning more effectively.
6/ Tagalog Short Stories for Beginners – Level: Beginner, Intermediate
- Full name: Tagalog Short Stories for Beginners: 20 Captivating Short Stories to Learn Tagalog & Grow Your Vocabulary the Fun Way!
- Author: Lingo Mastery
- Price: $14.15
- Rating: ⭐3.8
- Level: Beginners, Intermediate
One of the best ways to learn the language is to read books, and that’s why we introduce this book. Despite its title, the 20 captivating Tagalog short stories were designed for both beginners and intermediate learners. So you can use this one to brush up on your reading skills and expand your word bank. Of course, the book also provides English translation to ensure you understand the texts.
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7/ Essential Tagalog Grammar – Level: Beginner, Intermediate
- Full name: Essential Tagalog Grammar – A Reference for Learners of Tagalog
- Author: Fiona De Vos
- Price: $39.00
- Rating: ⭐4.6
- Level: Beginners, Intermediate
If you are looking for a basic Tagalog grammar book that covers everything, you will not be disappointed with this one. “Essential Tagalog Grammar” has all the fundamental grammar, clear explanations in English, pronunciation marks, comprehensive indexes,… to help you delve into Tagalog grammar. There are illustrated instances of almost everything, so you won’t be worried about grammar anymore. Additionally, free audio recordings can be downloaded from learning tagalog.com to hone your speaking skill as well.
8/ Intermediate Tagalog – Level: Intermediate
- Full name: Essential Tagalog Grammar – A Reference for Learners of Tagalog
- Author: Fiona De Vos
- Price: $47.00
- Rating: ⭐4.6
- Level: Intermediate
“Intermediate Tagalog” is an intermediate-friendly book to help learners master Tagalog. Plus, the reading comprehension activities are great for sharpening writing skills. The book contains not only 20 useful lessons that will teach you all important skills to practice speaking, but also real life dialogue, vocabulary lists, common phrases and expressions, grammar review section, cultural notes, reading texts, writing exercises,…. to help you improve your Tagalog.
9/ Modern Tagalog – Level: Intermediate, Advanced
- Full name: Modern Tagalog: Grammatical Explanations and Exercises for Non-native Speakers
- Author: Teresita V. Ramos, Restituto M. Cena
- Price: $16.01
- Rating: ⭐4.3
- Level: Intermediate, Advanced
“Modern Tagalog ” is the best Tagalog grammar exercise book for intermediate and early advanced levels. Unlike other grammar books, it offers additional exercises putting more focus on phonology and syntax. Although the exercises are noted for written skills, many of them can also be used for oral drills. Thus, this will be a useful material for you to improve grammar when you write or speak Tagalog.
10/ Pocket Tagalog Dictionary – All levels
- Full name: Pocket Tagalog Dictionary: Tagalog-English English-Tagalog
- Author: Renato Perdon
- Price: $6.68
- Rating: ⭐4.4
- Level: All levels
Learning a new language is hard but to master it is even harder. That’s why you need a comprehensive resource such as a dictionary to support your learning. “Pocket Tagalog Dictionary” is a good one that compiled 3000 common words with Tagalog–English translations, and vice versa. Furthermore, it also includes history so that you can discover more about Tagalog cultures.
11/ Top FREE Tagalog books for Beginners
Do you want to learn Tagalog? Do you know where to start? We got some great book titles that are renewed and available for free online, so beginners should choose one workbook below and get started!
1/ Basic Tagalog for Foreigners and Non-Tagalogs: The book presents over 2,000 common Tagalog words and expressions, as well as extensive vocabulary lists in both English and Tagalog. Besides, its audio CD can help you improve your pronunciation.
2/ Essential Tagalog. Speak Tagalog with Confidence: Some books try to teach Tagalog with much information and make learners just overwhelmed and bored. On the contrary, this reference material introduces the fundamentals of Tagalog as simply as possible. Plus, it has over 1500 common practical sentences, and a glossary of 200 useful phrases and expressions.
3/ The Tagalog Language: A Comprehensive Grammatical Treatise: This book is intended for beginners and suitable for self-study. Scholars regard this book as having great literary significance and value, so don’t hesitate to download it now.
Hopefully the 10 books above will help you learn to speak Tagalog quickly and easily. If you find these useful and interesting, please let us know in the comment box below! Your support would motivate us a lot!
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