Tagalog Language Classes
Pasadena Language Center offers Tagalog lessons for all levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced and conversation. Learn Tagalog in a comfortable, casual environment and make it a fun, enriching experience! We serve the following areas : Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, Alhambra, San Gabriel, South Arroyo, Altadena, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, Glendale, Burbank, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, La Cañada, Montrose, La Crescenta & Sun Valley.
About the Tagalog Language
Tagalog is an austronesian language. It is the national language of the Philippines. Three fourths of the country speaks it despite the fact that only 20% has it as mother tongue. Three hundred years of Spanish rule influenced Tagalog’s vocabulary. Words like mesa, papel, tenedor are only few of the hundreds of Spanish words in Tagalog.
Curriculum and Structure
The Tagalog weekly classes are structured into three levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced. Each level is divided into four sub-levels: A, B, C, and D.
From Beginner A through Intermediate C level we use the Complete Filipino (Tagalog) textbook by Teach Yourself.
Beginner A (lessons 1-3)
Topics: at the airport, at the hotel, the family
Grammar: personal pronouns, forming simple sentences, formal and informal, the verb "to be", the verb 'to have", question words, the definite and indefinite articles, negation words
Beginner B (lessons 4-6)
Topics: at the post office, money, where do you live?
Grammar: asking for directions, adjectives, numbers, telling the time, haggling, question words, masyado (so, very, quite, too), etc.
Beginner C (lessons 7-9)
Topics: my family, at the restaurant, at the pharmacy,
Grammar: ko, mo, niya, namin, natin, ninyo, nila, possessive pronouns, using ay, making words plural, demonstrative adjectives, para sa (for), para kanini (for whom), para saan (for what), parts of the body, etc.
Beginner D (lessons 10-12)
Topics: asking for help, making an appointment, shopping
Grammar: possessive pronouns, colors, the preposition sa, pseudo-verbs, describing things you want done, active and passive voice, transitive and intransitive verbs, the um verb, verbalization of adjectives, verbalization of acts of nature, etc.
Intermediate A (lessons 13-15)
Topics: at the bus station, at the beach, at church
Grammar: days, months and years, mag verbs, ma verbs, makapag + mag verbs, maka + um verb stem, mang verbs, particles, makapang (to be able to), in passive verbs, changing the tense of in verbs, etc.
Intermediate B (lessons 16-18)
Topics: asking for a favor, a wedding, at a town fiesta
Grammar: passive 'i' verbs, may + verb, walang + verb, requests, commands and suggestions, passive an verbs, expressing the circumstantial in passive verbs, sarili ko/aking sarili, reflexive , intensive, pag + verb root, nominalized verbs - the gerund, ka + verb root + an, ang + verb, maki, makipag, makipang, participational verb forms in active verbs, like this, like that, like that (over there), etc.
Intermediate C (lessons 19-20)
Topics: life in the barrio, goodbye
Grammar: magpa + active verb (to cause, to let, to have, to permit, to ask, to make), ma/um verb roots, mag verb roots, mang verb roots, in and i verbs, an verbs, comparatives, making nouns with pang, mas, lalong, kaysa sa etc.
To find out about the material used for Intermediate and Advanced levels, please contact us.
From Beginner A through Intermediate C level we use the Complete Filipino (Tagalog) textbook by Teach Yourself.
Beginner A (lessons 1-3)
Topics: at the airport, at the hotel, the family
Grammar: personal pronouns, forming simple sentences, formal and informal, the verb "to be", the verb 'to have", question words, the definite and indefinite articles, negation words
Beginner B (lessons 4-6)
Topics: at the post office, money, where do you live?
Grammar: asking for directions, adjectives, numbers, telling the time, haggling, question words, masyado (so, very, quite, too), etc.
Beginner C (lessons 7-9)
Topics: my family, at the restaurant, at the pharmacy,
Grammar: ko, mo, niya, namin, natin, ninyo, nila, possessive pronouns, using ay, making words plural, demonstrative adjectives, para sa (for), para kanini (for whom), para saan (for what), parts of the body, etc.
Beginner D (lessons 10-12)
Topics: asking for help, making an appointment, shopping
Grammar: possessive pronouns, colors, the preposition sa, pseudo-verbs, describing things you want done, active and passive voice, transitive and intransitive verbs, the um verb, verbalization of adjectives, verbalization of acts of nature, etc.
Intermediate A (lessons 13-15)
Topics: at the bus station, at the beach, at church
Grammar: days, months and years, mag verbs, ma verbs, makapag + mag verbs, maka + um verb stem, mang verbs, particles, makapang (to be able to), in passive verbs, changing the tense of in verbs, etc.
Intermediate B (lessons 16-18)
Topics: asking for a favor, a wedding, at a town fiesta
Grammar: passive 'i' verbs, may + verb, walang + verb, requests, commands and suggestions, passive an verbs, expressing the circumstantial in passive verbs, sarili ko/aking sarili, reflexive , intensive, pag + verb root, nominalized verbs - the gerund, ka + verb root + an, ang + verb, maki, makipag, makipang, participational verb forms in active verbs, like this, like that, like that (over there), etc.
Intermediate C (lessons 19-20)
Topics: life in the barrio, goodbye
Grammar: magpa + active verb (to cause, to let, to have, to permit, to ask, to make), ma/um verb roots, mag verb roots, mang verb roots, in and i verbs, an verbs, comparatives, making nouns with pang, mas, lalong, kaysa sa etc.
To find out about the material used for Intermediate and Advanced levels, please contact us.