Tagalog is the language of the Philippine Islands. It is one of the most prominent languages of the Philippines. Its prominence has led it to also be called, Filipino. While the Tagalog language has existed for several years the government adopted the more common name to help with the acceptance of Tagalog among other Filipinos. According to statistics the Tagalog language is spoken as a first language by over 24 million individuals and as a second language by more than 65 million Filipinos.

The origins of the Tagalog language date prior to the Spanish conquest of the islands in the 16th century. The Tagalog tribe appear to have originated about the same time as the Northeastern Mindanao and Eastern Visayas tribes. The first printed Tagalog book was completed in 1593. The coming of the Spanish brought about many changes in grammar as Spanish words were incorporated.

Today the language that is spoken as Tagalog has been modified by the inclusion of words from other existing Philippine languages to give it a broader use. The Baybayin Alphabet depicts the actual written words of the Tagalog. While it has changed over the course of history to have a Latin alphabet as well there are still some notable features to consider. First the syllabic alphabet is the type of writing system. It means that each consonant has an inherent vowel. That is, the alphabet is like this a, ba, ka, da, ga, and on through the entire alphabet. The vowels can also be muted if a plus sign is added to the written language. Unlike most languages of Asia the writing style is left to right in horizontal lines.

There are also many dialectical variations within the Tagalog language. The dialects pronounce or write the language a little differently than the most common form of Tagalog. For instance in the south the glottal stop found after consonants and before vowels are different than standard Tagalog. With the origins having its place with Spanish influence for the main Tagalog dialect it is no different that other languages in respect to the changes in dialect. Since some of the population is more remote they often retain a Tagalog dialect purer that the standard Tagalog dialect.

When you learn Tagalog you are most likely going to learn the standard language. While Tagalog is not always offered in schools you can find language resources in books or online to help you.