Conversational Filipino
Speak natural Tagalog from your very first interaction. Learn everyday greetings, essential respect markers, and the core word patterns that make conversations flow.
Like Duolingo, but for Conversational Filipino. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 11 levels across 2 sections, about 22 minutes end to end, roughly 4 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Everyday Encounters and Politeness and Sounding Natural. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Conversational Filipino
- 'Kumusta' functions as both 'hello' and 'how are you?' in everyday Pilipino
- It invites an actual personal check-in rather than functioning merely as a stiff, formal salutation
- It stems from Spanish 'cómo está' but is adapted into standard everyday Pilipino warmth
- 'Opo' is the dedicated polite, respectful form of 'Oo' (yes)
- 'Po' weaves into statements and questions to soften tone and show honor to elders or unfamiliar people
- Omitting 'po' or answering with plain 'oo' can sound curt or disrespectful when speaking upward in age
- Pilipino equates 'I am [Name]' using the direct focus construction 'Ako si' without requiring an 'is/am' verb
- 'Si' acts as a personal name marker before proper names
- 'Ako' means 'I' or 'me'
- 'Ingat' literally means 'take care' and functions as the ubiquitous warm farewell in the Philippines
- Pairing 'Salamat' (thank you) with 'Ingat' (take care) replaces rigid, bookish goodbyes like 'Paalam'
- 'Paalam' is felt as heavy, dramatic, or final, whereas 'Ingat' expresses everyday community warmth
- 'Pabili' literally means 'may I buy' and serves as the customary greeting to summon a vendor's attention
- Calling out 'Pabili' comes before listing specific items rather than bluntly naming products immediately
- Using 'Pabili' establishes a polite and friendly dynamic typical of Filipino street commerce
- 'Ate' (older sister) is used as a warm, respectful address for female vendors around your age or slightly older
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Conversational Filipino the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Imagine you spot a friend across a sunny street market. Which word lets you say hello and ask how they are doing all at once?
Get it right to open this lesson and 10 more in the app.
Where Conversational Filipino takes you
- 1
Everyday Encounters and Politeness
- Warm Greetings and Respect Markers
- Market and Street Transactions
- 2
Sounding Natural
- The Spotlight Rule: Ang and Ng
- Conversational Flavors: Little Words with Big Meaning
2 sections · 4 units · 11 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Conversational Filipino is taught in the The Storyteller style: every lesson is a story. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Conversational Filipino today.
Download Tomo, search Conversational Filipino, and play your first lesson in under a minute.