Go Filipino: Let's Learn Tagalog

Go Filipino: Let's Learn Tagalog is a grammar course delivered as numbered audio lessons, and it takes the grammar seriously. Kris Andres records from San Francisco and teaches through example sentences. The routine is the same each time, and it is deliberate. A sentence is spoken and repeated several times, translated, and then broken down one word at a time. Each word is spelled aloud, its job in the sentence is named, and its root and affixes are identified. The word 'binuksan', for example, is traced back to the root 'bukas', and the lesson shows how the -in- affix and the -an suffix turn it into a completed action meaning 'opened something'. The subject the course keeps returning to is Tagalog verb focus, the part of the grammar that decides which participant is a sentence's main topic. A run of titles covers it one affix at a time: 'Lesson 47: I- Object Verbal Aspects', 'Lesson 48: -AN Object Verbal Aspects', 'Lesson 49: -AN Locative Verbal Aspects', 'Lesson 51: I- Benefactive Verbal Aspects' and 'Lesson 52: IPAG- Benefactive Verbal Aspects'. In 'binuksan nila ang tarangkahan' the focus falls on the gate, not on the people who opened it. In 'nginitian ako ng kapitbahay' it falls on the person being smiled at. The benefactive lessons turn to whoever gains from an action: a flower drawn for the speaker in 'ipagguhit mo ako ng bulaklak', a moon drawn for Isaac, cheese cut for Peter. Small words get their share of attention too. Ang introduces the sentence's focus, ng introduces an object, and ako is explained as 'I' in its focus form. The lessons also explain why a form exists at all, such as why some verbs take the ipag- prefix: it keeps them from being confused with i- object-focus verbs. Aspect runs alongside focus. The infinitive is presented as the base for all Tagalog verbs, and the progressive is built by doubling the first consonant and vowel of the root. 'Lesson 50: Tagalog Slang Words (Part 1)' is billed as a special lesson, the first of a planned one every ten episodes. It covers slang from Metro Manila and social media, including 'dehins', a word for 'no' built by reversing the syllables of 'hindi'. The repetition is heavy, sometimes one sentence many times over, and the format depends on it. Several lessons end with a Tagalog saying, such as 'walang nananalo sa pagtatalo', which is translated and then repeated before the sign-off. Some episodes open by recommending another podcast, among them the Filipino true crime show Lagim and Para Kanino, which features young leaders and advocates. One lesson also notes that August is National Language Month in the Philippines. What a listener gets is a clear view of how a Tagalog sentence is put together, piece by piece.