Why Tagalog is not on Duolingo

Duolingo has never made a Tagalog course. The reason given publicly is that the grammar does not fit the format. This page explains which part of the grammar, using the actual charts, and then shows you what to do about it.

The short answer

There is no Tagalog course on Duolingo. There has never been one, there is no announced release date, and the request is old enough that the question now has its own search results. The reason repeated in every public account of it is the same: Tagalog does not fit a bite-sized, one-right-answer exercise format.

That is a real answer rather than a brush-off, and it is worth seeing why. Below are the three parts of the language that break the format. They are also, not by coincidence, the three things this site teaches first.

1. The little word in front of every noun

Tagalog puts a marker in front of a noun to say what that noun is doing in the sentence. There are 9 cells in the whole system and they are the shape of every sentence in the language.

There is no English word to match these to. ang is not the, and it is not quite the subject either: it marks the thing the sentence is pointing at, and Tagalog verbs change to agree with which thing that is. An exercise that asks you to pick the English word for ang has no correct option to offer. An exercise that asks which marker goes in a gap does, which is why this site drills it that way and why it is the first thing in the course. The full chart, with the cues, is here.

2. Two words for we

Tagalog has two words for we. Use tayo when the person you are talking to is included: tayo na to a friend means let's go, you and me. Use kami when they are not: kami na means we are leaving and you are not coming.

So we is not one answer. A multiple-choice question with we in the prompt has two correct answers, and which one is right depends on who is listening, which is information the exercise does not contain. tayoPlay and kamiPlay are both we, and getting them the wrong way round tells a room full of people that they are not invited. The pronoun grid is here.

3. Stress is not written down

Tagalog has pairs of words spelt identically that are different words, and only the stress separates them. This site drills 8 of them, and the first one is the one every learner meets:

buhay is life with the stress on the first syllable and alive with the stress on the second, and the writing does not tell you which. Dictionaries mark it with an accent. Nothing else does. A reading-and-typing exercise cannot teach that distinction at all, because the distinction is not in the text. More on stress, and what we can and cannot teach about it yet, here.

What this site does instead

It is a drill trainer shaped like the app you were looking for, for the language that app does not have. 13 skills, 840 questions, six to a lesson, two or three minutes a sitting. It installs, it works offline, and it works without an account.

• The phrases are ordered by how often you will hear them, not by topic. 53 of them, in 4 bands, starting with the 15 you will hear on your first day.
• Both grammar charts come before any topical vocabulary. The 9-cell marker chart is the first section and it is free. The 21-cell pronoun grid is the third.
• There is audio on the phrases and on both charts, because half of what is hard about this language is hearing it.
• Nothing is drilled until it has been checked. The site says on the screen what is still waiting rather than filling the gap with something nobody has read.

Common questions

Does Duolingo have Tagalog?

No. Duolingo has never released a Tagalog course, and Tagalog is not in its course list.

Why is Tagalog not on Duolingo?

The reason given publicly is that the language does not fit the format. Tagalog marks what a sentence is about with a small word in front of the noun, has two different words for we, and distinguishes pairs of words by stress that the spelling does not record. Each of those breaks the assumption that a short exercise has exactly one right answer.

Will Duolingo add Tagalog?

There is no announced release date. Nobody outside the company can tell you more than that, and anyone who says otherwise is guessing.

Is Tagalog the same as Filipino?

Not quite. Filipino is the national language and is based on Tagalog, with vocabulary from Spanish, English and other Philippine languages. This site teaches Tagalog as it is spoken around Manila. Cebuano and Ilocano are different languages, not accents.

What can I use instead?

This site is a free drill trainer for the phrases you will actually hear, plus the two grammar charts that decide the shape of every sentence. It works signed out and it works offline.

What we do not know

We do not work at Duolingo and we have no information about their roadmap. Everything above about their course list is what anybody can check, and the reason is the one they have given publicly. If a Tagalog course appears tomorrow, this page will say so.