United States Foreign Service Institute
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Learn Pilipino (Tagalog) - Speak Pilipino (Tagalog)

There exist many job opportunities for individuals who speak Pilipino in both the government and private sectors.

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FSI, or the Foreign Service Institute has been producing government sponsored language programs for over forty years! Developed as a tool in training the United States Government’s top agencies, the programs expansive coverage has provided the much needed tools in educating some of today’s most esteemed government leaders. Ambassadors, Diplomats, and CIA Agents have all agreed that FSI’s programs for language learning are second to none!

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Educators agree that FSI’s language programs provide the necessary tools in effectively educating the second language student or business professional! Whether you’re a recent high school graduate on your way to Europe or a CEO leading your company into the next great marketplace you will be amazed at how effective FSI programs are at releasing your language abilities! With just a few dedicated minutes a day you can be on your way to enjoying your new language!

About The Foreign Service Institute

As any seasoned vacationer, jet-setting businessman, soldier, diplomat or weekend warrior will tell you, traveling to a foreign country is a truly exhilarating experience. From the moment you first set foot on foreign soil, you're surrounded by a new, exotic world, full of unique sights, sounds, tastes and adventures. Your senses are in overdrive as you feel both excitement about what awaits you, and anxiety about adhering to local laws and customs. It is at this moment--when you desire to make the very most of this experience--that you realize your true barrier to this new world is not a cultural one, but rather one of basic communication. Learning the local language can be the difference between frustration and relaxation on a vacation. It can spell success or failure in a business meeting. It can help insure a safe, fulfilling and enlightening trip for virtually anyone, anywhere. The family of language courses assembled by Learn How To Speak.com is the answer.

Learn-How-To-Speak.COM has been granted exclusive access to the original language courses developed by the Foreign Service Institute the United States Government's primary institution for training diplomats and other officials for assignments in foreign countries. Now you can benefit from the very same programs that America's most distinguished foreign servants have trusted for decades.

Learn-How-To-Speak.COM's exclusive foreign language courses are designed for individuals who desire to learn, experience and enjoy foreign cultures. They are comprehensive, in-depth and most importantly, proven. If you are considering a trip to another country, aiming to strengthen business relationships with foreign counterparts, or just wanting to learn something new, then our courses are for you. Don't just be another tourist; travel with respect, style and the peace of mind that only comes from knowing you can accurately communicate in any situation.

About the Pilipino (Tagalog) Language

Tagalog is an Austronesian language with about 57 million speakers in the Philippines, particularly in Manila, most of Luzon and Mindoro. It is also spoken in Canada, Guam, Midway Islands, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, UK and USA.

The Tagalog, Baybayin or Alibata alphabet is one of a number of closely related scripts used in the Philippines until the 17th Century AD. It probably developed from the Kawi script of Java, Bali and Sumatra, which in turn descended from the Pallava script, one of the southern Indian scripts derived from Brahmi.

Today the Latin alphabet is used to write to Tagalog.

Pilipino (Tagalog) is the official language of the Philippines. Within the Philippines there are eight distinct major languages and about 80 ethnolanguages that are permutations of these eight languages. Children in the Philippines are taught in kindergarten through third grade in their own local language. English is introduced in the fourth grade. English is the language of choice to conduct official business. Many historical documents were written in Pilipino or Tagalog before English was introduced into the Filipino society.

The Philippines is considered to be the 4th largest English- speaking country, after the United States, United Kingdom, and India. Pilipino is used interchangeably with Filipino to refer to people from the Philippines. During the 1960s activists in the San Francisco Bay Area symbolically adapted "Pilipino" as self- identity to claim their ethnicity, cultural identity and cultural legacy. They explain that this term comes from two Pilipino/Tagalog words "pili" which means "choose" or "chosen" and "pino" which means "refinement, of great quality." Therefore Pilipino translates to "chosen people of quality." This label also symbolically dissociates them from the historical heritage of colonialism brought to the Philippines under the reign of King Philip of Spain after whom the country was named. A third reason for the spelling is to emphasize the absence of the letter F in the Pilipino alphabet.

Pilipino (Tagalog) Reference Links

» U.S. State Department
» U.S. Embasy - Manila, The Philippines
» U.S. Central Intellegence Agency - Factbook
» U.S. Department of Energy - Country Analysis

» Pimsleur Language Programs from Plurality Language