- Online
- $460
Filipino communities are an important part of Canada’s cultural landscape, with over one million Canadians of Philippine heritage. Whether you want to connect with friends and family, explore Filipino culture or prepare for travel to the Philippines, learning Tagalog opens doors to meaningful communication and cultural understanding.
This beginner course introduces everyday phrases and basic conversational skills for practical use in social and travel situations. You will also gain an introduction to Philippine history, geography and cultural context, providing a foundation for further study.
Course outline
This is not a prescriptive list. Exact course outlines are determined by the instructor to best meet the needs of the class. It is often necessary to repeat levels in order to become completely comfortable with the skills at each stage.
Theme: Making Connections
Communicative objectives
- Meeting People
- Describing Yourself and Others
- Expressing Emotions and Personal Needs
- Expressing Personal Preferences
- Hobbies, Wants, Desires
- Everyday Activities and Daily Routines
- Calendar and Scheduling
- Family Members and Relationships
- Holidays and Celebrations
- Accepting a Family Dinner Invitation
Linguistic objectives:
- Understanding and familiarity with the sound and intonation of Tagalog
- Development of pronunciation skills
- Basic parts of speech
- Negation
- Sentence structure: statement and question
- Polite conjugation and enclitic particles
- Demonstratives
- Cardinal and ordinal numbers
- Expressing possession
Expected Effort
You can expect to spend about three hours per week attending live, virtual classes and completing course work on your own time. Expect double this amount during the intensive summer term.
Textbook
This course does not require the purchase of a textbook. Course materials are provided by the instructor.
Course Format
This course is offered online and/or in-person. See Available Sessions for details on the course format.
Our online conversational courses offer a virtual classroom experience where you can see and interact with your teacher and classmates over Zoom. Log in at a set time to participate in individual, pair and group work, ask questions and receive feedback from your instructor.
Outside of class time, access course materials online at your own pace for up to three weeks after the course ends.
In-person classes are offered at UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver.
Learn more about online learning at Extended Learning.
How am I assessed?
This is a non-credit course without letter or numerical grades. You receive verbal feedback on your conversation and grammar skills from your instructor during class. Written homework is typically corrected in class. Some lesson modules may include quizzes.
Record of completion
Students who have successfully completed a course can access completion documents two weeks after the course ends. Course completion means 80% attendance and/or 80% completion of mandatory assignments.
Technology requirements
For all languages classes, you’ll need access to the internet, a personal email account and an up-to-date web browser.
For online classes, you will also need a video camera and a microphone on your device.
The day before your course starts, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access the course.