Customer Reviews

Learn Filipino, Book One, with Discs 1 and 2

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I think I have tried virtually every book out there for learning Tagalog (Filipino), and unfortunately they were all pretty uniformly bad. Until I found this one. Romero provides clear explanations of critical grammar points that completely stymie other books. The explanations are clear; the vocabulary is relevant, and the lessons are easily digestible. If you're looking for a book on learning Tagalog, your search is over.

Before I bought this book I alredy had a vocabulary of about 200 words, but without knowing the skeleton of the language these words were useless. I bought Learn Filipino, in a hope that it would present the grammar and allow me to effectively make sentences and conversation.

This book answered all of my hopes and wishes in a language book. There is so much content packed into this one little book, that with discipline and dedication you should be able to speak the language at an intermediate level when finished. My fiance and I are going to the Phil in Dec. to get married, and I look forward to being able to speak tagalog at the reception.

Also, the author is very helpful I have sent him several emails and he always replies within 24 hours. This book is a must for any serious language learner.

I have purchased other books on how to speak Tagalog, but they did not give me the basic break down that I was looking for in order to begin to understand the language. I just picked up the book "Learn Filipino" and have found it to be a great resource for someone who really wants to learn to speak Tagalog. My Wife who is a Filipina and who is always teaching me new words and phrases (which I really do appreciate), but I still needed something in black and white. I travel back and forth to the Philippines at least twice a year and always wanted the ability to speak to my friends and family in Tagalog fluently when I am there. I know they always appreciate the fact that I love their culture,food and language. I know by picking up this book, I will become more proficient in speaking Tagalog and will really impress family and friends. Can't wait to purchase Book Two!!

First of all, I am married to a beautiful filipina, and I wanted to
gain fluency in Tagalog, unfortunately books prior to my purchase
of "Learn Filipino" were big flops. My wife's cousin in the
Philippines told her about this book, and I am very happy I bought
this book. I want to Thank the author for such a Great job in the
presentations of lessons and the cartoons and drawings that made
this a fun learning experience. The cd was fantastic and made it
easy to comprehend and pronounce words correctly, by the way my
wife is happy too. With a little time and effort you get great
results. I wish I could of bought this book years ago, but it was
definitely worth the wait. This is the Best Book I have ever read
or come across for learning Tagalog. Me and my wife highly recommend it.

I used this book for approx 2 weeks prior to a trip to the PI. My friends are impressed with what I learned since I was there previously. I like seeing the cartoons, cultural notes, songs, etc. It is definetly not a mundane language book. It keeps the learning light and fun. The CD sequences are a bit out of order, but if you follow the accompanying CD sequence sheet, it is not a big deal.

I think this book is probably the best Filipino language book I've come across. I'm a native Filipino speaker and bought this for somebody else, who I'm helping to learn the language. I've seen so many other Filipino books, but they were almost always not so comprehensive and not well-structured. This book, however, is easy to follow and understand. There are tiny mistakes though (usually, typographical errors)... that could easily be rectified by somebody acting as a tutor. The author(s) also cleverly incorporated the older style of writing in Filipino -- with the accented words, which is very useful for a first-time learner to get a grip on the pronunciation, without constantly being supervised. DON'T LOOK FOR OTHER BOOKS, BUY THIS ONE!

For a language program, this one is pretty good. I am more of a hands-on person, so I like sitting down with the book in hand and listening to the audio. Unlike other programs, this one explains grammar more thoroughly and uses native speakers. I hope they come out with a second program soon!

Learn Filipino is the best book I've come across yet, for those who want to learn the Filipino language. I particularly like how the lessons are presented in a simple yet entertaining manner and there are even added tidbits of Philippine history and culture. This makes studying each chapter interesting and fun. I also like the footnotes and vocabulary sections that explain the etymology and meaning of various terms.

It solves the basic problem with language books, which is how to impart to the reader the proper accent and intonations, by integrating each lesson with an accompanying audio CD. So the student not only learns how to construct sentences but how to speak them as well.

The book can be quite fast-paced for a novice. Still, the lessons are basic and easy to understand. It starts with simple everyday grammar and progresses to complicated conversations. It doesn't cover the slang and colloquial terms in common usage but rather teaches the fundamentals of Filipino grammar and sentence construction, and challenges you to learn further. There are exercises too that help you hone what you've learned.

This book is clearly not for tourists who just want to get by in a given situation but for anyone who wants to gain proficiency in Filipino. To get the most out of it, the student needs to devote a fair amount of time with each lesson.

Learning Filipino with this book would be both fun and challenging.

Pros - This book is an excellent learning tool, it will have you understanding from the first chapter.

Cons - Some of the chapters do vault ahead quickly, introducing new material quite fast.

Overall, I am very satisfied.

If you are serious about learning the language then this is the
right book. I have read various college texts and have come to
the conclusion that the majority are rather dry and plain boring.
This is definitely not the case with this book. Through the use
of illustrations, cartoons and other informational tidbits this
book rises above the rest. The trouble with college texts they
require a native Filipino (Tagalog) speaker to be in the classroom.
With the included compact disc you will gain the ability to
converse with Filipino friends and family, because you will learn
proper pronunciation and sentence structure as you read along in
the book in the comfort of your home. With all good things, it
requires time and effort to gain proficiency. This book gives you
the tools to succeed, I recommended this book to friends and
family, so have no problem recommending it to others. I am glad
I purchased this book and so are my friends.