Tagalog

Where is it spoken?

Filipino or TAGALOG joins English as the national language of the Philippines. Although some clients want to translate into Cebuano or Illocano, 1-StopAsia’s market research leads us to recommend remaining in Tagalog if the target market is the Philippines. While Tagalog is the first language of only about a quarter of the total Philippines population (followed by Cebuano with just 1 million speakers), as many as 97% of all Filipinos understand it.

Tagalog is not only an important language in the Philippines. According to the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS), Tagalog is also the second most popular Asian language in the United States with over 1.4 million speakers.

Tagalog was originally written in the beautiful ancient script of Baybayin, but in the 16th century this was replaced with Latin letters. In the Philippines, Baybayin writing can still be seen in ceremonial uses and on the back of the latest series of bank notes.

The tiny differences between Tagalog and “Taglish”

Many Tagalog speakers incorporate English into their everyday oral and written conversation. This blend of Tagalog and English is known as “Taglish” or “Englog.” Our Tagalog translators’, editors’, and proofreaders’ extensive experience enables them to know when to use English terms and when to use indigenous Tagalog words. When 1-StopAsia was chosen in 2008 as the first company to localize one of the biggest search engine companies, there was no Tagalog spell checker or national guide for correct spelling. We worked with our partners to build up our own spellchecker and IT glossaries that now contain the standard Tagalog terms.

How 1-StopAsia works?

1-StopAsia’s Tagalog in-country translators have the necessary expertise to find the right tone (and mix of language) for your translation. Our rigorous quality assurance procedure ensures that your translation is translated and reviewed by a native Tagalog translator with a specific subject-matter specialty before it is proofread by a second translator. This guarantees that every detail of the document is checked, double-checked, and quality ensured.