No, Duolingo doesn't have Tagalog. There is no course on Duolingo that teaches Tagalog, and no Filipino course either, for English speakers or from any other language: we read Duolingo's full course catalogue on 1 November 2026, and neither is in it.
A disclosure: we make Qlango, a language app that teaches Filipino, so we have an interest here. The Duolingo fact above is plain fact, and you can check it yourself on Duolingo's course list.
One thing that confuses people: Duolingo does offer courses for Tagalog speakers, such as English taught from Tagalog, so the name can turn up in its language menus. None of them teaches Tagalog itself.
Tagalog or Filipino: which one do you want?
Very nearly the same thing. Filipino is the national language of the Philippines and, with English, one of its two official languages. It's based on Tagalog, the language of Manila and the surrounding provinces, and takes in more words from English, Spanish and other Philippine languages. If one course says Tagalog and another says Filipino, they're teaching you to talk to the same people. Qlango's course is called Filipino.
Does Duolingo offer anything close to Tagalog?
The nearest thing is Indonesian. Both belong to the Austronesian family, and a handful of basic words are shared: mata is "eye", anak is "child", lima is "five" and langit is "sky" in both languages. That's where the overlap ends. The grammar, the greetings and most everyday words are different, so an Indonesian course won't get you talking to your Filipino partner's family. Babbel and Busuu don't offer Tagalog or Filipino either (checked November 2026).
How to learn Tagalog with Qlango
Qlango teaches Filipino at A1 and A2, the first two levels of the CEFR scale. At A1 you introduce yourself and handle simple, familiar phrases. By the end of A2 you can talk about your family, work and daily life in simple sentences and get through routine exchanges: enough for a first visit or a family video call to go beyond "hello".
A lesson works like this. You get a set of short example sentences in Filipino with the translation in the language you learn from, and you answer them in different ways, such as flashcards, picking one of two answers, matching pairs, putting scrambled words in order, writing what you hear and building the sentence yourself. Each example is read aloud by an AI voice, and you can slow it down. When you finish a lesson, it comes back after one, two, four and eight days and then once more, and any example you needed a hint for returns in harder questions later.
You also choose the language you learn from, so it can be English or your own native language.
The part that takes practice: verbs and po
Filipino verbs care less about when something happened than about whether it's finished, under way or not yet started. The difference is marked with affixes and by repeating a syllable:
| Root |
Done |
Ongoing |
Not yet started |
| kain (eat) |
kumain |
kumakain |
kakain |
| bili (buy) |
bumili |
bumibili |
bibili |
The other thing to get into your habits early is po. Add it to a sentence and it becomes respectful: salamat po is "thank you" to someone older or someone you want to treat with courtesy, and opo is the respectful "yes". Neither verbs nor po come from reading a rule once. They come from writing the forms yourself in short sentences, getting them wrong a few times, and seeing them again a few days later.
Your first Tagalog words
| Filipino |
Meaning |
| Kumusta ka? |
How are you? |
| Salamat, maraming salamat po |
Thanks, thank you very much (respectful) |
| Opo, oo, hindi |
Yes (respectful), yes, no |
| Magandang umaga |
Good morning |
| Hindi ko maintindihan |
I don't understand |
| Ingat |
Take care, a common goodbye |
Kumusta comes from Spanish, like a lot of everyday Filipino. Our full guide to learning Filipino covers Taglish, verb focus and a plan for your first month.
FAQ
Is Tagalog on Duolingo?
No. As of November 2026, Duolingo has no course that teaches Tagalog or Filipino, from English or from any other language.
What is the best app to learn Tagalog?
It depends on what you need. If you want a structured course by CEFR level with a fixed review schedule, Qlango teaches Filipino, the national language based on Tagalog, at A1 and A2. Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu don't offer Tagalog or Filipino (checked November 2026).
Is there a free app to learn Tagalog?
Qlango is free to download on iPhone and Android, and you can start your first Filipino lesson without creating an account. It also works in your browser.
Will Duolingo add Tagalog?
We can't say. Duolingo adds and removes courses over time, so check its catalogue if you're reading this much later.
Tagalog isn't the only gap. See every language Duolingo doesn't teach, or compare Qlango and Duolingo side by side. Your first Filipino lesson in Qlango takes about five minutes.
