Language Training · Philippines

Language training in Manila and Cebu: the words the office will not teach you

English carries a newcomer through the office and most of the paperwork in the Philippines. It carries them less far with the building administrator, the household staff and the market, and almost not at all in the exchanges that decide whether a family feels at home. Asia Relocation Philippines teaches Filipino and Tagalog in the capital, Cebuano further south, one-to-one or in small groups, in person or online.

Start lessons → What the training covers
In the Philippines since 2011 Filipino, Tagalog, Cebuano and English All levels, beginner to advanced
3local languages taught: Filipino, Tagalog, Cebuano
2011teaching arrivals in the Philippines since
2formats: one-to-one, small group
1trainer, before you fly and once you land

The language changes with the island. In Manila the street speaks Filipino, built on Tagalog, with English woven through it; in Cebu and the Visayas it speaks Cebuano, and a newcomer who arrives with Tagalog phrases finds they are understood but not answered in kind. It is the second case that catches people out, and the reason we match the trainer to the posting rather than to a syllabus.

What the lessons are for is not fluency, which is a longer project, but the vocabulary of an ordinary week: courtesy forms that open a conversation, the words of the market and the building, what to say to household staff, how to give a driver directions. The person who needs those most is rarely the one with the contract.

Asia Relocation Philippines has taught arriving households since 2011, in the capital and in Cebu. The trainers are native speakers who live here and teach the culture with the words, one-to-one or in a small group, at your home, at the office or online.

The perimeter

What the lessons carry, and what sits with a sister service

Words on this page; values, the city and the school on three others.

Carried by the service

  • A placement and a goal: your level, the time you can give, and what you need the language for, so the course is built to your proficiency and your diary rather than to a standard book.
  • The right language for the posting: Filipino and Tagalog for Metro Manila, Cebuano for Cebu and the Visayas, English for members of the household who arrive without it.
  • Native trainers who live in the Philippines and teach the culture alongside the words: when a phrase is used, and to whom.
  • Your format: one-to-one or a small group, face to face at home or at the office, or online, and a mix of the two when the diary demands it.
  • Situations, not chapters: the market, the building, the school gate, the driver, the clinic, in the order your first weeks will need them.

The course is set out in writing after the placement: language, format, rhythm and goal.

A different service

Any of these can join the same file, with the same coordinator. Name them in the inquiry.

The languages

Filipino and Tagalog for the capital, Cebuano for the south, English for the household

The language is chosen by the posting, then the course by the person.

Filipino and Tagalog

The language of Metro Manila's streets, markets and buildings, taught as it is spoken there, with the English that is woven through it. The course most households take, from beginner to advanced.

Metro Manila

Cebuano

The language of daily life in Cebu and the Visayas, and the one a Tagalog phrasebook does not prepare you for. Taught by trainers from the region, for households posted there.

Cebu · Visayas

Filipino for the workplace

For a manager or a professional who works in English but leads Filipino colleagues: the courtesy forms, the registers, and enough of the language to hear what is said around the meeting rather than in it.

Business

English for the household

For an accompanying partner or children arriving from a non-English-speaking home, who will need it at the school gate and with the building before anything else. Practical and quick to become useful.

Partners · children
How it works

Placement, a written course, the lessons, and a level you can use

  1. The placement

    A short conversation with the trainer: where you are posted in the Philippines, your current level, the hours you can give and what you need the language for first. Online if you have not yet arrived.

  2. The course

    Language, format, rhythm and goal, set out in writing: one-to-one or a small group, at home in Makati, at the office in Cebu, or on a call. Changed when the diary changes.

  3. The lessons

    Built on situations rather than chapters, with a native trainer who explains why a phrase works and when it does not. Homework is the market, the driver and the building, not a workbook.

  4. The check-in

    A few weeks in, the trainer and the household look at what is being used and what is not, and the course is adjusted to the life actually being lived in Manila or Cebu.

Who it's for

Four learners, and what each one needs the language for

Accompanying partners

The learner we see most often, and the one with the most to gain: the household, the market, the neighbours and the school gate are theirs, and English carries them least far there.

Managers leading Filipino teams

Enough Filipino to hear the room, and the courtesy forms that change how a request lands. Short sessions built around a working diary in Makati or BGC.

Households posted to Cebu

Cebuano, not Tagalog, and a trainer from the region. The posting where matching the language to the island matters most.

Students and long-stay arrivals

People who intend to stay, and who want the language rather than a survival kit. A longer course, the same trainers, from beginner to advanced.

Coverage

Two cities in person, and online from anywhere

Lessons at home or at the office in Metro Manila and Cebu; online before arrival and for any other posting.

In the capital the trainer comes to you, in Makati, BGC, Ortigas or the villages around them, or teaches from a call when the diary is easier that way. The language is Filipino and Tagalog, taught as Manila speaks it.

In Cebu the language is Cebuano and the trainer is from the region. Online lessons serve households before they fly, and postings outside the two cities; the check-in a few weeks in is held in person whenever the posting allows.

FAQ

What arrivals ask before starting Filipino lessons

Filipino or Tagalog: which one should we learn in Manila?
In the capital they are, for a learner, the same lessons: Filipino is the national language and Tagalog the language it is built on, and what you hear in a Manila market is both. We teach what is spoken around you, and say so plainly rather than sell two courses.
Everyone speaks English here. Where does Filipino actually matter?
Less at the office, more everywhere else: with a building administrator, household staff, a contractor, in a market, and in the ordinary social exchanges that decide whether an accompanying partner feels settled or isolated. That is why partners take the lessons up more often than assignees do.
We are posted to Cebu. Is it the same language?
No. Cebuano is the language of daily life in Cebu and the Visayas, and it is the one that catches people out. We match the trainer to the posting: Filipino and Tagalog for the capital, Cebuano further south.
One-to-one or a small group: which works better?
One-to-one moves faster and fits around a working diary; a small group suits a family or a few colleagues starting together, and gives someone to practise with. Both run in person or online, and many households mix the two.
Can lessons start before we arrive in the Philippines?
Yes, online, with the same trainer who will then teach you in Manila or Cebu. Arriving with greetings, numbers and the words of a first week changes how the first week goes.
What level do we need to reach to be useful?
Lower than most people fear. Greetings, courtesy forms, numbers, directions and the vocabulary of the household carry a great deal of daily life, and they are what the first weeks of lessons are built around. Fluency is a different project, and we say so.
Do the lessons cover culture as well as words?
Yes, because a phrase without its context is used at the wrong moment. The trainers are native speakers who live here, and the curriculum is built around the situations you will meet. The deeper reading of values and workplace codes is our cross-cultural training.
Do you also teach English?
Yes, for members of a household who do not arrive with it: an accompanying partner or children from a non-English-speaking home, who will need it at the school gate and in the building before they need anything else.
Not what you were looking for?

The values behind the words, and the service above

You have the words, you want to know what they protect

Hierarchy at work, how disagreement is voiced, Bayanihan and Hiya: the briefing for the assignee, the partner and the team.

Cross-cultural training in the Philippines →

The whole relocation service

Housing, schooling, orientation and settling-in for the Philippines, on one file with one coordinator.

Relocation services in the Philippines →

Tell us the city and who is learning, and we propose a trainer

Native speakers who live here, one-to-one or in a small group, before you fly and once you have landed.

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