Jose Rizal said it best: “Ang hindi magmahal sa sarili nating wika ay higit pa sa hayop at malansang isda.” And it’s true—the Philippines’ diverse range of languages and dialects is bursting with notable contributions to our culture, education, art, and everyday lives. It’s only fair that we, as Filipinos, honor our extensive vocabulary, its vibrant history, and how it has represented our identities across generations.
Learning Tagalog will always be a worthwhile undertaking, whether it’s for academic purposes, work, creative pursuits, or everyday responsibilities. Our stories and perspectives continue to shine through the conversations we have in our native language, as well as the important messages we pick up from school lectures, movies, TV shows, songs, local literature, and even online dictionaries.
Photo: Pexels, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
There’s no better time than now to brush up on our Tagalog skills and expand our vocabulary of Filipino words. Thanks to this new app by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) called KWF Diksiyonariyo, or KWF Diksi for short, achieving this has just gotten easier and more entertaining.
The KWF launched Diksi on the App Store and Google Play Store last month. The program, which is free to download and accessible offline, aims to help users get more familiar with Filipino words, ranging from everyday expressions to complex terms. If you want to try the app for yourself, here’s what it has in store for you:
No-fuss Navigation and Informative Search Results
Photo: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
KWF Diksi’s simple layouts and tabs make learning Tagalog convenient and effective. Upon downloading the app, you’ll be greeted by a featured word, or tampok na salita, that changes regularly. This feature primarily highlights Filipino adjectives, nouns, verbs, and other words that you might not hear that often in public settings.
You’ll also find a search bar that you can refer to for words you’ve never seen before. KWF Diksi’s database will provide its definition, pronunciation, and proper usage in a sentence, just like a standard dictionary. You can bookmark Tagalog words that you plan to use in the future, too.
Extensive Guides and Language Rulebooks
Photo: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
It’s challenging to understand the details and technicalities of a language, especially if you’re learning it for the first time. Remembering the proper punctuation marks, linguistic symbols, and sentence construction rules can also get overwhelming pretty quickly.
Thankfully, KWF Diksi’s Filipino language guides let you learn Tagalog without that much stress or information overloads. The app has three guides, or mga gabay, that you can browse:
- Gabay sa Paggamit ng KWF Diksiyonariyo ng Wikang Pilipino, which teaches you about root words (mga salitang ugat), parts of speech, etymologies (etimolohiya), and figures of speech,
- Gabay sa Ortograpiyang Pambansa, a refresher on syllabication (pagpapantig) and using the language’s new letters (mga bagong titik) like J, Ñ, and Q, as well as
- Gabay sa Pagtutuldik, which lets users practice proper stress and tone when pronouncing Tagalog words.
Other Handy Features On the App
KWF Diksi also has a separate tab for your favorite words (mga paboritong salita), which you can access in the app’s menu. This section keeps track of all the Tagalog words you’ve searched and saved for future use. If you enjoy making vocabulary banks and archives in your journal or digital workspace, then you’ll definitely grow fond of this helpful feature.
Diksi is one of the KWF’s many widespread initiatives to promote, preserve, and uplift the Filipino language. The app primarily aims to make Tagalog words more accessible to students, teachers, writers, and linguists across every region.
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Have you tried using the KWF Diksi app before? What has your experience been like so far? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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