Tagalog With Kirby

I looked up TWK because having grown up w/​two Filipino parents, I understood the language but was never taught how to speak it on my own. Joanna’s lessons were a perfect fit! She was able to assess and adapt her lessons to best fit my needs. I felt the pace of the lessons was comfortable but challenging. The one-​on-​one conversational format made it easy to get instant feedback on where I was having problems. It was also really convenient for me to be able to take the lessons via Google Hangouts — with a full time job and social life it was easy to fit in one lesson a week. I would definitely recommend TWK to anyone looking to learn Tagalog!

I’ve been working with J. Kirby for about 3 months now and can say nothing but great things about her service. Very friendly, funny and professional. She works with your schedule and has patience with people like myself who want to learn Tagalog. I’ve tried several different ways to learn Tagalog and this seems to work very well for me. When i tried to teach myself before Kirby, I would let my Tagalog self-​study fall on the waist side. You won’t do this with Kirby. You will feel very motivated to want to learn more and be prepared for the next meeting. There are many things I’ve learned by just reading a book or with a quick 3 day class but when it comes to learning another language you really need an instructor for that extra push. You won’t be disappointed with Kirby!

Second week into 6-​week session and am absolutely enjoying it. After my first lesson with Joanna, I knew from the get-​go that I’ve made the right decision. I have never had formal Tagalog lessons prior to this, but have some working knowledge/​understanding having lived in the Philippines for a little bit.
Her teaching style meshes well for me. She began by speaking some Tagalog to get a feel for what level of understanding I had. From there, it’s been conversation-​based, working with worksheets she has prepared, sounds, pronunciations, basic vocabulary, everyday expressions along with information regarding grammatical structure. The content is meeting my needs and has definitely exceeded expectations thus far. The progressions of the lessons are at a speed that I am comfortable with, yet still feel challenged. In addition to all these wonderful things, she is very personable which gives the lessons a positive atmosphere. I am looking forward to future lessons with TWK. I HIGHLY recommend signing up for her lessons if you are looking to learn/​improve/​practice your Tagalog. — Bernice

Last Dec, a last minute business opportunity fell upon me, and learned I had to travel to the Philippines in 6 weeks. Knowing that teaching myself thru Rossetta Stone or readng books wouldn’t prepare me, I searched the web and found T.W.K. Joanna onboarded me with a very entry level, conversational and culturally conscious approach which was a TREMENDOUS help on during my business trip 6 weeks later.
Considering I was 6 weeks in, Joanna’s lessons gave me enough conversational vocabulary to ask for directions from a security officer when I arrived at Terminal 1 in Manila… Trust me, if you fly into Manila thru Terminal 1, you’ll end up ask someone for directions…
In general ask for the bathroom in a restaurant, how much things cost, order a meal, what time was it, great my relatives and partners, explain to the locals where I was from, and tell about myself, stuff like that. Even more shocking, I was able to pick apart and understand tagalog conversations taking place in my presence, so I wasn’t totally lost when I was with other, and could even engage at some levels.
I am continuing with TWK to further develop my Tagalog, but am happy to say, so far_​so good! Thanks Joanna!!!

I visited the Philippines for the first time this summer, and it was also my first time meeting my family there. Unfortunately, there was a language barrier, and I really missed out on being able to bond with them. That’s why I decided that I needed to learn Tagalog.
I’m so happy that I found Joanna! I look forward to every lesson with her. She is extremely personable and a highly effective teacher. Because of the one-​on-​one format, learning with her is both challenging (in a good way) and fun. I feel my knowledge of Tagalog dramatically expanding every single week due to the structure of her lessons and the homeworks she assigns.
I can’t say enough good things about my experience so far! Now that I’ve spent a few months with Joanna, I frequently communicate with my mom and my cousins in Tagalog, which has been truly wonderful. I plan on being Joanna’s student for as long as she will have me, and I highly recommend her lessons to anyone hoping to learn Tagalog.

I never spoke Tagalog before. Born and raised in Brooklyn. My parents actually spoke Ilokano. I spoke just English. Ive tried learning from Rosetta stone or other Tagalog classes before but, after knowing a few words maybe a phase it ended there.
Some of the things I learned on Rosetta stone was a deep Tagalog that are terms not even used in everyday conversation. The sad things was months of using it I wasn’t even pronouncing the words right.
I took Tagalog with Kirby January 2010 (my friends who took her class highly recommended her). The classes were scheduled right after work in the city (extremely convenient).
My brother and I took the class together (I didn’t want to do it alone). After two classes I was able to make my own Tagalog sentence. In 4 weeks my brother and I were able to have a conversation with each other in Tagalog (in front of the class). We really enjoyed it so much that we decided to take her level 2 and Level 3 as well.
One year later I’m not saying I’m completely fluent but, when there is a conversation in Tagalog I actually understand so much more I able to participate It feels amazing.
Joanna made it easy for me to understand. It wasn’t a computer program that didn’t respond to you.
What makes this class special you knew she really loves the language and loves sharing it with you.
Maraming salamat po!(Thank you so much!)