In my family, Tagalog is the language that we speak most often, besides English. Being born and raised in Canada, I made it a goal of mine to learn how to speak our native tongue, so I wouldn’t feel OP (Out of Place), when I visit the Philippines.
The Philippines is a society that has a variety of different languages. Out of over a hundred languages, comes the eight major dialects in the country. Bikolano, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, or 'Ilonggo', Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Tagalog, and Waray. The languages being taught all over the country are Tagalog, or 'Filipino', and English.
Bikolano, or Bicolano in English, is a member of the Central Philippine group of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family, it is spoken in Bikol.
Cebuano, referred to as ‘Binisaya’ (Visayan in English) is also part of the Austronesian languages spoken by around 20,000,000 people, mainly in Central Visayas.
Hiligaynon, or 'Ilonggo' is a member of the Austronesian language family with around 11, 000, 000 speakers in Western Visayas. 7, 000, 000 of whom it is their native tongue. Most speakers live in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
Iloko, Ilocano in English, is an Austronesian language, as well. It spoken by around 10, 000, 000 people mainly in northwest Luzon & also in Mindanao. There are also speakers in the USA, Middle East, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Canada and Europe, too. The language is also known as Iluko, Iloco and Iloko. The Iloko people call themselves Samtoy, a contraction from the Iloko phrase saö mi ditoy, meaning "our language here."
Kapampangan is spoken on the Philippine island of Luzon by about 3 million people. It is a part of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family and is known as either Pampango, Capampangan, Pampangueño or Amanung Sisuan. During the 16th century, Kapampangan was written with a version of the Baybayin alphabet before the arrival of the Spanish in the Philippines. Now, it is written with the Latin alphabet. It has also been written with the Kulitan script, as well.
Pangasinan (Pangasinese) is spoken by around 1.5, 000, 000 people mainly in Pangasinan, on the west side of Luzon. In Benguet, in some areas of Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya and Ifugao, & immigrant communities in the USA, there are also Pangasinese speakers. It is an Austronesian language part of the Philippine branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages, and is closely related to Ibaloi, which is spoken in its neighbouring province, Benguet and Baguio City. It is also similar to Tagalog and Ilocano.
Waray-Waray is a part of the Visayan branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family, as well. It is spoken by 3, 000, 000 people in the Philippines in the provinces of Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte and Biliran.
Lastly, the language most commonly spoken out of the 8 is Tagalog. With around 57, 000, 000 speakers in Manila, central and southern parts of Luzon, and also on the islands of Lubang, Marinduque, and the northern and eastern parts of Mindoro.
Ingles, or English in English.. I'm totally kidding. LOL.