Question: Hi, i am new to this group and a beginner and would li

I started with the flashcards, and the lessons, i also enjoy listening to the music, reading along really helps me hear the words better

Thank you!

First step is to get to know the letters and how they sound. Don't be one of the foreigners who say kamakailan as "kemekeilen".Next, get a grammar book. There are lots of them for less than 20 dollars in Amazon or if you have library membership, you can check if they have Tagalog lessons e-books.Don't make the mistake many foreigners do who simply memorize words but do not understand the grammar. Using the right pronoun for the right verb focus is critical.To demonstrate:
Kinain = ate, Ako/ko = IKinain ko - I ate (something)
Kinain ako - I was eaten.See how the meaning changed by simply changing the pronoun? That's because in the shift in focus. This is why it's a bad idea to translate Tagalog word for word.Unfortunately, many foreigners think they are good in Tagalog even if their grammar is horrible. They forget that the legwork is done by the native speakers to "decode" what on earth is he/she saying.

@Bituingmaykinang Thank God for patient locals! I'm the guy who was eaten versus had just ate lol

A good inspiration would be Rafe Bartholomew (search "Pinoy Hoops" in Youtube). His Tagalog is very good and he can really strike a casual conversation. Don't aim to be like Wil Dasovich. His Tagalog is bad (horrible pronounciation) and I have a feeling his Tagalog is scripted and he would not be able to have an "impromptu conversation".With the right amount of immersion, you can reach a high level of fluency. Don't be like the Tagalog learners in the Tagalog subreddit in Reddit who often over estimate their fluency just because a native can understand them (we're just good in decoding the message behind bad grammar because we play a lot with the grammar)