There are very few choices of online translation services that offer translations from and into #Tagalog (sometimes listed as #Filipino even though they are not exactly the same).
How few? #Bing and #Google are the go to online translation services; and that's about it. Popular neural translation services like Naver Papago, DeepL, and Reverso, are yet to offer Tagalog and Filipino translations.
However, there is one that is actually doing it better than Bing and Google, that is Yandex Translation — https://translate.yandex.com.
Translating Tagalog into another language.
So far, my only gripe is that Yandex translates it into past tense. It appears that Yandex still doesn't understand the Tagalog tenses in this translation direction (it does understand tenses when translating into Tagalog).
If you don't understand Tagalog, you also will not notice the tense was changed because the translation into your own language is correct as far as past tense is concerned.
Translating another language into Tagalog.
This one is good. At least based on what I have tested, tenses were preserved. Depending on the source language, the choice of words might be weird, but it makes sense regardless, from a native Tagalog speaker (maybe not for someone learning Tagalog, or Filipino).
Here are sample texts:
First, this is how it should be in Tagalog (compare the translation to this one if you're not familiar with Tagalog or Filipino):
> Hiniling ni Rielene kay John na bumili ng kanilang lingguhang pangangailangan sa supermarket kahapon. Pumunta siya sa pinakamalapit na supermarket ng isang mall; at pagkatapos ay binisita niya ang sinehan ng mall para tignan ang pinakabagong mga pelikula.
>
> Ngayong araw, ang mag-asawa na sina Rielene at John ay masayang magkasamang nanonood ng sci-fi movie na pinamagatang, “Hollow Earth of the Apes: The Scar Wars”.
English (source):
> Yesterday, Rielene asked John to go buy their weekly necessities in the supermarket. He visited supermarket of the nearby mall; and afterwards, he visited the mall's cinema to check the latest movies.
>
> Today, the couple, Rielene and John, are watching the sci-fi film entitled, “Hollow Earth of the Apes: The Scar Wars”, and are enjoying their time together.
Korean (through Naver Papago):
> 어제 릴렌은 존에게 슈퍼마켓에 주간 필수품을 사러 가자고 했습니다. 존은 근처 쇼핑몰의 슈퍼마켓을 방문했고, 그 후, 최신 영화를 확인하기 위해 쇼핑몰의 영화관을 방문했습니다.
>
> 오늘, 릴렌과 존 커플은 "속이 빈 지구: 흉터 전쟁"이라는 제목의 공상과학 영화를 보고 함께 시간을 즐기고 있습니다.
Polish (through DeepL):
> Wczoraj Rielene poprosiła Johna, aby poszedł do supermarketu kupić cotygodniowe artykuły pierwszej potrzeby. John odwiedził supermarket w pobliskim centrum handlowym, a następnie udał się do kina w centrum handlowym, aby sprawdzić najnowsze filmy.
>
> Dziś para, Rielene i John, ogląda film science-fiction zatytułowany "Wydrążona Ziemia Małp: Wojny Blizn" i cieszy się wspólnie spędzonym czasem.
Hebrew (through Yandex):
> אתמול ביקשה רילין מג ' ון ללכת לקנות את צרכיהם השבועיים בסופרמרקט. הוא ביקר בסופרמרקט של הקניון הסמוך; ולאחר מכן, הוא ביקר בקולנוע של הקניון כדי לבדוק את הסרטים האחרונים.
>
> היום, הזוג, רילין וג ' ון, צופים בסרט המדע הבדיוני שכותרתו "ארץ חלולה של הקופים: מלחמות הצלקת", ונהנים מהזמן שלהם יחד.
It's easier to use Hangeul and Kana to write pronunciations of Filipino words, than to use Filipino diacritical marks.
Last we were taught about Filipino diacritical marks was in Grade 4 or 5 (early 90s). I don't know why, but after that diacritical marks were totally forgotten.
Tracking it down, IIRC, it was late 90s / early 00s when it was officially removed by the KWF.
Sometime 2010, the KWF brought diacritical marks back, though limited.
In 2014 (or was it 2016?) the KWF introduced a new diacritical mark, the Filipino schwa. It didn't exist before. There are only like 4 Philippine languages with a schwa vowel. They added it in Filipino so words from those Philippine languages can be integrated into the Filipino language.
Here's my problem, no matter how many times I read the KWF document on Filipino diacritical marks, I can't get my head around it. 🤪 I understood it differently, or I remembered them incorrectly. 🤷🏽♂️ Or! I've been pronouncing a lot of words wrongly! 🤦🏽♂️
However, when I use Hangeul and Kana, I don't have to worry about diacritical marks. Both scripts have stable pronunciations, not like Latin characters where we have to use diacritical marks.
The only catch, the reader should be able to read Hangeul or Kana scripts, which most don't. 🤔 So, back to trying to get a grasp of Filipino diacritical marks. 🤯
Am I right that the Filipino diacritical marks represent the sound?
Examples:
e = neutral = abrupt soft stop?
è = high to low = abrupt hard stop? (paiwa?)
é = low to high = malumay? (malumanay?)
ê = low to high to low = ??
ë = the new Filipino schwa (no idea, since I don't speak the few Philippine languages where a Filipino schwa is needed).
Any experts out there?
(In the revived diacritical marks, we no longer use ē. IIRC, it used to represent a long vowel sound.)