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Buwan ng Wika 2025: Finding Every Filipino Family’s Language

by Kevyn Gohu
August 1, 2025

It’s August, and we parents know what that means: it’s a line-up of Buwan ng Wika 2025 celebrations!

For many years, schools in the Philippines have celebrated Buwan ng Wika during August. A lot of times, kids go to school where their Filipiniana outfits and bring kakanin to share. However, the new theme for Buwan ng Wika 2025 has been circulating: “Paglinang ng Filipino at Katutubong Wika: Makasaysayan sa Pagbuo ng Bansa.” Or, as translated, “Filipino as the Medium of Building a Country.”

So, how does Buwan ng Wika 2025 challenge families?

It's August, and we parents know what that means: it's a line-up of Buwan ng Wika 2025 celebrations!

Seeing the Filipino Languages as Media of Unity

While Buwan ng Wika 2025’s theme is quite straightforward, it’s easier said than done.

We have to first ask ourselves: what can we consider a Filipino language?

By definition, we know it’s any language that’s based in the Philippines. But what happens when there are over 120 of them? That’s not even counting the dialects that are categorized within each language. Some of these languages include Tagalog, Kapampangan, and Ilokano in Luzon. Visayas has Cebuano, Waray, and Hiligaynon. Mindanao has Chavacano and its indigenous languages.

Most of us know these languages exist, but find it hard to be fluent. Besides the ongoing demand to speak fluent English, it’s also because there are few to no books that support the learning of these languages. At least, not in major bookstores.

Many of the books that are written in Filipino native languages rarely reach the metro. They’re often sold in smaller, local bookstores in their home province. Libreria Filipiniana is one of those stores that houses some of these uncommon books.

Career growth is also one of the reasons why certain local languages die. Most of those who come from the province to work in Metro Manila hone their skills in English to ensure they can hold a job. It’s only in the more remote areas in the province where the language does get used.

Kid-Friendly Home-based Activities for Buwan ng Wika 2025

For Buwan ng Wika 2025, schools will most likely emphasize how Filipino languages are used to build things. At some point, they’ll have activities like poster-making, story-writing, and even fiestas. So, we came up with some ideas that emphasize language as a building block for ideas:

Only in Filipino. Similar to Fresh Off The Boat’s “Only in Mandarin” game, we can play the Filipino version of this game at home. Anyone who speaks another language besides Filipino for the next few hours will have to do something. Some parents use a Swear Jar, but we can change it into the Non-Filipino jar—a peso for every time they say a non-Filipino word!
Watching Filipino-dubbed shows. This is probably how most kids learned Filipino back in the day. They’re probably circulating all over YouTube, which makes it easier to find. Some recent movies like KPop Demon Hunters have a Filipino dub version on Netflix!
Read Filipino stories. While we know Wattpad has quite a wide selection, we’re also talking about other kiddie books and pocket books that have been written in Filipino.
Experience Filipino food in its original form. We’ve gone to so many restaurants that have elevated humble Filipino dishes. Sometimes, it’s good to experience the dish as it is, which can mean a trip to the local karinderia or making it ourselves at home.
Join writing competitions. AI may make translation work easier, but being creative in using Filipino-themed elements in a story is another thing!
Read up on the Filipino folklore. Magic, creatures, and fun adventures? That’s mostly every kid’s dream way of learning Filipino.

Other Buwan ng Wika-themed activities for families this 2025

Most likely, the malls will be pushing for more bazaars and Filipino-themed activities. Usually, they’ll be held at the heart of the mall. Sometimes, it’ll be a performance. Other times, it’ll be a bazaar. The important part is—they bring the culture all together under one roof. They’ll bring stories from all over the Philippines, going beyond the “magkano yan?” question.

With Buwan ng Wika 2025 beginning from August 1 to 31, we’re sure there are going to be more activities to celebrate!