Tagalog

Tagalog is the basis of Filipino, the national language of the Philippines, and is spoken by around eighty million people at home and by one of the largest diasporas anywhere, from Dubai and Hong Kong to California and the Gulf. It is the language of teleseryes, OPM ballads and endless family group chats, and it mixes with English so freely that Taglish is a style of its own.

Tagalog has no tones and is written in the Latin alphabet almost exactly as it is spoken, so reading comes quickly. The interesting part is the verb: instead of tenses it marks whether an action has started or finished, and a small focus system decides which word in the sentence is the star. Politeness is built in too. Adding po to almost any sentence makes it respectful, and using it with elders is the fastest way to win people over.