Sa Aking Mga Kabata

"Sa Aking Mga Kabatà" (English: To My Fellow Youth) is a poem about the love of one's native language written in Tagalog.

The poem was widely taught in Philippine schools to point out Rizal's precociousness and early development of his nationalistic ideals.

[1] A passage of the poem often paraphrased as "Ang hindi marunong magmahal sa sariling wika, masahol pa sa hayop at malansang isda" (English: "He who knows not to love his own language, is worse than beasts and putrid fish") is widely quoted in order to justify pressuring Philippine citizens into using Tagalog; this ironically includes its majority of nonnative speakers.

In the oft-quoted anecdote of the moth and the flame from Rizal's memoir, the children's book he and his mother were reading was entitled El Amigo de los Niños, and it was in Spanish.

In the accompanying letter, Rizal speaks of his difficulty finding an appropriate Tagalog equivalent of Freiheit (freedom), settling on kalayahan.

[5][10] Rizal also attempted to write Makamisa (the intended sequel to El filibusterismo) in Tagalog, only to give up after only ten pages and start again in Spanish.

[5][7] In his memoir as a student in Manila, a year after the poem's supposed writing date, he admitted only having 'a little' knowledge of Latin from lessons by a friend of his father.

If a nation's people certainly love The gift of their language bestowed by heaven, So too will they regain their pawned freedom Like a bird who takes to the sky.

For language is a measure of worth Of cities, nations, and kingdoms, And each person alike deserves it, As does any creation born free.