Ito ang kauna-unahang tula na isinulat ng ating pambansang bayaning si Dr. Jose Rizal.

Sa edad 8, isinulat niya ito sa katutubong wika at pinamagatang "SA AKING MGA KABATA". 

Kapagka ang baya'y sadyang umiibig

Sa kanyang salitang kaloob ng langit,
Sanglang kalayaan nasa ring masapit
Katulad ng ibong nasa himpapawid.

Pagka't ang salita'y isang kahatulan

Sa bayan, sa nayo't mga kaharian,
At ang isang tao'y katulad, kabagay
Ng alin mang likha noong kalayaan.

Ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang salita

Mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda,
Kaya ang marapat pagyamaning kusa
Na tulad sa inang tunay na nagpala.

Ang wikang Tagalog tulad din sa Latin

Sa Ingles, Kastila at salitang anghel,
Sapagka't ang Poong maalam tumingin
Ang siyang naggawad, nagbigay sa atin.

Ang salita nati'y huwad din sa iba

Na may alfabeto at sariling letra,
Na kaya nawala'y dinatnan ng sigwa
Ang lunday sa lawa noong dakong una. 

Interpretation of the poem, “Sa Aking mga Kabata”

 The poem signifies the worth of loving, of using, and of being proud of our own
language. It primarily depicts Rizal’s passion to his country, that even in his early age of eight,
he already recognizes the importance of the Filipino language.

In the first stanza, Rizal speaks that we should love our own language. It is a gift from
God that we should all be grateful for. He also says that loving the language is equivalent in
aiming for freedom for our own country ostensibly like a bird, “lumilipad nang pagkataas-taas
para sa mas malawak na liliparan.”

The next stanza implies that a nation that loves a God-given language also loves freedom.
“For language is the final judge and reference upon the people in the land where it holds and
sway.” A Filipino who loves his native tongue will definitely fight for his freedom, a person who
preserves the marks of its liberty, as man preserve his independence. Language is not merely a
communication tool but as an expression of one’s identity, of one’s individual and social
consciousness. Without a common identity, there could be no real sense of nationhood. Love and
use of one’s native tongues was one of the badges of a true patriot.

In the succeeding stanza, Rizal compared the person who doesn’t love his native tongue
from a putrid fish. Just like a fish which originally lives in water, stinks every time it goes out of
its place. Like some of the Filipinos that we could observe, we could see that when they have
reached a foreign country and adapted the foreign language and culture, they tend to forget their
own. And as they have adapted that culture, they will be so haughty   to despise and scorn their
own fellowmen. They hide and cover their identity for being a Filipino even though it’s very
discernible. They just make themselves look foolish and shameful. And with the last two lines
from the third stanza, Rizal addressed to us that our own language must be cherished and should
not be forgotten because it’s a very valuable possession of our own country.

On the fourth stanza, what Rizal was trying to resound is that even our very own Filipino
is also a language to be respected and valued. It is also a language likewise with the angels and
with the others. There should be no hierarchy that the Filipino is the least. For rejecting it is like
denying ourselves of who we really are.

Finally, the last stanza implies that we, just like the other nations existing, have its own
exceptional characteristics that we can be greatly proud of, those distinct qualities of being a
Filipino such that the blood itself that runs through your veins, the culture, and your innate YOU
is a certified Filipino that you can never obliterate. Sad to say, the cornerstones established by
our forefathers to come up with a better country is now into annihilation. Annihilation caused by
the influx of challenges doomed to spoil what we have.