How did these viral Americans get so good at speaking Tagalog? They spent years in the Philippines, that's how

These Americans have gone viral for their comedic videos, where they spoke in Tagalog. 

Hootie Hennesey's video of selling taho in a Utah university while speaking in Tagalog was such a hit online, while Dwaine Woolley went viral on social media after he posted a funny video of himself speaking Tagalog with Pinoys about another American, not knowing the other could understand Filipino, too.

But how did they get so good at speaking Tagalog?

According to Oscar Oida's Thursday report on the "State of the Nation," both have spent years in the Philippines, doing missionary work.

"It took one year for me para makapagsalita, para sabihin ko 'yung gusto ko talagang sabihin (It took one year for me to speak, to say what I wanted to say)," Hootie said.

"Understanding — 'yan 'yung pinakamahirap na part kasi ang bilis talaga 'yung salita (Understanding — that's the hardest part because people speak the language fast)," he added.

Meanwhile, Dwaine Woolley said he wanted to learn the language because everybody around him was speaking Tagalog. 

"Lahat ng tao sa paligid ko nagta-Tagalog, so sabi ko ayoko mabenta dito. Dapat marunong din ako mag-Tagalog (Everybody around me spoke Tagalog, so I said I didn't want to be left behind, I also needed to learn how to speak Tagalog)," Dwaine said.

Aside from passing numerous Tagalog tongue twisters, Dwaine, who is now based in Australia, added, "Mahal ko lang talaga 'yung wika. It was exciting for me to learn (I just really love the language)." — Kaela Malig/LA, GMA News