Ay naku! Tagalog is hard to learn! I have never traveled to the

Ay naku! Tagalog is hard to learn! I have never traveled to the Philippines, but I am married to a Filipina. I have studied Tagalog at home as an independent learner for about four years now. It took about two years just to train my ears to 'hear' Tagalog.
Since retiring four months ago, I have stepped it up a bit, consuming several hours of Filipino media daily, and hanging out at the one sari-sari store in my hometown to chat it up with my Pinoy friends. My Filipina wife is a big help - she has taught me to say important things to her like "Oo Mahal," "Sandali lang Mahal," and "Anong kahit gusto mong, Mahal." She has also taught me to swear beautifully in Tagalog - mostly when we are driving! I now understand spoken Tagalog about as well as a really smart dog. I can handle most social transactions with minimal difficulty, but I tend to get 'nosebleed' after 10 minutes or so. My Filipinos howled with laughter when I said 'labasán' instead of 'labásan'! But I'm not shy or timid, so I'm making really good progress, in spite of the occasional red-faced embarrassment. I am hoping to achieve near-fluency after a year or two of complete immersion in the Philippines.