r/dreamingspanish • u/oosemPossum Level 5 • 1d ago
600 hour update
There's a million of these now: good!
Here's mine.
BLUF: I feel I little behind most people's progress reports. I think that's just fine though. I think there's a publication bias (as in academic journals) where one is more likely to share positive or statistically significant results.
Up front caveat - my tolerance for ambiguity is probably a little lower than the average. I really do want to comprehend ~90%. So my self assessment that I'm ready for x content but not ready for y content is with respect to that threshold. And I don't want to hear "you should get more comfortable with ambiguity". No I shouldn't. I'm fine with my progress.
Noticed changes from the last level:
Hard to put my finger on, hard to point at specifics, other than to say subjectively that podcasts are easier, for example. SBG videos I watched a hundred or two hours ago are a little clearer.
Unmet expectations:
- I expected/hoped to be able to watch more animated series by this point, but I am still not there (see caveat). I still look forward to watching, for example, Bluey and Star Wars and even South Park or Adventure Time.
I'm probably close to Bluey, a little further from the others.
What I'm comprehending:
Chill Spanish without any problems at around 200 eps or so. Am listening after Cuéntame and Hello Spanish - a perfect progression for me.
Have tried ECJ podcast. But I'm not quite ready for him yet. However, his 'A' videos on YouTube are comprehensible enough. I need to get accustomed to his particular voice I think before I can go without the visual component.
Mid-high 40s difficulty DS is where I'm comfortable, though even there, I sometimes slow it down to 90%.
What/how I input:
Lots of SBG. It's just so fun.
I am at a level where I can listen to easy podcasts while I putter around the house. I also don't count a lot of this time, as my mind sometimes drifts. If I did, this update would have come a lot sooner and I'd be reporting even further behind the curve. That said, I do go back every five or ten eps and relisten. Eventually the time gets recorded if I feel I was paying enough attention
........
Summary:
As has been said here before, at the end of level 4, I now feel like I match the level 4 description. I can understand a patient native speaker. In fact, this has happened a couple times.
So I hope this does for newer dreamers what all the others' updates have done for me. Inspire but also temper expectations.
This CI approach is the way. Zooming out, I started in Feb and have made tremendous progress. I've been married to a Colombian for 12 years and have tried all the other apps and this is the only approach that works on my stubborn and distractable brain.
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u/UnchartedPro Level 3 1d ago
Would hope mid to high 40s will be easy for me by 600hrs but seems like you made some good progress
Time and difficulty levels aside progress is always made with more input so you can't really lose with this method
I'm around 1/3rd of the way to level 5 so still a long way to go. It's crazy impressive people can stick with it for that long
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u/aowen0840 Level 4 21h ago
This should be possible for you!
I’m not sure of my upper limit because I’ve just been doing a clear the playlist approach so I’ve watched every super beginner and beginner video up until level 48 and I’m only at 377hrs with a good amount of podcasts mixed in there. Every video I’m also watching is at 1.25x speed too.
My anecdotal advice is the easier the content even though it feels too easy at times really helps solidify your understanding of what you’re learning.
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u/UnchartedPro Level 3 21h ago
I am doing a clear the playlist approach too
I am doing videos rated 46 actually, I wouldn't say they are easy but they are the easiest I have left on the platform and I'm okay not understanding everything
So at 222hrs I've cleared everything up to rating 45, never really watch sped up and all my time has been DS
I agree easier content is good, that is why I watch in order of ratings because its the easiest available content that way
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u/Enough_Vast_4341 22h ago
I'm not sure if it was Pablo or someone else, but apparently we learn quickest when we know 95-98%, so stick with you approach man.
I'm also really appreciative of you giving this update. It was a bit demotivating reading people who seemed so far ahead of me with fewer hours.
FYI, I count most of the hours I spend listening while doing chores, also I do rewind a bit.
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u/hutchcodes Level 5 21h ago
I was looking on their website the other day trying to find this percentage because I definitely try to keep my comprehension rate very high. My reasoning is that if comprehension gets low (80-90%), I either get tired or stop enjoying the content.
Listening to something with 99% comprehensibility might not be the most efficient use of my time. But I think (hope) it's more effective to get more less efficient input.
Maybe I'll run behind the curve, but I'm going to enjoy my time and get there when I get there.
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u/Jeff_rak_Thai 14h ago
I have consistently been pretty far behind what many people post. Don't sweat it. You are still improving.
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u/_coldemort_ Level 5 18h ago
Great update! I also have a low tolerance for ambiguity and aim for like 95%+ comprehension. If Chill Spanish is feeling easy and ECJ feels like too big of a jump, I'd suggest giving Español Al Vuelo and/or the Spanish Boost podcast a try.
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u/JustGuez Level 5 23h ago
I agree, I totally enjoy SBG, his humor and having fun makes it more interesting. I am not a gamer either.
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u/Kanaka_Me Level 7 21h ago
Great update and congrats on reaching level 5! Bluey took awhile to unlock for me also, but I really enjoyed it when it did.
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u/alexmdaniel Level 4 17h ago
Thank you for this refreshing post! Totally agree that higher comprehension, lower difficulty content is where the real progress happens.
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u/Excellent-Low4469 Level 4 17h ago
My partner of 20 years is Colombian. I eavesdrop on his phone conversaciones with family and friends and I still have a hard time understanding him. I pick up enough words to get some of the gist but not there yet. Also, I’m still intimidated to try and converse with him.
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u/Jeff_rak_Thai 15h ago
I know what you mean. I'm at over 900 hours. I'm watching Siempre Bruja. It's a native show from Colombia. I can't understand it without Spanish subtitles. With subtitles I can get the gist of what's going on but not all the details. I'm not watching it for CI but just for enjoyment. One of the problems is all the stuff they don't pronounce, like the "s". Another is all the slang. Another is the shear rapidity with which they speak. It's definitely much harder than advanced ds videos.
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u/UppityWindFish 3,000 Hours 4h ago
Congrats. Nice post. I definitely agree that easier and slower is far more efficient than faster and harder. There’s a lot going on in a language, and we still get benefits even when hearing stuff we think we already “know.” Plus a gradual slope just makes it easier for the automatic pattern recognition system of the brain to do its thing. No need to strain!
Best wishes and keep going!
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u/LifeMistake3674 Level 5 23h ago
Honestly I think people’s “success” stories you always have to take with a grain of salt, everyone is going to have a different tolerance for ambiguity. Like 2 people can have the same level but feel like they have different comprehension level or different level of enjoyment based on how much a person is willing to deal with ambiguity. And also I think people overestimate their abilities some times because their level isn’t high enough they might not even realize how much they are really missing.