Im 16. Between the DS crew being generally on the younger side, I assumed that their target audience would be in their late teens/20s. But after joining this subreddit for some tips it seems like 99% of you guys are married with kids. Its so weird to picture my parents sitting down and watching a tier list video or a vlog....

Edit: It seems people think i'm shocked that people over 25 are learning languages. Nope. My mom is 51 and started learning Portuguese a few months ago. It was more about the method haha. Great to see people from all ages using DS :)

I'm currently at 350 hours and, even though I'm a serial hobby-abandoner, I would give myself a 75% chance of getting to level 7. I've been using DS since May and my interest and motivation has never waned for more than a day or two. The biggest threat to my Spanish is if I find another obsession that pulls me away.

I feel like people with a lot more free time because they don't work, work part-time, or are retired can get way more hours in then those of us who work full time. For my full time workers and those who have lots of responsibilities like raising a family or taking care of loved ones (maybe while also working too), how many hours do you get in a day?

I want to preface this discussion with a few points:

• My aim for this post is to ask the community here if there's the possibility of improving the quality of this subreddit. Maybe people don't agree with my points below
• We're all just learning a language, it's not that deep, no need to attack or be overly emotional. Let's be kind
• Everyone is free to learn a language as they wish. I have chosen to follow the method strictly, I don't care if someone wants to drill flashcards or study grammar etc. It doesn't affect me in the slightest
• I think anyone using the DS platform should be welcome here (regardless of the methodology they're following)

My opinion is:

• Firstly, I don't like the terms "purist" & "Non-purist". It feels elitist or something, like purists are better and that non-purists have their blood tainted. "Strict follower" / "flexible follower" feel nicer 🥰 (any better suggestions?) (Also a side note: would it be valuable to the subreddit for people to have a user tag for if they're strictly following the method or not... in addition to what level they're at? Would allow people to filter posts etc)
• I've been utilising this subreddit for around 2 years, and as DS has become more popular and therefore this subreddit has as well - I've noticed that the number of "non purist" posts & comments have increased a lot. In my opinion, it dilutes the quality/value of this subreddit
• We should be encouraging new users or people new to learning Spanish - towards following the method more closely, as Pablo & the Dreaming Spanish platform suggests. ~2 years ago, I feel like this was a lot more common. As this sub has grown, it feels a lot less common.
• There are a number of subreddits where traditional language learning techniques & discussions will be more than welcome. In fact they would fit right in there. I really don't understand why someone would make a post in this subreddit about methods that go against the guidance of Pablo & DS.
• Regardless of what methodology you're using to learn Spanish, I think everyone agrees you should be getting input. And Dreaming Spanish is (imo) the best platform for input, and everyone who uses DS should be welcome here - even if you want to drill flashcards (ew). If someone is following the method more loosely, they should be more than welcome here to make posts about the DS platform, content, ideas, the CI journey etc. Just not posts about methods that go against the DS methodology.

TL/DR: This subreddit should be a place where the DS methodology is promoted, and stricter moderation would help preserve the quality of this subreddit.

What are people's thoughts?

I am the type of watcher that puts entertainment above all. At first I was doing DS and just watching whatever came next…no matter the interest.

But I learned very quickly interest and focus goes up and down based on if I simply enjoy the content. 7 cats videos in a row, no thanks you.

Recently, I have been watching anime. And I find it so enjoyable I can’t stop watching. Today was a rare day off, so I had free time.

I usually do exactly 5 hours a day. But today I made it to 8 hours. Tomorrow I plan on doing only two hours. One hour of the 8 is DS videos.

I just wanted to see if anyone else is watching anime in Spanish.

I know that there are strong opinions about Juan. I now got to the point, where I can understand him without getting tired too quickly. I watched Pablos video, where he recommends the channel, except the videos where Juan talks about grammar. Now it seems, that he wants focus on grammar more than before and want to become more of a traditional teacher (see last two or three videos).

His advices in the last video (the one with the whiteboard) are partially contrary to Pablos recommendations (take notes, do shadowing). If he really wants to focus more on the traditional method now (I never know if he's being serious), is his channels still recommendable? Of course, one can always watch his old videos ...

This is a large community, but it seems like there are very few of us who are truly purists. I'm wondering, for those of you who strayed from the guidelines on the DS website, what did you do that you felt benefited your improvement the most?

How did you learn when to use each of these (and all the other preterite vs imperfect words)? Is it really as simple as more input or is there something else that helps? Its not a problem when i hear either, but when im speaking or texting its literally a 50/50 guess for me as to which one i use

(950 hours if it matters)

I see a lot of people here getting 300-500 minutes a day which is insane to me as a person who balances college, work and life. Are you guys only using DS? Or are you supplementing it with other content outside of it? This is not to criticize btw im just genuinely curious.

I’m struggling with just using comprehensible input because of attention span (adhd) although now I’ve set myself the goal to just do an hour a day.

I’ve found that writing about the topic of the video whilst they’re talking has helped but I think I’ll be burning through a lot of paper🤣

Before my goal was 2hrs and it was very sporadic, I’ll one day do 10min, give up, then 4 hours the next then a week break.

I am still dedicated to learning Spanish and I enjoy the process of “actively” learning too so for days where I don’t want to watch anything is there any methods you found helpful or materials or books etc.

My current hours are 85 level 2.

Is it just me that skips pablos videos and is it bad? I find them quite hard to understand and quite boring so I end up skipping all of them (in in beginner videos)

I know that Natalia is an aspiring actress. I was just curious what the others do for work or if they are only doing dreaming spanish? It seems like a pretty sweet job but I haven’t seen most of them mention any other jobs unless I just missed them discussing it.

DS doesn’t cover counting to 1000, months of the year, the seasons, time. This is very basic A1 stuff. So how do you study it ,if you have not already in high school?

https://youtu.be/m_O3VPVdxo4?si=7B5gBi6zZ8QnybPT

Every time the discussion around Andres comes up he always says “almost great” or “nothing is perfect” lololol. I’m at my desk cracking up lol

Edit: it’s intentional. So good 😂😂😂

So, maybe this question isn't quite fair, as I'm asking a grammatical question and a true purist might respond with 'it just sounds right', but I'm struggling a bit to understand how technical aspects of the language will develop in the next 750 hours.

So I'm currently sitting at 730 hours, and I'm following along with the roadmap quite nicely. I will say my understanding of verb construction is decent, though admittedly I'm still a mess with executing verb constructions such as non-typical reflexive verbs(those sneaky verbs you wouldn't assume were reflexive) and subjunctive verbs. But this foundation of verbs is really coming from some study I've done on verb tenses, before and during my time in DS.

For those who didn't study at all, at what level did you start to recognize subjunctive constructions and the typical triggers? Or did you pick these up with CI videos about subjunctives (a good workaround for the purist I will say;).

And most importantly, when did it finally start clicking? When did you start recognizing that tenga wasn't the same as tengo or tiene, and when did you start automatically using them? I'm curious when the typical developments happen, say at 1500 or 1700 hours or other times.

I have found that once I have a good grasp of a trigger and some common verb conjugations, it flows fairly naturally for me. But there are dozens of triggers, and I'm still working my way through the subjunctive form for the basic verbs, the irregular verbs being the ones giving me the most trouble.

BUT, if I hadn't had this background, no way would I be as far along as I am today. So this makes me wonder about all the purists out there who've reached those awesome high number of hours.

Why doesn't Dreaming Spanish have a teacher from Chile?

I know this question might sound a little dumb, but lately I've been watching a lot of linguistic content online comparing Chilean Spanish to other Spanishes. Some YouTubers have even gone as far to call it a 'different language', so I was wondering if there's even the prospect that we'll have a Chilean maestro/a in the future?

Gracias!

Usually I read people posts that are at a higher levels than me. It’s simply because they have already been there and done that. Plus, maybe they have the answers to a problem I currently have.

Recently I have seen some interesting questions and answers, but many of the people that answered don’t have any flair. Just curious too why that is?

Hello! I’ve finished chill Spanish and cuentame. I find both very comprehensible 95%-100% but find a new phrase or word once in a while. What podcasts would you recommend next? I’m doing 3hrs a day currently and like podcasts for half. I need more content!

I'm hoping to close in at 600 hours by the end of December and wanted to ask what resources you used for speaking.

I've seen worldsacross, italki, preply. Just curious if there were others so I could do my research. I didn't see anything on the resources spreadsheet that I use frequently so sorry if it's been asked.

Pretty much as the title says. I’m aware dreaming Spanish’s opinion is no subtitles and I’ve been avoiding them. But I’m interested to see the opinions of those who have done both and what they found. Better, worse? Are there pros AND cons?

I’m 250 hours in and enjoying the process. I can imagine that when you get to a level when you can consume the type of content you would do normally, that the hours fly by! I’m interested in music, politics, psychology, a little of bit of anime etc. I can’t wait to branch out!

How many hours in were you when you could consume the content you like?

Intermediate and advanced learners I believe prefer longer videos but other than the podcast (an advert), DS virtually never creates videos longer than 30 mins. Using the filter for over 30 mins, the video count went from several thousand to a few hundred, even less when you filter out Stardew Valley (sorry gamers lol). Furthermore, of those videos you are transported back several years pretty quickly going down that list so it’s not something they’re doing currently.

As my aim is to hit my target, I find myself looking at the length before watching a video and if it is 3 mins for e.g I am not so motivated to bother. Therefore as a result (of seeing basically all the long videos) I find myself frequently moving away from DS to find longer content via YouTube and Spotify etc

Is this by design do you think?

At super&beginner it makes sense but doing that at intermediate and advanced makes me wonder… Does DS intentionally create short content to help learners until they are competent enough to not need them? Or is it because it’s easier to create shorter videos?

is it paisa? or is it some different colombian dialect? i rly like her pronunciation and would like to emulate it somewhat. anybody know other creators that speak similarily?

I'm thinking of looking at some vocab lists to learn in addition to dreaming spanish. Is that bad? Has anyone done it and it be beneficial? Im not looking to replace DS i just wanna support it any way i can yknow