I got a bunch of teaware from bitterleafteas yesterday. All my glassware arrived perfectly, but the shipping service really beat up my package! Everything survived except for the lid of this beautiful bamboo motif gaiwan. Bitterleaf is a great company to work with. They gave me a refund on the whole gaiwan, and now I have the very nicely build gaiwan body. I found that the lid of my normal white gaiwan actually fits this one perfectly! Not quite as pretty, but it fits and works very well. I’m enjoying some high mountain red Ai Lao from YS today.

I’m drinking some charcoal roasted “gan de village tie guan yin” oolong tea from Anxi. I also took the opportunity to try out one of my new Gongdaobeis and my pink jade porcelain cup. Anyways, the tea had a really nice flavor. Can’t give you any flavor notes except Smokey and fruity. I’m not into blabbering about tasting notes (I just drink what I like).

My lophs have been doing great since I changed my growing area. I used to grow them in full morning and early afternoon sun, but after seeing videos of them in the wild, I changed it up. In the wild, I noticed they tended to grow in full sun, but under shade of some sort the whole day. I brought my lophs down to my tricho area but have them all under 50% shade cloth. They’ve really been doing well! On a side note, this was sent to me labeled as LK, is it LK or something else?

One of my tea orders finally arrived today. I picked up a lot of new teas, and I finally pulled the trigger on an ice jade porcelain teapot (110ml, great size for solo sessions).

One of my birthday tea orders arrived today. I picked up a handful of new teas, and I finally pulled the trigger on an ice jade porcelain teapot (110ml, good size for me).

Introduction:

I started DS in July 2025. I was inconsistent and took long breaks. In August 2025, I started forcing myself to do an hour a day. I managed to do it every day and enjoy the content. I slowly raised my daily goal and scheduled Spanish into my daily life. I started going to bed at 7:15-8:00 PM (except on special occasions) and waking up at 3:15-3:45 AM. I've been on this routine since mid-November 2025 and have stuck with it. I do 4 hours a day, and rarely miss a day. At first, it was hard to do, but I've basically replaced all English media with Spanish media. Even relaxing in the afternoon after a tough day, I relax with some Spanish YouTube on topics I'm really into. Learning Spanish has been one of the most interesting and eye-opening things I've done in my life.

Speaking:

I've been speaking since day one. My speaking samples have gotten much better over time. This is my most recent speaking sample at 945 hours of input. Listening to my samples, I can typically find many errors. It's interesting how you barely realise certain mistakes while speaking, but can easily hear them once listening to your recording. Outputting is incredibly difficult compared to just listening to the language. I can listen to 5 hours of Spanish in a day, and feel great! But after a 30-minute speaking lesson, my brain is fried, and I feel incredibly tired.

My most recent speaking sample at 945 hours of input. https://www.reddit.com/r/dreamingspanish/comments/1sy1imu/speaking_sample_at_945_hours_of_input_this_time/

At 975 hours of input, I began conversation lessons using Italki. It was quite the experience compared to short, one-minute daily interactions or recording a speaking sample for a few minutes. I make sure my classes are fully in Spanish; if I don't know a word, I have the teacher try to explain it in another way. But every once in a while, it's something I need a translation for. I only do conversation classes. If the teacher corrects something I say, they correct me and explain the grammar/colloquialism (if I ask) fully in Spanish.

I checked the DS roadmap, and it said for level 6 “you are conversationally fluent for daily purposes”. Personally, I disagree. I may have a higher standard of “conversationally fluent”, but for me, I would only consider myself at that level when I have a B2 level of speaking. I currently speak around an A2 level (tenses and grammar wise), but can sometimes thrown in very complex things without even realizing it. I guess If by “conversationally fluent” DS only means being able to handle daily topics in one way or another, I suppose I am at that level. One way or another I can get my point across, though it will be awkward, and difficult for me.

My first speaking lesson was very rough. I didn't choose a specific topic, so I didn't know what else to talk about. It was doable, but very tough and not very smooth. I made numerous mistakes in wording, phrasing, tense mistakes, and lots of long, awkward pauses. It's very strange to know words, being able to understand them when heard, but when you try to speak, you just can't muster the vocabulary up. CI produces a lot of passive vocabulary; most words you "know" take a while before you can use them. I tried out a couple of tutors, and liked some more than others.

The tutor I like most is from the Dominican Republic. He was super nice, helped me through pauses, kept me engaged, and it felt like he wanted to chat, not just forced to be there. I’ll be using a few teachers at a time, doing a lesson or two each weekly. I like variety in my classes. For example, I’ve done a lesson with a Puerto Rican and really struggled. He explained a lot of expressions and slang during the conversation which was helpful, but I still struggled a lot. Over time with more input, and more speaking with a variety of speakers, my skills will improve. My speaking may be rough, but being able to handle a conversation longer than 30 minutes fully in Spanish with all corrections and explanations in Spanish is amazing to me!

Listening:

My listening has progressed significantly since 600 hours. At this point, I can listen to practically any DS video and understand at least 90% of it (typically 95%). I still use some DS content filtered for podcast-friendly, and a minimum of 55 difficulty (anything lower is mind-numbingly slow). I love podcasts and use them extensively. I listen to podcasts of varying difficulty, and rarely have any problems. I plan to start implementing native podcasts soon (I already watch native content). I have more outside hours of podcasts than hours on the DS platform.

Since the majority of my Spanish input is audio-only, I can get a lot of hours in daily. I may be doing the laundry, watering my plants, doing the dishes, driving, or anything that isn't super mentally straining. It is true that doing other things while consuming input is slightly less efficient, maybe 5-10%. But I don't do the whole cutting a minute off that, thirty seconds off that, cut 10% of that, type of mindset. I hear enough Spanish in my daily life, and sometimes scroll on Spanish YouTube shorts for half an hour, or have a Spanish interaction for a minute or so, that I think it all evens out eventually. I understand why some people are so strict in their tracking, but I can't be bothered. An hour of input is an hour of input for me.

I enjoy watching videos about topics I like on YouTube. I am very interested in wildlife and nature, and have found a treasure trove of content on YouTube. I sometimes struggle if the speaker is very fast, uses lots of slang and colloquialisms, or has an accent I'm very unfamiliar with (like Cuban or Chilean). I find it amazing how I can understand so much without having to translate in my head. I just understand the Spanish as it's spoken.

In my home city, I hear a lot of Spanish. There is quite a population of Spanish Speakers in Los Angeles. I often get to have a short, superficial conversation every once in a while. I love to eavesdrop, though. At this point, the super slang-heavy fast construction workers are much easier to understand. I don't catch it all, but I can understand a decent amount. Eavesdropping is an interesting way to notice progress. At 300 hours, I could only catch a few words. Now I can catch the gist of what they're talking about (assuming I'm close enough).

Reading:

At this point, I've read a little over 302,000 words. I've read a couple of Juan Fernadez's graded readers, some new articles (mainly from laderasur.com), and three full-on books. I read "La vida secreta de los árboles" below 600 hours. It was rough, but since I'd read the book before, I was able to figure out a lot and make my way through it. I also read "El oso pardo en los Pirineos". It is a non-fiction book on the history, conservation, and culture surrounding the population of brown bears in the Pyrenees mountain range. It was very interesting. I also tried out my first full-on fiction book. I read "Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal," and it was great! I enjoyed the dialogue and found it interesting. Overall, I've found reading super helpful for acquiring vocabulary and gaining a better understanding of grammar. I've been slacking on reading lately, but I plan to do more of it. I've been doing the final push to get to level 6, so I've done more audio input than typical.

Grammar:

I've studied some grammar. Before DS, I did the traditional method and Duolingo on and off for a year or so. I never reached a level above A1. I relied heavily on mental translation and could barely understand beginner learner content. I did DS with occasional googling of a grammar subject if it was bugging me, but I mostly let it all wash over me. Between 600 and 850 hours, I did around 5-10 minutes daily of grammar study. I found it very helpful and didn't experience "damage" as many CI purists claim will occur. Having an understanding of the grammar makes it much easier to understand the deeper meaning faster. You still need lots of CI. For me, at least, grammar was a helpful complement to my CI. I like to think of it as a soup; you can get there only with a stock base, but seasoning it helps the taste. CI is the vast ocean, while the grammar is the sprinkle of salt. You don't need to do grammar, but it will certainly help. I don't do much grammar these days; I find it super boring. At this point, I have a decent understanding of all the tenses, perfects, progressives, and subjunctives. Everything else will fill in eventually with much more input, reading, and conversation.

Motivation:

I love wildlife. I am an avid birdwatcher and love to go out hiking to observe wildlife and photograph birds. The main reason I started learning Spanish was, and still is, to view wildlife across Central America, South America, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. I adore the hummingbirds in particular. The variety of hummingbirds I can see across so many countries is wonderful. I could be in the humid cloud forests of Colombia, a lodge in Ecuador, a small cabin in Cuba, or in the Juan Fernadez archipelago. Such varied habitats, cultures, and wildlife to explore. I plan to do some traveling to Spanish-speaking countries starting in 2027/2028. Not exactly set on where to go, but I'm excited.

Going Forward:

I will continue my 4 hours daily pacing. I have managed to stick to it for 6 months, so why stop now? I will be doing at least a couple of speaking classes every week. They are very draining, so I may have to take my time on upping their frequency. I'll be reading some more books and continue to enjoy this wonderful adventure.