u/bryhnlearningspanish

ok so i'm 34 years old. when i was 16 i had a pilonidal cyst. i had surgery to get it removed. had to do the packing and unpacking for however long. it was a nightmare. but nothing since then.

last week i was taking a shower and every time i went to spread to clean myself.f it felt like i was opening a cut. now at the time i'm not thinking of this cyst thing at all. with that the area felt a little itchy and wet. i thought it was super weird.

so i end up later in the week starting to put vaseline on it. and that made it feel so much better. now the cut feeling is gone but i feel some pressure.

so i'm pretty sure the pilonidal is back.

the went to urgent care and they gave me an anti biotic. then i went to my general the day after and they said to continue with the antibiotic and then in a week we will do an MRI to see if it's gone. if it's not they may have to drain it or get me in for surgery.

as of right now it's not something you can even see. i feel a little pressure when i sit on it but not much.

but im so confused of what the fuck this thing even is. i try googling and i feel like the more i read the more confused i get. like i read online that anti biotic cant cure it? so why am i on anti biotics? do i have to get surgery? did i catch it early? does that help at all? or am i fucked? is it a problem i'll need another surgery for no matter what? or can i just live with it without surgery? like is there a chance it goes away and doesn't bother me for another 10 years? or is that not reality?

i'm sorry if this is dumb questions guys. i'm just a little stressed out. like i cant figure this thing out. even when i read the guide here it confuses me a bit.

1. 1500 hours is not the end. 1700 is the real cheat code and that’s not the end either.

2. the more hours you get the more you will feel like there’s more to learn.
   i’m at 3000 hours and if anything i’m more critical of myself now more than ever. it’s just the way it is. it’s like becoming a professional basketball player and realizing you can dust everyone in the local gym but you got a lot of work to do to be Kobe.

3. it’s 100% that regional differences will matter. i always see people afraid that they need to focus on a certain region early in their journey. you don’t. but later on…yes. slang will make a huge difference.

imagine the way a 70 year old man talks in the south of texas versus a young black kid in new york vs a young white kid in london. these are all english speakers but will literally almost sound like different languages even to an english speaker. now imagine you’re just learning english?

it’s the same for those learning spanish. different regions speak very differently. in the beginning when you’re just learning the basics it doesn’t matter. your first 1000-1500 it doesn’t matter. but eventually you’ll want to focus on your region.

4. Dreaming Spanish isn’t the only way to learn. it may not even be the most efficient or fastest. but it’s the best for sure(at least IMO). after like 600 hours you’re just watching tv and listening to podcasts. reading books. what a fun way to learn. the community is awesome. there’s channels on youtube for every topic you want to listen to. it’s awesome. funnest way to learn.

…

in the end you gotta do what you want. if you want to follow the roadmap as close as you can like i did, do it. if you want to mix in some grammar, do it. if you want to do a different method entirely, do it. do what works for you.

but my suggestion is CI and the dreaming spanish method should be your #1 tool and the other tools should complement that.

no matter how much duolingo or grammar you do when a fluent speaker starts rapid speed taking to you you’re going to struggle with understanding unless you’ve had a lot of input.

/end rant.