r/dreamingspanish

I’ve been doing Dreaming Spanish for a little over a month and right now I’m at almost 60 hours of Spanish CI. I’m wondering, is anyone doing both Dreaming Spanish and Dreaming French? Has anyone doing this experienced difficulty with confusing the two languages?

I’m dedicated to learning Spanish because it has been a lifelong dream of mine. I’ve also had some prior exposure from 3 years of Spanish in high school (15 years ago), and Duolingo before I started. However, I live in the northeastern U.S. within 3 hours of Montreal and have a friend whose first language is French, so French would also be useful.

My plan right now is to wait until ~150 hours in Spanish CI before I add in French CI to “lock in” the Spanish basics. I also plan to keep Spanish my priority with probably an 80/20 split in time dedicated to each.

Would anyone who has been doing both have any other tips for successfully doing both?

Thanks!!

Hello folks,

Taking a quick second to share a win! I read a progress report marking 600 hrs. The OP mentioned that difficulty 75 is where they currently are in the DS rating system. So I decided to see if I can handle 75 rated content. I watched episode 1 of Andres’ “Sapiens” advanced series. What do you know, I understood roughly 90%!!! I totally didn’t expect to have comprehension at that level! I’m enjoying this win. Before I get too excited, I will try to watch other videos from other guides at the same difficulty rating. Now on to the question: for those of you that are level 5 and above, when did you start attempting native content? Which shows and movies did you go with?

I don’t want to start off with dubbed shows for reasons I don’t want to get into here. However, I would love to turn my nightly “Netflix/Amazon prime video time” into acquisition time. What are your opinions?

Background: non purist with 486hrs of CI. I take a “traditional” lesson on Preply once per week and I have one cross talk session per week. Starting to dabble in reading a bit (but nothing structured or super consistent, yet). For DS I sort by easy and generally watch in order. I easily hang in the 55-60 range with few problems.

I’m curious to find out the general consensus on the use of subtitles, and more specifically in my case, subtitles in the target language beyond 1500hrs.
Is there a suggested use within the compressible input field?

At 1500hrs+ I’m still getting input when I can but I have definitely slowed down, I’m also not religiously tracking hours. I am fine with the majority of things I watch or listen to, generally Netflix programmes, thriller type or comedies, though slang heavy and regional accents can still cause issues. For this reason I tend to use subtitles while I’m watching tv programmes.
I’ll also add… I’m watching for entertainment purposes now, with the bonus of input, so I’m not always 100% focused.

I’d be interested to know your opinions, particularly if you are in a similar position to myself, or have been.

Is it beneficial or hindering my input? Am I boosting my ability to read, but limiting the audio aspect? If I left the subtitles off, would I very quickly become accustomed to the manners of speech? Etc, etc, etc…

First of all, I’m very proud of myself for getting to this point and extremely grateful for everyone else’s progress updates so I’m excited to be able share mine.

Progress has been steady. There are good days and bad days of comprehension that come and go. I gave up on sorting by any difficulty on DS at around 500hours as everything seemed to be comprehensible depending on how attentive I was being —even Gustavo. I just watch whatever looks interesting now but 50/50 DS/outside content. I started branching out and dipping my toes into native Spanish YouTube, but still frequent SBG, ECJ, Andrea and other common channels. A big win is that I can now count Bluey as input. I remember trying early in the journey but it was complete gibberish. I also finished ATLA which was rough in some spots but still very enjoyable. I have leaned more into watching content that I find interesting that may be above or below my level because as I progress many topics I’ve watched have been beaten to death (travel vlogs for example.)

350k words read, working on the second Harry Potter book now. Reading has been a lot of fun surprisingly, because I never enjoyed reading in English. It’s been fun using it as a way to find new vocab and see some of the grammar concepts in action.

A huge goal that I set when I first started was that if I made it to 600 hours I would reward myself with finding tutors online and begin speaking. And here I am almost a year later. My goal is to see tutors 2-3x a week so I’m leaning towards worlds across just for the simplicity but I’m open to hearing others opinions on their journeys.

I have been thrilled with DS so far and the incredible the progress I’ve made. The road map states: “You can understand native Spanish speakers speaking to you normally”. I would say that’s relatively true. The very few Spanish speakers I’ve come across at work I have had no problem understanding, though I’m sure they’re still trying to speak clearly. Our conversations often fall apart mainly because my speaking is so poor, but I am able to piece together enough to get my point across. All of my colleagues are convinced that I already speak Spanish which is fun to hear but absolutely wrong. My internal thoughts are, “just you wait!” In the next year or two I might be able to actually agree with them, who knows. Very excited to start speaking and see where I’ll end up in the future. Thank you everyone for their updates and recommendations! See you at 1000 hours. Cheers!

I am a super beginner. I can say very basic phrases and volcab for travelling.

Hard to understand sentences. I am looking at this but overwhelmed where to begin or if there is a lesson order/plan?

I checked some super beginner videos and found even those were a bit overwhelming for my level.

Also are any of the apps available good to supplement with that would help with dreaming Spanish?

Anyone have recommendations for podcasts like Radio Ambulante? (or El Hilo?)

I love this American Life and those types of human interest podcasts so Radio Ambulante is the exact kind of show I'd listen to in normal life, just in Spanish. Anyone have suggestions for podcasts that are in the same vein and as good as Radio Ambulante?

Hola todos! I'm just start with Dreaming Spanish after about 150 hours elsewhere, and I *love* it. Good stuff.

My only concern is about vocab. I just watched a video (I think it was Sofia in Mexico and about her car) and she used the word "tire" and "trunk." My question is, I guess, how am I going to remember these words? I'm doubting that there are many more videos (maybe none?) discussing tires and trunks, and I already forget the Spanish words for these terms.

I understand that the idea is to *only* listen to these videos, but for terms that might not come up again and again, does it makes sense to memorize these terms using flashcards or something like that?

Thank you all! So happy to be here! :)

Edit: This is great! I'm convinced. The point below about "low volume" words really speaks to me, and if I end up really being interested in cars or something, then it wouldn't be a low volume word. Thank you all! :)

I'm considering signing up for iTalki. I like they they don't rope people into a long subscription.

What suggestions or advice do you have?

Would you recommend the service? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Ola,

I’m looking for travel vlog YouTubers who explore Spain and different Spanish cities in more depth.

Preferably: * longer videos * Spanish-speaking creators * detailed exploration of cities, people, culture... everyday life. * not overly “influencer” style or fast-paced edits

I’m especially interested in cities like Málaga, Sevilla, Granada, Madrid, Barcelona... but also smaller/local places as well.

Any recommendations?

Gracias!

I'm trying to figure out when the grammar in the videos gets a bit more complex. I’ve noticed that the videos up to at least difficulty level 60 are pretty easy to digest, and I think a big reason is that they don't really use pronouns.

I've been reading the Juan Fernández readers and it dawned on me this morning that the presenters are always calling objects and direct objects by their names, aside from the occasional this, these, that, those.

I do understand this is needed to boost and reinforce vocabulary. So, definitely not knocking it.

Does anyone know around what level they start regularly incorporating them? I listen to Español con Juan to get some exposure to different sentence structures, but I want to know when to expect the shift here.

I’m only at 97 hours right now. I have a lot of other things going on in my life and it’s been hard to make any progress. I started off watching 2 hours a day and I really think it was just the novelty of being able to understand the superbeginner videos. I’ve been listening to cuéntame, I’ve been sorting by difficulty and clicking on things that would interest me. It honestly seems like I’m running out of things that interest me. I have an hour a day as a goal but I find myself missing days or only watching for 20 minutes and then I get bored or busy. I guess I’m scared I won’t make it for the long haul. What are some good tips to keep me motivated? Is there any easier content that’s super fun? I already deleted tiktok so I would be more likely to watch DS instead of scrolling. Did any of you guys have a slump around here?

Hi all. I know what you're thinking: yet another progress report from an anonymous reddit user. I did want to share this though because I had an experience yesterday that gave me much needed confidence as I feel I have been plateauing hard and was on the point of stopping for a while.

A quick summary of my background: basic school Spanish (colours, numbers etc) for 2 years about 20 years ago, and then started from scratch again in January 2024 with language transfer and Dreaming Spanish. My partner is from a country in Central America and had the pleasure of meeting their family summer 2024 - I could speak then but incredibly slowly but was told it was bastante though I think they were just being kind. That's my main motivation for learning Spanish and eventually we want to end up moving to a Spanish speaking country.

I was very consistent in 2024 and 2025, but 2026 has been busy with other aspects of life so dropped from 2 hours a day to around 30 minutes to an hour. Finally at the 1,000 hour mark. I was feeling very stuck; 600 - 1000 hours I just felt I wasn't making progress at all. I have lot of difficulty of when it's le or lo and haber in all its forms (haya, huberia, habia) still makes me come to a grinding halt. I also have a very bad habit of comparing my progress to others; I lurk on here a lot and see people speaking amazingly at 600 hours and it was only the other week I finally clocked how to use tenia/iba etc.

Anyways, I've been on vacation in Switzerland to visit a friend and was in desperate need of a haircut. I found a place my friend had used and found out the hairdresser is from Colombia. My French is non-existent and they weren't confident with their English so I knew this was a rare chance I had to take the plunge and try to speak in Spanish. I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that when you don't have a choice, you push yourself out of your comfort zone to give it a go.

To my surprise I was able to communicate how I wanted my haircut, told him that the guy had cut my friend's hair a few days ago and I was able to understand all of his questions and engage in quite a few different topics (weather, different cultures and customs of people from different countries, differences between Switzerland and where I live etc) and found it flowed quite well! It wasn't perfect by any means (I tend to overthink my next sentence sometimes then it ends up being staccato/fragmented/mix of tense/conjugation), but I think the biggest confidence boost came when another Spanish speaker came in. He must be a regular customer as the hairdresser greeted him and was quick to tell him I spoke Spanish and what was great is that I understood them talking to each other. I really lack confidence but he said in Spanish I understand you fine and we've been chatting for 15 minutes!

I definitely don't think I'm what the roadmap says at level 6, but I do feel I'm more or less mid level 5. I just wanted to share as there's a lot of users here (and no disrespect or taking away from their progress) that sink tons of hours in with amazing progress and I've felt so disheartened. Purpose of my story is that it's okay to play the long, slow game I guess? And that it really comes down to a matter of self-confidence that I desperately need to work on.

I am at a point where I think making friends in the language would help me get the motivation to keep going, I tried Hellotalk and I think I am doing it wrong or something since I only find people trying to learn and barely any natives, I saw so many videos of Pablo mentioning tendem/tandem or something ( please if anyone has it share the link with me).

Other than that, how did yall do it? I am really intrested!

I have a friend who is fluent in 4 languages unrelated to Spanish (English + 3 Indian languages: she came to the U.S. in 1992 and was already fluent in English when she got here in addition to the other languages). When I told her about my quest to level up my Spanish and the resources I was using, she was curious. She is in stage in her life where she has lots and lots of free time so she decided to try SuperBeginner Dreaming Spanish. Given that she's already fluent in 4 languages, she should already know how to learn languages. Yet, she found SuperBeginner Videos a bit frustrating even though she was able to guess the meaning from the visuals. She said she's been doing one SuperBeginner video a day for the past week and will continue trying for a month. She's in her late 50s and learned her 4 other languages as a child. Do you think she'll make any progress in Spanish this way? Too little time? She is open to duo lingo but was willing to be my guinea pig in this experiment of CI only. She has no specific reason or goal in learning Spanish but just decided to explore another hobby now that she has free time on her hands. She knows I'm curious and interested in the language learning process and I told her about how I love combining DS with duo lingo. I'm a semi-serious learner with hopes of reaching B2 comprehension and B1 speaking skills by the end of this year. She's just dabbling in it for a fun experiment/side hobby. She and I would love to know your thoughts on this. She's not reddit user but gave me permission to post this after I showed her what I was going to say.

Just a small win I wanted to share. I’m in law school, and I recently went on a trip to Paris to research the mineral and energy crises facing Europe. Randomly enough, one of the professors who helped run the program is a Mexican diplomat, and his wife is president of a major international organization on behalf of Mexico.

I mentioned learning Spanish and wanting to do more international work in the future if possible. I asked him if he knew anyone I should talk to about that and he just said, “Yeah. Me.” We’ve scheduled a Zoom call to discuss possibilities.

I haven’t secured anything yet, but given his and her connections, I’m hopeful about my prospects of interning in Mexico (or some other Spanish-speaking country) next summer. It may be a little too early to celebrate, but it has all happened so fast. I needed to cherish this win.

I was just learning Spanish for fun for the last year or so, but it might actually end up affecting the course of my career and even my life. I’ve always been very interested in international tax law and international law in general, but I had never put much stock into it until now.

I cannot for the life of me reliably hear e vs a. So pegar vs pagar. Does this get better with hours? I'm at about 70 hours.

I have really been enjoying pasapalabras, and trying to guess the word along with the contestants , is great for practicing thinking in Spanish. Are there any Spanish language game shows that are similar? I'm at three hundred and seventy five hours , so a lot of native content is likely to be too fast paced , but if closed captions are available in Spanish that might still work.