170 minutes a day is a lot when you have to focus for the whole thing, but you can do it! It’s important to focus on the words to absorb them properly, it’s something that Pablo has spoken about a lot. I used to do 3 hours a day on Dreaming Spanish and it’s 90% of the reason I speak Spanish now. I miss those videos Pablo made in his apartment in Barcelona! Soon you’ll be able to do this video again but in Spanish! Trust the process!
Thank you so much Matt! Speaking in Spanish is all of our goals and that fact that you contributed that success to DS is inspiring to all of us! We can't wait to do these videos in Spanish! Muchas Gracias
It is so soothing and calming to listen to your videos. And I admire the two of you so much for putting in the work and being honest about the results of your Dreaming Spanish language journey.
Thank you for watching!! Best of luck with Intermediate! Remember, it could be a little frustrating at this point but it will "click" after a few hours into the Intermediate videos. You can try sorting by "easy" for Intermediate videos. That could keep you motivated! Take Care!
I enjoyed watching this, with regard to looking up words. I sometimes feel an overwhelming compulsion to look some words up. I think the reason they tell you not to is because learning vocabulary in mass is not an effective way to learn them and truly remember them. But I have found for me personally a word here and there is absolutely fine and has no negative impact on my language acquisition. The system I use and is working very well for me is to allow myself to look up one word per 3 hours watched, for me this equates to about 3 words every 4 days, and I will never look up a word the first time I hear it. If anything I think this has had a positive effect for me, as these words still feel acquired since they immediately relate to a context in which I have heard them more than once, and my vocabulary expands by a dozen or so words each month faster than it otherwise would have. AND I get to scratch an itch, I think its important not to be too rigid with your learning approach and this has been one way I do this. Hopefully someone reading this will feel this was useful. All the best with your language learning journey.
Great video! This is going to be a very long comment, but I hope you guys find it helpful and insightful. I'm at 384 hours, but I haven't started watching intermediate videos. I'm currently in the progress of rewatching ALL the superbeginner and beginner videos for a third time in a row! Once I finish doing so, I estimate I'll have around 450 hours of input before starting to watch the intermediate ones. You guys aren't alone. Sometimes I catch myself dozing off in certain videos. In nearly every video, I often daydream and find it hard to concentrate, especially when I'm watching something really boring or easy. For me, I find that I'm able to concentrate better when I'm watching harder content. I guess this may be a sign to start doing so or to find something more interesting. Throughout the journey, I've also had many doubts about trusting the process, primarily because comprehensible input is not a well-known used method in language learning. I was so glad to have discovered DS because their teaching method is way different than the ways I've studied before. I now feel a lot more confident and hopeful that I'll finally achieve my goal! You guys mentioned about looking up words. In the beginning, I did that very often, but I have since stopped. Since CI is all about learning a language the natural way, part of the process includes not doing that. I agree that it can be so frustrating when you hear a word so many times but still don't know the meaning. Little by little, you'll eventually develop an intuitive meaning for that word over time. For me personally, I don't do it because it takes too much time and I would rather get as much input in as possible. But in the end, it's up to you. I honestly don't think it's that harmless to look up a word every now and then. When it comes to language learning, people tend to develop certain accents or dialects similar to those around them. This especially happens when children learn their first language. That explains why you can easily tell the difference between someone who grew up in the US versus someone in the UK. As for me, I'm watching all the videos regardless of dialects. Two reasons why I'm doing this is that there's more content to watch, and secondly, I think by listening to various dialects, I'll be able to understand native speakers better regardless where they're from. It'll be interesting to see what my Spanish will sound like once I'm fluent! To end this long comment, you guys should try crosstalk if you haven't done so. I think it'll be very beneficial, perhaps 1-3 hours per week on italki or something alike. Once I begin watching intermediate videos, I'm going to give it a try. If it goes well, then I think I'll do a few sessions per week. Well I hope you guys found this helpful. Thanks for reading! For sure you both will reach fluency in no time once you guys move to Spain. Good luck!
HI Steven, I think your strategy for language learning is great. We all know what's best for us and since we all learn differently, we should approach DS the way we want to. Kudos to you! Thank you so much for commenting...I know comments are so valuable to so many people! Best of luck to you! (we subscribed to your channel- we loved it!)
Thanks for the update. I've just hit 150 hours and I can relate to everthing you said, especally not understanding Sandra at first lol. Seeing you guys with 300 hours keeps me more motivated than those with 1000s of hours because that seems so far away at the moment for me. I look forward to your next update 😃
Hey yall! Thank you for doing this! I just picked up Dreaming Spanish and im at about 62 hours. Respect to yall for getting this far. Ill be honest im struggling. Its definitely difficult however i am also having to trust the process. These are motivating for me to see and i look forward to all of your videos. Ill try to keep commenting on your new videos of where i am and my confidence level. Right now, im definitely pushing and struggling but ill keep chugging along. Thank you for doing this! Yall are great!
Also I watch Pocoyo and Peppa Pig as well if I need a break from DS videos. I put the subtitles on a fair amount of time. I know that’s not advised but I read so much better than I listen. And then I feel like I see the words as well as hear them. I do try here and there to leave them off so I can work on my listening skills. Thanks for sharing your journey! Onward to level 3 for me….hopefully in a month 👍🏼
I used Dreaming Spanish off and on over the past few years to a grand total of three hours! 😅 You guys inspired me to start fresh and I have been consistent with my 15 minutes a day! How to Spanish Podcast is another resource I love!
I enjoyed your video Lisa and Greg. I love your title "comprehensible input". I teach Spanish to high school students. I make sure I use lots of comprehensible input in my classroom. Take care and keep enjoying the adventure of acquiring Spanish.
Well done. The amount of time you guys are immersing yourself in Spanish a day is impressive. It sounds like you guys have a good daily routine, which is half the battle. I've been learning Spanish for just under 6 months using a different language platform, and I put in 1 hour a day of comprehensible input (listening & reading). I'm also learning another language which is at an advanced level, and I put in about an hour a day in that language too. I know that having a consistent, daily routine is crucial, so keep up the good work!
Wow...two languages!! That's amazing! Thank you so much for the support. Some days area easier than others but agreed, routine makes things so much easier.
I just started Dreaming Spanish like last week and I've been using Assimil in conjunction with Dreaming Spanish and I already feel my listening comprehension improving.
Sometimes I wonder if that phase of understanding some videos at 100% and some at 0% ever ends. :) I do lookup words sometimes, but only in cases where the same word has been used over and over again in the same video, it seems to be central to the story, but I just cannot figure it out, bringing my overall comprehension to 0. I check what it means to understand the context, but not at all trying to actually remember it afterwards. Just a little "ok, so this video is about furniture, cool", but not whether the word was "table" or "chair". Pablo had a video about this, and I think he ended up there somewhere as well.
I hear ya! It does seem like putting %'s to how much we know is never-ending! I look up words too. We already made the video about this but we'll post it at the end of the week. But, yeah, guilty! haha
Gracias for este video. Empece viendo los videos de Dreaming Spanish por ustedes. Y si, hay tiempos en que entiendo TODO lo que ellos estan hablando pero en el promixo video con el MISMO guia, no entiendo nada. En mi mente creo que es por que el celebro esta formando caminos diferentes. En ingles, on the days in which I don't understand even the simplest Spanish I feel like my brain is forming new pathways of understanding. After a day or two, my understanding picks up and I can tell it's better. Buena suerte! Ojala puedan viajar y vivir in Espana como quieren.
Love the updates. I will try your video recommendations. It will motivate me to actually start watching them. I think the paid videos aren't on TH-cam so you can't get the machine subtitles right? And there are no subs because it doesn't fit with their learning theory 😭. I love comprehensible input but I also believe in reading and looking up words and studying. I'm trying to think how to convince them to add subtitles. That reminds me of your looking up words comment. That's been a big debate with myself for over 25 years now. When I'm reading, how often should I look up words? When I read paper books with a paper dictionary this solves itself. I should look up words until I can't stand it anymore and then stop looking up words for the rest of the book unless it's seems super important. This worked surprising well because authors reuse words a lot so if you look up words in the beginning then later they repeat etc. These days we have ebooks and apps like LingQ so you can look up every word if you want to. But it kind of kills the immersion to look stuff up. But if you don't understand enough then that kills the immersion too. I'm currently just looking up every word and readinh books on LingQ. I am curious about your thoughts so I'll check out the video.
Keep it up! I used DS and I'm at 1200 hours now. It feels great. Just to let you two know, there are a LOT of people in Spain that don't use the "lisp" accent. There are communities in the south of Spain that don't use it and also some people that don't use "vosotros" AND, get ready, some people in places like Sevilla will say "¿Ustedes váis a comer?"...lol. Also, in tbe Canary Islands which is part of Spain, people don't use the "lisp" and have an accent similar to that of Cuba and Venezuela. In fact, i believe those accents came from the Canary Islands. Lastly, dont worry about not being paying attention 100% of the time. No one does this because its physically impossible as humans. As long as you try, you're doing great. I kept all of my "spacing out" time and im just fine.
LOL! Love it! Thanks for reassuring us. I love that you spaced out and it still worked...haha! We shouldn't have any problem because we are pretty good at spacing out. lol Jk.
Literally just ran across your channel. Love this, especially as a couple! You have each other for support. Keep it going. So happy to hear your perspective on the learning journey. Yes language learning is a roller coaster, especially as an adult, but you got this. No te rindes. Did you make it Spain? If so, what part?
Thank you so much for the encouragement...lord knows we need it hahaha! I had to look that phrase up. LOL Never heard it before, I don't think. Now I know...cool!
@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut I am all about encouraging anyone striving to learn a new language. It is one of my passions. When I started I had very little resources. But I am still on the journey today because it is a life-long adventure. Enjoy the process and the collateral benefits. There is always something new to learn. You got this!
Que bueno, ustedes estan aprendiendo con el mejor recurso que hay para espanol, y en la manera perfecta para llegar a la fluidez. siguen asi, lo van a lograr, estoy seguro
Thanks for the video. I'm at 290 hours. Level 3 for 10 more hours. Been watching the intermediate videos sorted by easy and then pick randomly up to 53 words. I can understand the videos pretty much 90% but it does take LOTS of concentration. I don't know how you do more than 2 hours with that much focus a day as it gives me headaches to concentrate that much for that long. But I definitely feel like Dreaming Spanish and Comprehensible Input is DEFINITELY the way to go when learning a language.
So awesome! It is hard to focus for so long. I break it up throughout the day to help. But more than 2 hours a day isn't always possible. We agree....the best and most stress-free way to learn!
I’m so jealous of you guys….I wish something existed like this for French. (Already past Dreaming Spanish in Spanish). In Spanish I just watch anything I want on Netflix for continued input.
I know! I think there is a dreaming Chinese but that's all I've heard of. I want to learn French next so hopefully someone does something similar to DS. I'm jealous that you know Spanish already! haha!
Hey fam, just wanted to let you know that Salina was learning Spanish with duolingo and was kinda struggling. I showed her your video last night and now she got the premium membership to Dreaming Spanish! ❤
One thing about using comprehensible input is that you can’t tell if it’s working, but it does. I have noticed when I’m doing a class on preply, which is similar to Itallki, words pops up while I’m speaking that I didn’t realize I knew. 😆 These are all words that I have heard. It’s been pretty cool seeing how much my vocabulary has grown just from listening.
Majorly low attention span here, don’t feel bad about that Lisa it will resolve itself 😂 for looking up words - for me personally, I look up words I’m curious about or sometimes if it’s oneeee missing word making me lose the whole meaning. I looked up a lot more when I was a beginner because I didn’t do the DS way (didn’t even know it existed yet!) and so I was using more advanced stuff. Love these videos!
LOL! Glad I'm not the only one with the low attention span! haha! We're posting a video about looking up words this Sunday. You'll see I look up words too. Not too often but sometimes. Thanks for inspiring everyone!
I’m at 100 hours and I have my daily goal set at 90 mins a day. Although that is a good minimum time for me, I want to be at an intermediate level so badly. If I only do 90 mins, it’ll take me a long time to get there. Lisa, I find it hard to focus for more than 90 mins so I admire your 2 hrs 15 mins (I think that’s what it was?). I’d really like to do a minimum of 2 hrs a day because that will level me up faster lol. I have no idea how Brian does 5 hours a day! I feel like I wouldn’t absorb as much if I did that.
Try for 2 hours. You can change the goal and see how it changes the number of days it will take you to get to intermediate vs the 90 mins. We do that all the time to see if we can push ourselves. Let me know if you can't find the spot where it tells you how many days you have until the next level. We are also trying to make things go faster too. So I totally get your sense of urgency! I was so impatient that I jumped to intermediate at about 145 hours. 😁😁
@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut the funny thing is I was calculating it manually before I noticed that LOL. I did well over 2 hours yesterday so now I only have 49 hrs to go. I love that I have less than 1/3 of the way to go 😁. You guys are inspiring me to work harder. It’s like we have a little club ❤️
I'm about 60hrs in, but that includes my "previous learning" which I definitely overestimated - and I'm already able to dip my toes into the odd Intermediate video if I'm familiar with the topic. - I do anywhere from 10mins to 3hrs a day, depending on how my schedule looks. Generally I watch while I'm eating, instead of whatever else I would have watched, which gets me to about an hour most days. - I watch a mixture of all the dialects, I've done a lot of work with accents in English so my ears seem to be fine with hearing they're different and knowing it's the same word. - I pick and choose what looks interesting because I know I'll be grumpy about it if I'm bored. I also got a year's Lingopie subscription because I want to work more on my German too, so I have more choices, and I found some "easy Spanish" vlog channels on TH-cam. If I'm interested, I'll watch for hours, so it works out well for me to be so choosy! I just found a great recipe channel in German so I'm hoping to find something like that in Spanish, I'd watch cooking for days at a time 😅 I think it helps that I can generally understand what's happening without ANY words (both in videos and in real life) so my brain can focus on just learning the words without having to process what's happening. I definitely feel slightly ahead of the level chart on comprehension.
Your strategy for listening makes a lot of sense. Makes great use of your time. I'm (Lisa) is the same way. It has to be interesting or my mind will drift off. haha. Keep going! I'm debating on either French or Italian for my next language. I don't think I can do two languages at once. My brain will explode haha!
Hi Lisa, I'm at 302 hours now and the only difference between yourself and myself is that I find the South American teachers easier, probably because I prefer SA accents but all your frustrations and zoning out etc, I'm exactly the same. Trying so hard to trust the process. Do you just motor on to the next video because Pablo suggests watching content that is easier rather than harder
HI Tim! Have you tried sorting the videos by Easy? He hasn't always had that feature. I think it started soon after he started asking us which video was easier after watching. Now that I'm at almost 600 and remembering those days at 300...I think we pushed too hard too fast. We were watching content that we weren't ready for. I would stick with both beginner and easy intermediate. You'll gain more from that. Even now I throw in some beginner videos to really hear each word. If you jump back like that from time to time, it will all start to come together. Trust the process though. We have a video coming out this week about trying different things and always coming back to DS and comprehensible input. Oh, and the zoning out still happens but it is not as often anymore. Probably because I understand more so it keeps my attention. Good Luck and happy learning! We got this!
I watched Pablo's video. Spain Spanish is a little harder for me because I as an American my patriotism for Mexico made me study Mexican Spanish (if that makes any sense...)but just a tad and I ended up having to speed up the video to 2X speed to make it seem normal. Have you experimented with video speeds? Often times learner content is slow and speeding up the video makes it sound normal actually. I think it's interesting that I don't know the word "perdonar" in Spanish but it's so close to "pardon" in English that you can't help understanding it. He did a good job of explaining appendix so I didn't have to look it up either. Again, sounds like English. This language seems too easy lol. I get that he was mad at his two girlfriends in Japan. I'm mad at him because I couldn't get even one girlfriend in Japan. 😂
So cool that you watched those videos! hahaha! Pablo was some kind of playa in Japan apparently LOL . It's funny you mentioned the video speed. I just sped up one of Augustina's videos. I was shocked to understand it better when I sped it up. Looks like we need language to be more fluid. That's a cool realization.
@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut yeah I was surprised slower isn't always better. You need it to be at the right speed for you so it feels interesting and stimulating.
Thanks for mentioning speeding it up. That never occurred to me. I couldn’t handle the super beginner level for too long because of the slow speech and the repetition. I suppose because I already knew some Spanish already. I wish I had thought of that lol.
Hey, a question just arose in my mind. If someone is at an advanced level (and can understand advanced conversation), why would they need more Dreaming Spanish content for learning? Can't they switch to real media like movies and series?
Hi! Yup...Pablo from DS says you can do other content outside of dreaming Spanish to get your content. He definitely recommends real media like movies and series. He actually recommends listening/watching movies and series even at the intermediate level and definitely at the advanced level.
Just for perspective, 170 minutes/day sounds insane to me - and I would think that's waaaay more than the vast majority of people trying to learn Spanish can manage. So it was funny to hear them talk about others who do more and not understanding them. I do wonder if Lisa is talking more in Spanish with her family as a result of all this study?
Hey Deepstructure. Doesn't sound like you were talking to us but 170 minutes can be a lot for some but depends on how you break it up during the day. At that time, I was able to do it most days but now I'm doing 130 minutes a day and have hit it most days. We were on a mission to listen and learn so we pushed ourselves as much as we could. Not everyone needs to push that hard. We all do what we can and that ok right? At the time of this videos recording I wasn't talking much but now I am definitely saying short sentences to the family. Mostly because we are trying to help each other learn.
HI Audrey, according to the Dreaming Spanish program, Pablo suggests speaking once you've reached about 600 hrs of listening input. I definitely say words all the time but Greg is pretty adamant about following the program so he doesn't speak too often. We'll do a video about speaking soon.
170 minutes a day is a lot when you have to focus for the whole thing, but you can do it! It’s important to focus on the words to absorb them properly, it’s something that Pablo has spoken about a lot. I used to do 3 hours a day on Dreaming Spanish and it’s 90% of the reason I speak Spanish now. I miss those videos Pablo made in his apartment in Barcelona! Soon you’ll be able to do this video again but in Spanish! Trust the process!
Thank you so much Matt! Speaking in Spanish is all of our goals and that fact that you contributed that success to DS is inspiring to all of us! We can't wait to do these videos in Spanish! Muchas Gracias
It is so soothing and calming to listen to your videos. And I admire the two of you so much for putting in the work and being honest about the results of your Dreaming Spanish language journey.
HEY! Thank you so much! Means a lot to us!
I really love your reviews on this as I'm about to begin Intermediate! Thank you for sharing your input! ❤ you guys are the cutest couple on TH-cam!
Thank you for watching!! Best of luck with Intermediate! Remember, it could be a little frustrating at this point but it will "click" after a few hours into the Intermediate videos. You can try sorting by "easy" for Intermediate videos. That could keep you motivated! Take Care!
I enjoyed watching this, with regard to looking up words. I sometimes feel an overwhelming compulsion to look some words up. I think the reason they tell you not to is because learning vocabulary in mass is not an effective way to learn them and truly remember them. But I have found for me personally a word here and there is absolutely fine and has no negative impact on my language acquisition. The system I use and is working very well for me is to allow myself to look up one word per 3 hours watched, for me this equates to about 3 words every 4 days, and I will never look up a word the first time I hear it. If anything I think this has had a positive effect for me, as these words still feel acquired since they immediately relate to a context in which I have heard them more than once, and my vocabulary expands by a dozen or so words each month faster than it otherwise would have. AND I get to scratch an itch, I think its important not to be too rigid with your learning approach and this has been one way I do this. Hopefully someone reading this will feel this was useful. All the best with your language learning journey.
I love your system!! What they said!! 👆👆👆👆
Great video! This is going to be a very long comment, but I hope you guys find it helpful and insightful. I'm at 384 hours, but I haven't started watching intermediate videos. I'm currently in the progress of rewatching ALL the superbeginner and beginner videos for a third time in a row! Once I finish doing so, I estimate I'll have around 450 hours of input before starting to watch the intermediate ones.
You guys aren't alone. Sometimes I catch myself dozing off in certain videos. In nearly every video, I often daydream and find it hard to concentrate, especially when I'm watching something really boring or easy. For me, I find that I'm able to concentrate better when I'm watching harder content. I guess this may be a sign to start doing so or to find something more interesting.
Throughout the journey, I've also had many doubts about trusting the process, primarily because comprehensible input is not a well-known used method in language learning. I was so glad to have discovered DS because their teaching method is way different than the ways I've studied before. I now feel a lot more confident and hopeful that I'll finally achieve my goal!
You guys mentioned about looking up words. In the beginning, I did that very often, but I have since stopped. Since CI is all about learning a language the natural way, part of the process includes not doing that. I agree that it can be so frustrating when you hear a word so many times but still don't know the meaning. Little by little, you'll eventually develop an intuitive meaning for that word over time. For me personally, I don't do it because it takes too much time and I would rather get as much input in as possible. But in the end, it's up to you. I honestly don't think it's that harmless to look up a word every now and then.
When it comes to language learning, people tend to develop certain accents or dialects similar to those around them. This especially happens when children learn their first language. That explains why you can easily tell the difference between someone who grew up in the US versus someone in the UK. As for me, I'm watching all the videos regardless of dialects. Two reasons why I'm doing this is that there's more content to watch, and secondly, I think by listening to various dialects, I'll be able to understand native speakers better regardless where they're from. It'll be interesting to see what my Spanish will sound like once I'm fluent!
To end this long comment, you guys should try crosstalk if you haven't done so. I think it'll be very beneficial, perhaps 1-3 hours per week on italki or something alike. Once I begin watching intermediate videos, I'm going to give it a try. If it goes well, then I think I'll do a few sessions per week.
Well I hope you guys found this helpful. Thanks for reading! For sure you both will reach fluency in no time once you guys move to Spain. Good luck!
HI Steven, I think your strategy for language learning is great. We all know what's best for us and since we all learn differently, we should approach DS the way we want to. Kudos to you! Thank you so much for commenting...I know comments are so valuable to so many people! Best of luck to you! (we subscribed to your channel- we loved it!)
Thanks for the update. I've just hit 150 hours and I can relate to everthing you said, especally not understanding Sandra at first lol. Seeing you guys with 300 hours keeps me more motivated than those with 1000s of hours because that seems so far away at the moment for me. I look forward to your next update 😃
Oh wow! Congrats on the 150! We know how much work that is. Let's keep going....we got this!
Hey yall! Thank you for doing this! I just picked up Dreaming Spanish and im at about 62 hours. Respect to yall for getting this far. Ill be honest im struggling. Its definitely difficult however i am also having to trust the process. These are motivating for me to see and i look forward to all of your videos. Ill try to keep commenting on your new videos of where i am and my confidence level. Right now, im definitely pushing and struggling but ill keep chugging along. Thank you for doing this! Yall are great!
Keep going! You know more than you used to...it doesn't always seem that way...but I bet you know so much more!
Also I watch Pocoyo and Peppa Pig as well if I need a break from DS videos. I put the subtitles on a fair amount of time. I know that’s not advised but I read so much better than I listen. And then I feel like I see the words as well as hear them. I do try here and there to leave them off so I can work on my listening skills. Thanks for sharing your journey! Onward to level 3 for me….hopefully in a month 👍🏼
I used Dreaming Spanish off and on over the past few years to a grand total of three hours! 😅 You guys inspired me to start fresh and I have been consistent with my 15 minutes a day! How to Spanish Podcast is another resource I love!
Hey Kina! Get it girl!!! You're at a good point where you can start documenting your journey on TH-cam too! 😉😉
I enjoyed your video Lisa and Greg. I love your title "comprehensible input". I teach Spanish to high school students. I make sure I use lots of comprehensible input in my classroom. Take care and keep enjoying the adventure of acquiring Spanish.
I wish my teacher used comprehensible input back then. Your students are fortunate to have you! Thank you and you take care as well!
Well done. The amount of time you guys are immersing yourself in Spanish a day is impressive. It sounds like you guys have a good daily routine, which is half the battle.
I've been learning Spanish for just under 6 months using a different language platform, and I put in 1 hour a day of comprehensible input (listening & reading). I'm also learning another language which is at an advanced level, and I put in about an hour a day in that language too. I know that having a consistent, daily routine is crucial, so keep up the good work!
Wow...two languages!! That's amazing! Thank you so much for the support. Some days area easier than others but agreed, routine makes things so much easier.
I just started Dreaming Spanish like last week and I've been using Assimil in conjunction with Dreaming Spanish and I already feel my listening comprehension improving.
Love it! Never heard of Assimil. Keep us updated on whether those two modalities work well together.
Awesome guys! Love the bloopers at the end 💙 🤗😁
CAMMMM!!! Thanks my friend! We were crying laughing. They probably weren't THAT funny...but we thought so LOL!!
Thanks Cam!
Sometimes I wonder if that phase of understanding some videos at 100% and some at 0% ever ends. :)
I do lookup words sometimes, but only in cases where the same word has been used over and over again in the same video, it seems to be central to the story, but I just cannot figure it out, bringing my overall comprehension to 0. I check what it means to understand the context, but not at all trying to actually remember it afterwards. Just a little "ok, so this video is about furniture, cool", but not whether the word was "table" or "chair". Pablo had a video about this, and I think he ended up there somewhere as well.
I hear ya! It does seem like putting %'s to how much we know is never-ending! I look up words too. We already made the video about this but we'll post it at the end of the week. But, yeah, guilty! haha
That part where you hear something and can't help but understand it (the way we are with English) is my goal/fantasy for Spanish.
For Reals!!! It's ours too!
Gracias for este video. Empece viendo los videos de Dreaming Spanish por ustedes. Y si, hay tiempos en que entiendo TODO lo que ellos estan hablando pero en el promixo video con el MISMO guia, no entiendo nada. En mi mente creo que es por que el celebro esta formando caminos diferentes. En ingles, on the days in which I don't understand even the simplest Spanish I feel like my brain is forming new pathways of understanding. After a day or two, my understanding picks up and I can tell it's better. Buena suerte! Ojala puedan viajar y vivir in Espana como quieren.
Muchas Gracias!
Love the updates. I will try your video recommendations. It will motivate me to actually start watching them. I think the paid videos aren't on TH-cam so you can't get the machine subtitles right? And there are no subs because it doesn't fit with their learning theory 😭. I love comprehensible input but I also believe in reading and looking up words and studying. I'm trying to think how to convince them to add subtitles.
That reminds me of your looking up words comment. That's been a big debate with myself for over 25 years now. When I'm reading, how often should I look up words? When I read paper books with a paper dictionary this solves itself. I should look up words until I can't stand it anymore and then stop looking up words for the rest of the book unless it's seems super important. This worked surprising well because authors reuse words a lot so if you look up words in the beginning then later they repeat etc. These days we have ebooks and apps like LingQ so you can look up every word if you want to. But it kind of kills the immersion to look stuff up. But if you don't understand enough then that kills the immersion too. I'm currently just looking up every word and readinh books on LingQ. I am curious about your thoughts so I'll check out the video.
Keep it up! I used DS and I'm at 1200 hours now. It feels great. Just to let you two know, there are a LOT of people in Spain that don't use the "lisp" accent. There are communities in the south of Spain that don't use it and also some people that don't use "vosotros" AND, get ready, some people in places like Sevilla will say "¿Ustedes váis a comer?"...lol. Also, in tbe Canary Islands which is part of Spain, people don't use the "lisp" and have an accent similar to that of Cuba and Venezuela. In fact, i believe those accents came from the Canary Islands.
Lastly, dont worry about not being paying attention 100% of the time. No one does this because its physically impossible as humans. As long as you try, you're doing great. I kept all of my "spacing out" time and im just fine.
LOL! Love it! Thanks for reassuring us. I love that you spaced out and it still worked...haha! We shouldn't have any problem because we are pretty good at spacing out. lol Jk.
Literally just ran across your channel. Love this, especially as a couple! You have each other for support. Keep it going. So happy to hear your perspective on the learning journey.
Yes language learning is a roller coaster, especially as an adult, but you got this. No te rindes. Did you make it Spain? If so, what part?
Thank you so much for the encouragement...lord knows we need it hahaha! I had to look that phrase up. LOL Never heard it before, I don't think. Now I know...cool!
@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut I am all about encouraging anyone striving to learn a new language. It is one of my passions. When I started I had very little resources. But I am still on the journey today because it is a life-long adventure. Enjoy the process and the collateral benefits. There is always something new to learn. You got this!
Que bueno, ustedes estan aprendiendo con el mejor recurso que hay para espanol, y en la manera perfecta para llegar a la fluidez. siguen asi, lo van a lograr, estoy seguro
Muchas Gracias!! I understood most of what you wrote...had to look up a word or two but I'll get there! hahaha! Thank you for the encouragement!
@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut De nada, y dire una cosa mas- hay un canal en TH-cam que se llama "Espanol Con Juan" y el tiene videos muy buenos tambien
@@EnglishAcquired Si! Me encanta Espanol con Juan!! Gracias!!
Thanks for the video. I'm at 290 hours. Level 3 for 10 more hours. Been watching the intermediate videos sorted by easy and then pick randomly up to 53 words. I can understand the videos pretty much 90% but it does take LOTS of concentration. I don't know how you do more than 2 hours with that much focus a day as it gives me headaches to concentrate that much for that long. But I definitely feel like Dreaming Spanish and Comprehensible Input is DEFINITELY the way to go when learning a language.
So awesome! It is hard to focus for so long. I break it up throughout the day to help. But more than 2 hours a day isn't always possible. We agree....the best and most stress-free way to learn!
I’m so jealous of you guys….I wish something existed like this for French. (Already past Dreaming Spanish in Spanish). In Spanish I just watch anything I want on Netflix for continued input.
I know! I think there is a dreaming Chinese but that's all I've heard of. I want to learn French next so hopefully someone does something similar to DS. I'm jealous that you know Spanish already! haha!
Search “comprehensible input” and “easy French” on TH-cam and you will find some content; not the quantity of DS, but it’s there.
Hey Janelle, for French comprehensible input you can try Alice Ayel's channel. Start with her playlist "Saison #1."
@@87advil Yeah I've done her beginner stuff. It was great at the time. I"m past that now though.
@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6utReally?! Do you have a link for it? I didn’t know there was a dreaming Chinese!
Hey fam, just wanted to let you know that Salina was learning Spanish with duolingo and was kinda struggling. I showed her your video last night and now she got the premium membership to Dreaming Spanish! ❤
OMG!! SO COOL Robert!! Yaaay...Salina is part of the Dreaming Spanish family!
That's awesome! She'll be fluent by the time you come visit us in Spain!!! Love you brother!
Greetings from the Philippines 🙌
Greetings Juan!!
Great progress guys!!I’m super motivated to keep going I was at 15min at day 😂😂Keep up the good work❤❤
15 minutes works! Anything will help! Keep going!
One thing about using comprehensible input is that you can’t tell if it’s working, but it does. I have noticed when I’m doing a class on preply, which is similar to Itallki, words pops up while I’m speaking that I didn’t realize I knew. 😆 These are all words that I have heard. It’s been pretty cool seeing how much my vocabulary has grown just from listening.
It's crazy how it works! All we know is that it's the only thing that has worked for us too!
Majorly low attention span here, don’t feel bad about that Lisa it will resolve itself 😂 for looking up words - for me personally, I look up words I’m curious about or sometimes if it’s oneeee missing word making me lose the whole meaning. I looked up a lot more when I was a beginner because I didn’t do the DS way (didn’t even know it existed yet!) and so I was using more advanced stuff. Love these videos!
LOL! Glad I'm not the only one with the low attention span! haha! We're posting a video about looking up words this Sunday. You'll see I look up words too. Not too often but sometimes. Thanks for inspiring everyone!
I’m at 100 hours and I have my daily goal set at 90 mins a day. Although that is a good minimum time for me, I want to be at an intermediate level so badly. If I only do 90 mins, it’ll take me a long time to get there. Lisa, I find it hard to focus for more than 90 mins so I admire your 2 hrs 15 mins (I think that’s what it was?). I’d really like to do a minimum of 2 hrs a day because that will level me up faster lol. I have no idea how Brian does 5 hours a day! I feel like I wouldn’t absorb as much if I did that.
Try for 2 hours. You can change the goal and see how it changes the number of days it will take you to get to intermediate vs the 90 mins. We do that all the time to see if we can push ourselves. Let me know if you can't find the spot where it tells you how many days you have until the next level. We are also trying to make things go faster too. So I totally get your sense of urgency! I was so impatient that I jumped to intermediate at about 145 hours. 😁😁
@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut the funny thing is I was calculating it manually before I noticed that LOL. I did well over 2 hours yesterday so now I only have 49 hrs to go. I love that I have less than 1/3 of the way to go 😁. You guys are inspiring me to work harder. It’s like we have a little club ❤️
I'm about 60hrs in, but that includes my "previous learning" which I definitely overestimated - and I'm already able to dip my toes into the odd Intermediate video if I'm familiar with the topic.
- I do anywhere from 10mins to 3hrs a day, depending on how my schedule looks. Generally I watch while I'm eating, instead of whatever else I would have watched, which gets me to about an hour most days.
- I watch a mixture of all the dialects, I've done a lot of work with accents in English so my ears seem to be fine with hearing they're different and knowing it's the same word.
- I pick and choose what looks interesting because I know I'll be grumpy about it if I'm bored. I also got a year's Lingopie subscription because I want to work more on my German too, so I have more choices, and I found some "easy Spanish" vlog channels on TH-cam. If I'm interested, I'll watch for hours, so it works out well for me to be so choosy! I just found a great recipe channel in German so I'm hoping to find something like that in Spanish, I'd watch cooking for days at a time 😅
I think it helps that I can generally understand what's happening without ANY words (both in videos and in real life) so my brain can focus on just learning the words without having to process what's happening. I definitely feel slightly ahead of the level chart on comprehension.
Your strategy for listening makes a lot of sense. Makes great use of your time. I'm (Lisa) is the same way. It has to be interesting or my mind will drift off. haha. Keep going! I'm debating on either French or Italian for my next language. I don't think I can do two languages at once. My brain will explode haha!
Hi Lisa, I'm at 302 hours now and the only difference between yourself and myself is that I find the South American teachers easier, probably because I prefer SA accents but all your frustrations and zoning out etc, I'm exactly the same. Trying so hard to trust the process. Do you just motor on to the next video because Pablo suggests watching content that is easier rather than harder
HI Tim! Have you tried sorting the videos by Easy? He hasn't always had that feature. I think it started soon after he started asking us which video was easier after watching. Now that I'm at almost 600 and remembering those days at 300...I think we pushed too hard too fast. We were watching content that we weren't ready for. I would stick with both beginner and easy intermediate. You'll gain more from that. Even now I throw in some beginner videos to really hear each word. If you jump back like that from time to time, it will all start to come together. Trust the process though. We have a video coming out this week about trying different things and always coming back to DS and comprehensible input. Oh, and the zoning out still happens but it is not as often anymore. Probably because I understand more so it keeps my attention. Good Luck and happy learning! We got this!
Greg, there's a video from Pablo where he says not to do basically all the stuff you said you do 😂 but if it works for you, it works!
haha! En Serio! We break the rules a tad. haha!
I watched Pablo's video. Spain Spanish is a little harder for me because I as an American my patriotism for Mexico made me study Mexican Spanish (if that makes any sense...)but just a tad and I ended up having to speed up the video to 2X speed to make it seem normal. Have you experimented with video speeds? Often times learner content is slow and speeding up the video makes it sound normal actually. I think it's interesting that I don't know the word "perdonar" in Spanish but it's so close to "pardon" in English that you can't help understanding it. He did a good job of explaining appendix so I didn't have to look it up either. Again, sounds like English. This language seems too easy lol. I get that he was mad at his two girlfriends in Japan. I'm mad at him because I couldn't get even one girlfriend in Japan. 😂
So cool that you watched those videos! hahaha! Pablo was some kind of playa in Japan apparently LOL . It's funny you mentioned the video speed. I just sped up one of Augustina's videos. I was shocked to understand it better when I sped it up. Looks like we need language to be more fluid. That's a cool realization.
@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut yeah I was surprised slower isn't always better. You need it to be at the right speed for you so it feels interesting and stimulating.
Thanks for mentioning speeding it up. That never occurred to me. I couldn’t handle the super beginner level for too long because of the slow speech and the repetition. I suppose because I already knew some Spanish already. I wish I had thought of that lol.
@@deecee9479 yeah it makes the beginner material much much more enjoyable for me. Not just dreaming Spanish but all kinds of language videos.
Hey, a question just arose in my mind. If someone is at an advanced level (and can understand advanced conversation), why would they need more Dreaming Spanish content for learning? Can't they switch to real media like movies and series?
Hi! Yup...Pablo from DS says you can do other content outside of dreaming Spanish to get your content. He definitely recommends real media like movies and series. He actually recommends listening/watching movies and series even at the intermediate level and definitely at the advanced level.
Just for perspective, 170 minutes/day sounds insane to me - and I would think that's waaaay more than the vast majority of people trying to learn Spanish can manage. So it was funny to hear them talk about others who do more and not understanding them.
I do wonder if Lisa is talking more in Spanish with her family as a result of all this study?
Hey Deepstructure. Doesn't sound like you were talking to us but 170 minutes can be a lot for some but depends on how you break it up during the day. At that time, I was able to do it most days but now I'm doing 130 minutes a day and have hit it most days. We were on a mission to listen and learn so we pushed ourselves as much as we could. Not everyone needs to push that hard. We all do what we can and that ok right? At the time of this videos recording I wasn't talking much but now I am definitely saying short sentences to the family. Mostly because we are trying to help each other learn.
But are you speaking Spanish???
HI Audrey, according to the Dreaming Spanish program, Pablo suggests speaking once you've reached about 600 hrs of listening input. I definitely say words all the time but Greg is pretty adamant about following the program so he doesn't speak too often. We'll do a video about speaking soon.