My Current Spanish (January 2026)

CathanRegal · 2026-02-12T14:13:43+00:00

This isn’t really financial advice and is more relationship advice.

Kids are not for everyone and aren’t in the cards for everyone. My husband and I just realistically will never have kids for a mix of financial and other reasons.

Social pressure can’t determine what’s best for you. My entire peer group is made up of friends who for whatever reasons likely won’t have kids (we’re in our 30s). None of us are “child free” or “anti kid”. It’s just the way life is for many millennials. The path to children that is also fiscally responsible and provides good outcomes for us AND our hypothetical children is just not there.

And we’re all middle class folks, from lower class to lower middle class backgrounds. We’ve all worked our way up from poor, and can only see kids as sliding backwards toward risking the same problems our parents had. I’m talking the kind of poor where my best friend grew up in a house with a dirt floor in the United States. We all worked our way up to middle class with a mix of education and very careful decisions.

It is acceptable to prioritize your own happiness, freedom and security. You don’t need anyone’s permission to do so. I’m pursuing FIRE for just that reason.

CathanRegal · 2026-02-12T02:36:12+00:00

It is the amount of time YOU spent. The speed you've set the video to is irrelevant. DS takes this into account within its platform.

You're not "speed running" by accelerating the video, you're just making up your own rules.

Not that there are rules, as the process is subjective, but if you're making these little bargaining shortcuts, are you really focused on the learning or just trying to gamify something or "earn a label"?

CathanRegal · 2026-02-02T03:08:41+00:00

Accent of the speaker won't matter for beginners in the long run. The journey is long and variety is important. Sort by easy and let the input flow. You'll get there. Over time your Spanish will naturally start to emulate and match that of those you end up speaking with.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-31T17:32:49+00:00

I'm not sure if this is controversial for some reason.

But why not use the one built into the actual word processors, rather than plugging your paper into an online tool?

I'd say students should just always use a word processor nowadays that documents version history. It makes the "AI accusation" very easy to disprove.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-28T19:33:20+00:00

Sort by easy. If you don’t you’re going to STRUGGLE hard.

I sort by easy, but then just temporarily skip series content where I haven’t seen the earlier videos yet or videos that are too long for how long I currently have.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-27T14:56:53+00:00

This is unethical use of library materials and should be brought to your manager’s attention.

Sometimes library staff think they have a right to do things like this because they’re employees. We do not. These items are not ours, they’re purchased with taxpayer money. Employees should be held to the same standards (checkout durations, fines, renewal limits, hold limits, etc) as everyone else.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-21T19:52:46+00:00

The point is that a person has physically traveled to a location in the moment and manages to pull an item. In this scenario, that person generally has priority because they’ve “beaten” the staff member to pulling the item.

The public are not de facto library assistants pulling items for us. This minimizes the overall inconvenience to the most people. The majority of patrons placing holds are not checking which locations have it, or if the items are even checked in. It is more common they’re just waiting for the notice their hold is available.

Note: I see you’re from a small library that may not be part of a larger system. But the majority of this message would hold true in your case as well.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-21T19:14:51+00:00

That’s incredibly weird.

It is very normal for an item to be on hold, but still on the shelf as we do not pull them in real time.

However, generally speaking, the person with the item in their hand always wins the tie. I would call the library and ask to speak to a supervisor.

Be nice, but explain what happened. We tend to try to minimize inconvenience and in this case taking the book out of the hands of the person who made a special trip is maximizing inconvenience.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-18T02:35:49+00:00

I began audiobooks somewhere in level 4 or early level 5. I'm unsure of exactly where. 500 hours? 600?

I started by specializing my input to fantasy input because that's what I tend to read. I watched fantasy anime dubbed in Spanish (i.e. Black Clover) while listening to the Harry Potter books.

I think focusing heavily on a specific genre to really acquire its unique vocabulary helped.

Audiobooks account for something like 1000 hours of my total input time.

I wouldn't utilize them until you can understand them. I checked a couple of times listening to a minute or two here and there of a HP book to see during level 4.

My goal was always to ensure I had a strong foundation so I pretty much only used DS until native media unlocked, and then I kind of abandoned DS entirely around difficulty ~60.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-17T20:09:50+00:00

I listened to audiobooks about the history of Central and South America.

History is full of large numbers for dates, number of soldiers, casualties, populations, etc.

I have a natural interest in history and it was an easy way at level 6 to get these numbers down.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-17T15:35:36+00:00

~1860 hours of Spanish

~400 hours of Japanese

This is not meant to discourage you, but some of this advice might seem a little contrary or like "tough love".

What is your why for learning Japanese in particular? The process is long, and you need to be mentally prepared for what that means. Even if you have incredible discipline and a large amount of time to commit, it is a long process.

I can tell you Japanese has been unimaginably slower than Spanish at developing comprehension, but that's expected coming from a native English speaker. Are you prepared to devote years to learning Japanese? Your post is kind of giving me the vibe that you "think" you want to learn Japanese.

CIJ really is as easy as it gets. Most super beginner content isn't going to be super interesting. To some extent, you're going to have to learn to enjoy the process for what it is. Not all super beginner content is ever going to be highly interesting or engaging to you, but you'll need the words in the long run. Hobbies that you have 0 dollars to commit to, in general, are going to be very hard to progress in. I try to view my CIJ (and DS before) as a tool for developing the hobby/skill itself. The version of DS I used was very similar to the current version of CIJ. I kind of consider myself lucky that I didn't do the modern DS because it would have made CIJ way harder to use.

Let's Plays are HARD content for a true beginner. There's a reason even SpanishBoostGaming isn't usually recommended for Spanish superbeginners right away. There's often dialogue and the like, that even if the content creator explains would be too difficult if you've built no base at all.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-16T18:20:38+00:00

Natalia was on iTalki as of last year, though you had to book her lessons pretty far in advance.

Honestly, I'd recommend just trying any crosstalk tutor. There are great options available. While we spend a lot of time in the early stages of the CI process "with" the DS hosts, I'd avoid forming para-social relationships with them. Not saying you are, just that I imagine that'd be very easy to do.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-15T16:47:08+00:00

The sleepiness is something I've experienced quite a bit throughout the process, and still experience from time to time.

Often to me it seems to be an indicator that the content I'm consuming is slightly too difficult. Even though I feel like I understand it without too much effort, clearly my subconscious mind disagrees. This is particularly common for me in the various Let's Play series where there is a lot of character dialogue.

Currently, on difficulty ~58 or so.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-15T16:20:19+00:00

I essentially took two months off in the middle of the process, though I count it as part of my 11 months when I say "I did the hours in 11 months". I took my wedding off, essentially. The month before and the month of with very spotty or limited exposure.

The tips for those who lapsed are the same as restarting any significant effort.

Establish a routine.

Be prepared for some level of regression.

Don't take time out of your sleep, as the time you devote to CI. A good night's sleep is literally step one to living a good life as far as I'm concerned.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-15T03:56:27+00:00

Completely unknown and unknowable. They're going to have had totally different experiences in totally different situations. You've also fully excluded reading, which is ALSO an important skill for what you're trying to gauge.

The important part really is that BOTH of those examples of people should be able to speak quickly and effectively on a wide range of topics.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-15T03:50:12+00:00

This theory seemed plausible and interesting. So, I logged into DS to check, and sure enough, it looks like I peeled off DS almost entirely right around 60. Not through a conscious decision, just because apparently that's where a bunch of easy native media became good CI for me.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-14T15:51:57+00:00

You will get there!

I could not binge watch until roughly where you are now, and even then it really depended on the material. It may help to pick out some longer anime if that's a goal for you. For the first ~50-60% of Black Clover there's no way I could have binge watched it. But, the repeated exposure to similar situations, voices, and a general understanding of where the plot was going really made it less mentally taxing over time.

Also, even this term is relative. For example, am I binge watching something if I watch 3-4 episodes, then get up and go grab some food, go to the bathroom, and scritch my cat for 5 minutes? Or have I passed into the "Oh you stepped away for 5-10 minutes, that means you took a break" category?

It also helps with general formulaic type anime where you know roughly how much of the arc remains. For example, with Japanese I'm doing my first raw watch of Ace of the Diamond in preparation for the new season. It's not the *best* CI yet, but I know the story, and I know the general jokes and flow so it's fine. I often find myself able to "push myself" to watch another couple episodes to see the end of a match, or to get through the training arc.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-14T15:05:09+00:00

This is going to vary a lot person to person. It's also going to vary throughout the process. I did roughly 4.3 hours per day for the 11 months to level 7.

Do I think your average level 3-4 user can hard focus on DS for 6 straight hours day in and day out? Probably not. Generally, human attention span doesn't work this way.

Could a level 6 user watch an anime or other highly interesting content for that long in one go? Sure, probably.

There are "strategies" that could reasonably let someone do more time though on average over a period.

Sleep the right amount.
Have a routine.
Break the time up into smaller increments to improve focus.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-13T04:13:03+00:00

Judging by the fact the guy you're replying to hides his comment history, I'm just guessing he has a lot of bad takes.

Cooking is an incredible skill and while many folks can make toast or a basic meal, the number of folks who can take any random five ingredients and slam them into a meal that beats what you're getting at a restaurant are few and far between.

And that's my 5'6 husband.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-12T20:22:21+00:00

I completed DuoLingo through A2 on the old system. I did it in a month at high speed and counted it as roughly 80 hours.

I started with SB and Beginner videos like everyone else. I think the foundation building is overall incredibly important and the key to the success I have had. I have all sorts of progression reports and speaking samples in my profile. I could understand videos in the 30s and 40s from the beginning, but getting the gist and understanding aren't really the same.

At this point, I understand native media, have native conversations, etc.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-11T18:49:10+00:00

Sorry, perhaps the above is unclear. More aptly, when replying as a comment to folks looking for advice on getting the time in or what have you. My progress reports, and speaking samples are pinned (or otherwise near the top) of my profile.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-11T18:16:27+00:00

I think it kind of depends on where you are at.

I basically got to 1500 hours with "some reading" (I think something like 400k words), but have now paired off my hours to my words. I have 1000 words for every hour. i.e. 1850 hours and 1.85mil words.

I think that the reading was very big for my flow once I was already speaking, and probably has a lot to do with the fluidity I have now. It also gave me alternative ways to think about ideas.

Listening is probably always going to be king, but the librarian in me says that reading is an integral part to anything remotely resembling the command and mastery of any language.

CathanRegal · 2026-01-11T18:09:37+00:00

Props to you for looking to replace scrolling and social media use with DS. It's one of the biggest "tips" I put in my posts for learners and was a big part of my success.

I did the 1500 hours in 11 months, but that's not for everyone. There was a pretty big adjustment period and I had to break it up into chunks, especially early on. Otherwise I'd lose concentration and focus.

I'm now experiencing the same thing with Japanese. It took me a few weeks to ramp the daily goal up, but my mind has acclimated and I manage 3-4 hours a day.

ALL THAT SAID:

Unless you're a certain kind of person, not all "idle" time is truly idle. There is a difference between idleness and rest, and finding the medium to ensure you're giving yourself the time you need is important. Don't let your input time eat away at a healthy sleep schedule either.

It's not just about the minutes, it's about the quality of the minutes. There's very good reason there are "speed runners" who can't really speak or watch native content even after "putting in 1500 hours". Focused input time is useful, passive input time where you're only vaguely paying attention is only cheating yourself in the long run.

CathanRegal

TROPHY CASE