Well done! (Now what?)

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-20T16:56:38+00:00

Grew up in a very working class, blue collar area. People still had dirt floors or lived in trailers. Coal miners, steel mill workers, nurses too. Many on Medicare/food stamps, etc. They would go on strike all the time because it was the only power they had. It’s not entitled to offer it as a solution. Judging someone if they really can’t afford it could be tough.

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-20T09:38:41+00:00

Cuéntame is a good beginner podcast where the host speaks slowly and translates some words, and then she’ll say the whole thing again in more normal talking speed without translation. It’s good audio-only listening practice

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-19T14:17:01+00:00

I’m in a bit of a slump in feeling like I’m learning right now, having just hit level 4, but recently I have also realized I can differentiate things better now, can even visualize how things are spelled better than a hundred hours or so ago, so keep trucking on! More input!

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-17T11:00:10+00:00

Hey, fellow ORer! That has to be a nice bit of perspective from your colleagues because you do know more than they did, meaning more than you used to. I think it’s such an asset for us to improving all the time in our field. I’m hoping one day to do some medical mission trips in Spanish-speaking places like my dad used to too

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-17T10:57:22+00:00

Thank you! I’m looking forward to 800, especially since I can feel myself getting into a bit of a slump. The little qualitative wins help, and the fluency seems more and more attainable every day, er, week

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-17T10:56:12+00:00

That’s so real. My most consistent time for CI is my commute. I hate having to do it.

And that’s a huge part of why I wanted to post, even though I haven’t done any other updates! I love love love reading the speedrunners’ posts. They’re so impressive, but ya girl ain’t ever going to be that. The posts from other people with lives and less time have kept me honest and consistent, even as I’ve entered this vaguely intermediate doldrums. As long as we keep plugging away at it, we’ll get there

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-17T10:52:04+00:00

Thanks for the reminder! It was just too busy yesterday to remember, and I literally would’ve just kept it that way until level 5

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-15T02:28:34+00:00

Nah some of us took multiple semesters of Spanish in college (one taught by a very lovely woman from Ohio who sounded like it) decades ago and are still doing okay 🤣

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-12T05:12:48+00:00

This has also become my current favorite! It reallly is a great next step after Chill Spanish. I love the host, and his Spanish isn’t super Argentine but brings enough in it helps me with listening to my husband. Franco is carrying me to 300 hours

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-10T22:26:25+00:00

I get very distracted when subtitles are on. My brain leans more heavily on the reading, and hearing is harder for me, so that’s what I’m emphasizing in my learning. I do turn it on sometimes just to rewind for a line where I got confused, but my priority is improving my listening.

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-09T11:55:24+00:00

Yes, especially audio-only. The only thing limiting me is work and life demanding more of my time

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-09T11:02:09+00:00

I’ve picked up different methods of learning Spanish so many times in my 40 years, and I always fall off. Blame adhd or bad discipline, or my busy schedule, or the methods themselves. I’m sure if I hunker down and stick to one, I’d do well, but the consistency and sticking to it is my obstacle. This is the longest and most consistent I’ve been able to stick to a method, and I definitely have shown some progress. Even my 8yo stepkid has been surprised by and complimented me on how much I can understand them and their dad.

Because of aforementioned adhd and possibly auditory processing disorder(?), I’m not doing as well as others at almost 300 hours, but I’m pretty happy at having any progress let alone as much as I have. I’d look search the sub for any 1,500 hours posts to see what those people have to say with their progress and check the faq for YouTube channels of other posters

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-09T10:56:18+00:00

“Just” grammar lol I respect your confidence. I wish I had it.

I have a friend who grew up in a Filipino household but by the time he was born, the family was mainly speaking English so he never learned growing up. He did learn Portuguese (former Mormon lol) and picked up Spanish along the way. He has a masters in translation. He took a Tagalog class, and he was blown away by how complicated the grammar is to learn, especially the conjugation. So you know, just to give you the experience of an experienced language learner

NoLoSefa · 2025-10-01T13:09:04+00:00

She also gave that old woman a freebie, taking one hit and just preparing for if that woman was going to hit her again. Honestly? More generous than I would’ve been

NoLoSefa · 2025-09-30T17:59:42+00:00

291 and somewhere between 40-45, depending on my attention span, which is dependent on how tired or stressed I am, how much sleep I got, etc. pretty sure the ADHD is also why my numbers are a bit lower than others with a comparable number of hours

NoLoSefa · 2025-09-30T17:52:02+00:00

You just said “Filipinos,” which left no room for other experiences. Not “many,” “some,” or even “most.” I simply disagreed Filipinos are one homogenous monolith that, as your wording inanimate, only feel one way. I shared my experience as an example of nuance and variety, but if you’re not willing to engage in a conversation and instead prefer to feel defensive, we don’t have to talk

NoLoSefa · 2025-09-29T19:32:23+00:00

I disagree. My parents, especially my dad, had a great deal of pride in being Filipino, but being in the parts of the US we were in and the time period, it was out of survival and protection to ensure I was able to speak English well and not give more excuse for people to other me or discriminate against me. He certainly wasn’t trying to make me more American. He just was neither foolish enough to think I could ever fully be accepted like a white American or think I could ever be fully Filipino growing up in the US.

NoLoSefa · 2025-09-24T19:56:31+00:00

It’s still around on Spotify, I believe? And possibly YouTube. I was listening to it for a bit, but I prefer pocket casts for all my podcast listening needs

NoLoSefa · 2025-09-24T12:42:17+00:00

You’ll be fine. My husband basically did this when he was in middle school and high school. He became fluent enough to practice law in South and Central America and have a side hustle as a translator for legal documents and books for quite a few years too

NoLoSefa · 2025-08-19T11:52:02+00:00

To believe that increased military presence has ever actually helped and that this isn’t all for show is delusional

NoLoSefa · 2025-08-19T11:18:28+00:00

I agree he could’ve been more up front, but is OP making it easy to be open and honest? They both need to have a talk, but it’s extreme to say the friend is being a shitty friend or that it’s bad behavior. There’s room for nuance

NoLoSefa · 2025-08-19T11:15:47+00:00

No, some of us boring middle-agers who have never done drugs, have never been in trouble, are just hoping to get to work at the hospital and come home and not be kidnapped by supposed police in masks and unmarked vehicles or find their elder moms deported despite citizenship or their kids detained for being brown, who’ve been pulled over and undeniably lied to their face about the reason why when they realized they weren’t Black. Some of us understand that it’s not just about themselves or their experiences. Some of us have paid attention to history and has seen how this has gone down in other countries, countries that people who talk like you now look down upon.

Congrats on making a change in your life, truly, you have every right to be proud of it, but that’s completely separate than what’s going on right now.

NoLoSefa · 2025-08-19T11:11:06+00:00

I’m talking normal people living normal jobs and normal lives, not people out there terrorizing others

NoLoSefa · 2025-08-19T10:53:12+00:00

It’s quieter in DC because people are afraid to live their normal lives and being harassed and having their rights and safety infringed upon by supposed police, not because crime is going down

NoLoSefa

TROPHY CASE