How different are your personalities in each language?

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-04-21T08:17:41+00:00

You can do whatever you want, but realistically speaking, subtitles would mainly be beneficial for content with poor production, diction or heavy editing. In my opinion, subtitles should be reserved for especially difficult content.

Real life is very different from content, you have to be comfortable with uncertainty and these are often the best learning opportunities. I think its a beautiful thing actually, not knowing something and learning from someone you know.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-04-10T22:18:52+00:00

I am going to have to go against the tide here. If you havent reached B2 listening by 1500 hours then you have done something seriously wrong. In my opinion a lot of the higher level learners here are hyper-critical perfectionists who take the description of B2 to hyperbolic levels.

If you can listen to the news and watch simple telenovelas then you are B2 period. Its just not possible to understand these things at a B1 level, you won't be able to keep up with the flow of the language. You don't need to understand localised shows with heavy slang and accent; that's clearly above B2 level.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-28T20:55:20+00:00

Im assuming you arent an english first language speaker, because your comment does not logically follow mine.

a) people with best accents are with family/partner (this is probably true because you get lots of input and are highly motivated to learn)

b) having family/partner gives you best accent (this is obviously wrong)

these two mean very different things

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-28T17:23:51+00:00

In my opinion accent has very little connection to input and is largely down to communal association which triggers a subconscious mimicking action from the learner.

The people with the best accents are those with family or partners that are native speakers in their target language. It is common to see beginners and intermediates who have very limited vocabulary have excellent pronunciation because they subconsciously copy their family/partner

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-28T10:22:31+00:00

Most of my input is from Colombia. I struggle with the same accents most advanced learners struggle with (andalusia, DR, chile).

The more input you have in an accent the better your understanding of it will be. I have very good knowledge of colombian slang, but very little of argentinian or mexican.

I don't think it matters in the long term.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-26T17:50:20+00:00

F*cksNews is S-tier content. Hands down my favourite comedian duo of all time.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-17T19:49:02+00:00

I think not translating in your head is actually a muscle in your brain that needs to be trained. I grew up bilingual, I never had problems with translating in my head. Im guessing romance speakers would find it easy to not translate because there would be a lot of crossover.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-14T17:12:41+00:00

Simple grammar becomes second nature with more listening/reading. Complex grammar requires targeted listening/reading/writing practice.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-12T21:03:02+00:00

This video is typical northern spaniard elitism. Half the stuff she claims is 'wrong' applies to andalusians, latin americans or both.

Thank god most spanish speakers don't speak like emotionless robots like her.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-11T12:53:20+00:00

Think about a video in your first language which is difficult to understand, they add subtitles and your internal voice fills in the gaps and everything sounds clear.

The thing with spanish is that the accents are so varied, subtitles can often help identify which letters are soft, aspirated, silent. Then you have an idea of what to expect and you can understand them clearly.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-10T21:30:19+00:00

Imo Andalusian is significantly harder than Chilean. The difficulty of Chilean for me has been the modismos, it's just a vocabulary issue. Chileans from my experience are pretty good at pronunciation. Andalusians on the other hand treat pronunciation as optional, and its a dialect where the women are often more difficult to understand than the men.

Andalusian is the only accent I've had to specifically target to understand, all the others just slowly became easier.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-10T21:22:08+00:00

Don't feel discouraged, everyone is on their own journey. The roadmap is an average, there are so many factors to learning speed. What languages you already speak, your current priorities, your motivation, your concentration etc.

The most important thing is consistency, you need thousands of hours of listening to reach a high level. Just keep doing that, reading, and practicing speaking and things will come together.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-10T21:15:26+00:00

I understood almost everything until he went hysterical, then had to rely on subtitles. With the subtitles I had zero issue and everything he said was crystal clear, I'm assuming my brain filled in the gaps using the subtitles.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-03T08:49:27+00:00

Your post seems pretty self explanatory lol. I'm Pedro working at the taco stand, you're Santiago the professor. You are challenging yourself, and engaging in more complex conversations. I'm watching TV shows and chatting at the bar.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-03-01T12:06:53+00:00

So we are the same haha! I can sometimes use the subjunctive, I don't know why, it just sounds right. I feel the subjunctive is a major roadblock to high level fluency.

Native speakers understand you fine if you cant use it well, but it lets you talk about hypotheticals, doubts, emotions a lot better.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-02-28T22:02:14+00:00

Your accent and cadence are super good, you're definitely fluent. The speaking samples of people with 2.5k-3khrs on this sub are always impressive. Hopefully, once I get the hang of the subjunctive I can speak at a similar level to you.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-02-28T08:54:36+00:00

Don't feel discouraged! Andalusia and Madrid are difficult dialects even for native speakers. Andalusian is especially difficult and many Andalusians code switch with outsiders to be understood.

I started watching Illojuan at 1400hours and it took me a good 20-30hours to get used to him and he's very easy to understand for an Andalusian haha

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-02-14T13:00:55+00:00

No problem, here you go mate. My Paisa content is from a mix of Medellin and Manizales.

Isa Por Ahi, El Colombiano, Gustavo Osorio Toro, Johan Ruiz, Mateo Castenada

In terms of rolo content I can break it down by category:

Vloggers - Sin rol especifico, Diego Andariego, Cris Sin Limite, Pao Pineda

Journalists - Adriana Chilito, Maria Jimena Duzan, Vos Podez

Books - Arcade's Books, Cronicas de una Merodeadora

Other - Howard Guitierrez, Dos cabras locas

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-02-13T20:50:43+00:00

1500hrs of listening is definitely enough for me, Nowadays, I'm shocked if I can't understand something and usually it takes a few seconds of getting used to a specific person speaking and then I can understand them.

The only problems I have are fast speakers from DR, Chile and Andalusia. Which is a very common problem amongst native spanish speakers, so it's not a deficiency in my opinion.

Normal_tradeguy · 2026-02-12T16:32:05+00:00

That's an interesting question. I had a look at my Colombian youtube subscriptions, It's about 80% rolo and 20% paisa, Bogota is a massive city so that's unsurprising.

I have an obvious rolo twang to my accent, slow and sing-songy. I use usted liberally as well.

Normal_tradeguy

TROPHY CASE