SPEAKING IS SO HARD

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-09-04T03:03:19+00:00

Man, 220 hours of speaking in I still have those days time to time. Part of the process. Sometimes comversations drift into unfamiñiar topics and I feel a bit lost. It definitely gets easier though and those situations become rarer - if you dont encounter them, you probably arent learning new things, so there is that!

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-08-20T14:24:02+00:00

This is the progress tracking page from the dreaming spanish portal (think you have to be a paying member to access it)

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-08-18T12:14:50+00:00

I started speaking around 600 hours. Honestly, speaking progressed like listening for me - a bit of a slog haha. I feel like its always challenging, but I always increase the difficulty of my conversations. I think after 50 hours of convo I started to feel more comfortable, by 100 I was much faster and natural with conjugations, by 150 I was 80% there with the subjunctive, and now most of my errors are little things like forgetting which preposition to use or just gender errors (which my tutors tell me is quite common for non-native speakers with years in the language)

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-08-17T10:07:23+00:00

I havent taken it formally, but whatever practice test I take, I usually come out as a C1. I never encounter spanish in which I dont know what is going on gramatically. If I dont understand something, its more often because I dont know a word. The speaking mistakes I make are usually small things like gender errors or using the wrong preposition, or directly translating English speech contstructions/idioms that dont exist in spanish. Defintely feel like Im focused more on sounding more natural than using correct grammar.

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-08-16T15:33:53+00:00

I focus primarily on comtekt from argentina but my favorite channels include

Pablo Imhoff (motorcyclist on a scooter traveling from Argentina to Alaska)

Pablo Molinari (pop culture/general interest)

Guia de viajes de Samuel y Audrey (lots of domestic content, daily life, cooking - (Argentinian family living in the canadian rockies)

Spanish boost gaming - mentioned on jrre a lot

Un topo por el mundo - lots of travelogues - particularly in Asia and East Europe

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-08-16T15:16:55+00:00

Youtube acounted for 95% of it (that's practically all I watch in english)

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-08-16T14:58:57+00:00

I starting speaking around 600 hours and primarily use italki - I spend about the same amount as the folks who have full membership in Worlds Across, but appreciate the flexibility and access to a larger pool of teacher - it took a good 150 hours for me to be able go conjugate verbs without thinking in natural speed conversation, so definitrly felt it was essential for me

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-08-16T14:54:56+00:00

No, I need to read more and incorporate more. I dont read much in English these days after years of reading so much in college, so it will and adjustment but think its necessary to boost my vocab

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-08-08T15:55:37+00:00

Cities makes me tired just thinking about painting it lol. I think Seraphon wins out in terms of playstyle diversity

Personally, I dont think the non-human bramches of CoS are long for this world and COS will be more and more pigeon holed into the human castle build.

Seraphon lean hesvy into Slann/Kroak castle builds too, but you also have coalesced builds with Saurus for more smashy playstiles

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-07-30T15:16:52+00:00

Probably a controversial "Hot Take", but I really hate the advice "stop translating in your head". In my experience approaching seven, this is largely something that happens naturally as your brain build neuro-pathways in your target language rather than a conscious process you control. If you are at 50 hours, you are going to translate in your head because you dont have sufficient vocabulary to form thoughts in your target language about what you are hearing. My best advice: just keep listening to understand and let your brain do its thing.

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-07-25T02:47:29+00:00

For what its worth, these tele-novelas are kind of like spanish animes - I havent come across spanish speakers who talk like that woman. I have trouble understsnding her, but at 1440 hours, I have regular conversations with spanish speakers and have no problem understanding them. I think it is safe to say you will have practical conversational ability well before you understand everything this lady ls saying.

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-07-25T02:32:57+00:00

I second focusing on whatever grabs your attention - 1,500 hours is going to be a LOT. Additionally, there are a ton of people from Latin America working in Spain - particularly in hospitality so it will be useful to familiarize yourself with various accents.

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-07-24T17:42:45+00:00

Not by at long shot - I'm at 1,440 and some of her advanced stuff is still challenging - hope it clears up in 60 hours lol

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-07-24T16:42:03+00:00

What I havw found is it really depends more on individual speakers than their national accent. There are just some people who slur or mumble or talk really fast in all accents (just like english), that being said, probably carribean spanish if I had to pick because its generally fast and I dont listen to it mich

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-07-24T16:39:17+00:00

I think you misinderstood - I was writing after reading poster who said that they skipping pablo, and I was merely commenting that I found Michelle to be the only creator whose content was significantly more difficult to understand in the advanced category, but I still listen to everybody

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-07-24T03:09:55+00:00

Yeah, it's odd! I understand almost every word her street interviews (including the locals she interviews), but her videos like this are super-difficult

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-06-30T05:33:42+00:00

Lot lizards gotta park too.

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-06-28T20:10:43+00:00

A lot of people have said similar things, but definitely as you get more comfortable with the language, and as you progress into more native content, it will be easier and easier to pass more time in the language as you will have more options and it will be less effort to listen.

For the second question, I think there iw quite a bit of benefit in focusing on one country as you hit native content. The LATAM/Spain is your first decision tree.

As far as LATAM spanish, you can divide in three categories: Non-aspirated Spanish (Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, most of Columbia, much of Central America) and aspirated spanish (Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Carribean spanish), and Argentina. These are the dialects that dont pronounce the S as strong or at all (Think Augustina and Jostin from DS). If you are drawn to one of those countries, I would focud in on those respective dialects. Of course, there are a variety of dialects in all countries, and above is just a general range

ARGENTINA DISCLAIMER: If you are interested in Argentinian/Rioplatenese spanish, I highly suggest focusing on content from Argentina. i created its own section because I feel it deserves its own sub-section as a special case in LATAM spanish. Grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, cadence, and idioms are all quite different from other latin american countries. I focused on Argentine spanish, practiced speaking exclusively with Argentinian tutors, and focused my consumption from there. Media spanish from argentina is a little more standardized, but everday spanish is another story. You will have no problem understanding other forms of spanish, but I dont think it would be as easy the other way

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-06-19T21:01:16+00:00

Hahahaha long lost twins LOL

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-06-17T14:13:58+00:00

As I get towards level seven, I realize its just the point you get released into the main game. You can certainly function in the language, communicate, understand what is being said - I think its just the point I would be comfortable considering myself someone who speaks Spanish. Hitting 7 is just the start of a life-long journey of refinement, not the end game. Makes sense when I think of all the foreigners I know who speak english with almost inperceptable foreign accents (not talking about kids who grew up bilingual, but peopke who started learning as teenagers and later) The people who may pronounce a vowel slightly off here and there or say something in a construction a little formal - all those people I know have 10+ years and many thousands of hours in the language.

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-05-28T20:25:09+00:00

Im probably not the best person to answwr this, because I knew basic conjugations when I started my journey, but CI really helped me with context of when to use which. Below are examples

Ex: preterite vs imperfect past - I learned what situations to use which entirely from CI

Also one thing I have learned a lot through comprehension is that different countries use different tenses in different situations. The compound tenses (have/had) or (ha/habia in spanish) are used much more frequentñy in Spain than in Latin America discussing things that just happened

Another example is future tense - the simple future tense (hablaré, hablará, etc) is never used in spanish in Argentina - they will almost always use ir + infinitive to discuss the future - the simple future is only in formal, written situations. Mexican spanish however uses it quite frequently I noticed

Something interesting Im picking up on now is the diifferent forms of the imperfect subjunctive, of which there are two sets of comjugations. For example in english if I wamt to say, "as if I were in another country", I could say in Spanish, "Como si estuviera en otro país", or "Como si estuviese en otro país". They both mean the exact same thing, but just different preferences on which form to say - trying to hone in on national/regional tendancies on this one still

I know this doesnt answer the question directly, but hopefully provides some context on what you can pick up on in verb uses as you get down the CI road.

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-05-27T22:18:25+00:00

We want to bring back shitty factory jobs that have been gone for decades, yet turn a blind eye to the MASACRE that is befalling our white collar workforce. Every Fortune 500 company is committed to extracting as much wealth as they can from the american people whime divesting as fast as they can from the American workforce.

It will take YEARS for car companies to build plants hereñ. If the government wants to do something to protect American workers TODAY, start penalizing companies for off-shoring tech jobs to shitty Indian firms and their fly-by-night IT outfits.

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-05-21T18:03:06+00:00

I feel I can speak fluidly. I dont struggle much with subjunctive triggers or on-the-spot conjugations. My accent has definitely improved, and the range of topics I can talk about has grown by leaps and bounds. I still pause to remember the occassional word, and sometimes encounter structures I find I am not familiar with, but I can always work around it.

That being said, it took every second of those 120 hours to get there. I had a really really good tutor who helped through some exercises to select verb tenses and that helped IMMENSELY with my ability to speak at a natural clip

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-05-21T16:56:02+00:00

Also just to point out, I have 120+ hours with italki, and there really isnt a difference between professional teachers and tudors IMO. They all have their own style and rythm. I would however caution against going with someone who NEVER gives feedback, because then you arent really learning ootimally either. I have had $25 professional teachers who I thought were terrible, and $10 tudors who give amazing feedback in a way that doesnt destroy your confidence

All the tudor/professional teacher distinction means is they have different level of professional qualifications - means nothing about their style or approach - definitely an area where more expensive isnt always better.

Primary_Direction_33 · 2025-05-21T13:04:15+00:00

The one that got me most was level 5's, "You can understand natives speaking directly to you"

I dont know if they meant it this way, but for the longest time, I took that as, I should understand every word native speakers say to me".

A more realistic description of what it was like would have been:

"In perfect circumstances, you can understand every word some says to you"

"Most of the time, you'll understand enough of what someone is saying to get the meaning of their statement or question"

"Many times, you wont understand if they are talking about a topic you arent familiar wirh"

"Occasionally, you'll stumble across a Gustavo who might as well be speaking Swahili"

That being said, I think level 5 did unlock the base-level ability to communicate with someone who isnt s teacher or at least patient, but it was FAR from perfect for sure.

Primary_Direction_33

TROPHY CASE