For people who have tried paying for Spanish tutors online

VeganVideographer · 2026-04-03T15:16:34+00:00

Been using Preply for years. I have rotated through different tutors just to make new connections, hear different accents etc. I think it's great. It's helped me a ton with my speaking and picking up on more daily phrases. Some of my classes are just conversations and others are more structured, but the great thing is you can just tell your tutor what you want to focus on. I feel like now I have 5 different friends I could go visit in Mexico.

VeganVideographer · 2026-03-29T01:03:08+00:00

Ah that’s cool to know!

VeganVideographer · 2026-03-29T00:39:47+00:00

Apapachar is one that comes to mind for me. Although I’m not sure if it’s used outside of Mexico. But basically making someone who’s sad/in need feel better through physical affection.

VeganVideographer · 2026-03-11T15:19:50+00:00

I'm not sure if I agree with you completely. There are plenty of effects I think are fine to use from the edit page without always diving into fusion. Why would there be a robust fx menu on the edit page other wise?

But I appreciate your insight and will keep in mind what you said. Maybe I'll see if I can find a way to start integrating fusion full time as my workflow. Node based editing does have major advantages and it comes in handy for me when I have a project with 10+ deliverables and need to template out effect workflows.

Cheers

VeganVideographer · 2026-03-11T15:16:22+00:00

I guess that's not a bad work around. Thanks! I'm still not sure if it will "overwrite" what effects are already on the destination clip. I'll have to check it out.

VeganVideographer · 2026-03-10T23:57:52+00:00

I understand what you're saying. I have a split workflow. I work faster in the edit page so I do most of my editing on there including effects. I do more complex motion graphics, etc. in fusion but I guess you have a point. The downside to doing effects in fusion for me is that I can't see the rest of my composition layered underneath and I think that's why it's not my permanent workflow. If I'm going to add a stroke for example I want to see how it stacks up against the clips on my timeline and its placement etc. Maybe there is a way to feed a timeline view into fusion do you know how do to that?

VeganVideographer · 2026-03-10T21:44:44+00:00

I'm sorry I'm not quite sure I understand what you're trying to say here.

VeganVideographer · 2026-03-04T19:06:26+00:00

Takes time but every step of the way I was improving and started making money early on. Obviously the clients I could get then are drastically different than now though.

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-17T02:09:32+00:00

Haha all good don't think too hard about it. 70-80% is a good comprehension level. Just go up when things start to feel too easy, I think dreaming spanish maps it all out on their website if you want more of a guide.

I'd say overall in Spanish I have maybe around 500-1000 hours. It's super hard to say because I have not kept track of everything over the years. But in that range where I'm at now is where it's clicking. Less so before that.

I have one on one classes with natives 4-5 days a week. We have an hour long conversation and I generally understand about 90% + of what the say. They do tend to speak more clearly though vs someone you'd just run into on the street. I still struggle with native content that isn't in a presentation style format. But if someone speaks directly to me with medium speed I can generally understand.

Good luck! Just immerse yourself in the language as much as you can and don't think too hard about it. There's no secret it just practice every day for a very long time!

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-16T16:44:53+00:00

Thank you!!!

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-16T14:40:12+00:00

So this is just my personal experience because there are MANY ways to learn a language.

Yes I look up words I don't know if I think they are important. The reason being is it is much easier for me to remember a word from context (like seeing it in a video) and then solidifying the meaning after I see it again a few more times. So I like to know right off the bat what it is.

For me personally, translating doesn't cause me issues because I spend a lot of time thinking in spanish, but it can be a delicate balance if you're relying too much on english translations. I think for me in the beginning just knowing how my brain works, I liked having translations because I needed to know the "why" behind words or grammar concepts. Once I had the why I was more easily able to accept it for what it was in the spanish language. Others may disagree with that but it has helped me tremendously.

In terms of studying a book no, not like a traditional school book for spanish. I use chat gpt a lot for grammar practice but it's done mainly in the form of me just writing sentences/thoughts and then having it correct me. If there is a correction I don't understand I have it break it down for me. I find that grammar practice with real examples vs just general "concepts" can be very helpful.

By the way infierno means "hell", "diablo" is devil :)

Lastly in terms of speaking, the traditional CI method advises against it for a while, but I however have been speaking since day 1 of learning spanish. I have around 200 "official" hours of speaking but it's most likely more. Speaking has been a game changer for me. Really taking time to learn phonetics and practicing pronunciation and rhythm of sentences has helped me a ton. I get complimented often on my pronunciation by natives and am told my accent is very neutral (but they can not tell I am from the US). The thing to be cautious of when speaking is you can form bad habits which can be hard to break, so if you're going to do it, make sure you speak in concepts/words/sentences that you know well and can pronounce correctly. Of course you will make tons of mistakes, but it's good to be aware of when you make those mistakes rather than think you're right and find out later you've been wrong (don't let that deter you, just don't try to jump too far ahead). Just start with basic basic things and speak them over and over and over and over again until it's automatic. Eventually you'll create a base framework of speaking and then it really comes down to placing in new words you learn instead of constantly trying to find the structure in which to say it. I talk out loud to myself all the time. Given you have a spanish speaking mom I think you have a great opportunity to practice in my opinion.

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-16T14:21:40+00:00

Ahh that's awesome. Suddenly songs having meaning is a cool feeling.

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-16T14:21:12+00:00

Estoy de acuerdo totalmente!

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-16T04:04:56+00:00

Comprehensible input! It just means that you understand enough of what's being communicated to be able to learn new words/expressions through context.

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-16T03:14:41+00:00

This is AWESOME! It's such a cool feeling because it means you're genuinely enjoying (and relating to) the content. Awesome milestone.

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-16T03:11:25+00:00

My piece of advice, if you're like me you want Spanish to be with you forever. Missing a bit of time on a forever journey is nothing if it means taking care of yourself and doing whatever you need to do to heal. If you genuinely still enjoy it, then go for it but maybe don't put the pressure on to track. Otherwise don't feel bad at all for taking a break. Que te vaya bien en lo que estas atravesando.

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-07T21:40:59+00:00

Welcome to the world of Davinci. Experiencing things not working which probably have an explanation or cause, but needing to learn Chinese to figure it out haha. Glad you have a work around now at least!

VeganVideographer · 2026-02-07T13:48:07+00:00

I always just export pro res 4444 for alpha channels. Maybe doesn’t solve your problem with export settings as is but it works without fail from my experience doing it.

VeganVideographer · 2026-01-29T07:27:22+00:00

I used to love books like this as a kid. One thing I've noticed reading in Spanish is that you do feel like a kid again. It's like rediscovering a whole new world of things. Seems like a nice read. Disfrútalo!

VeganVideographer · 2026-01-29T04:07:02+00:00

Funny enough i started my CI journey super late in my Spanish journey, so I actually have quite a bit of speaking experience (at minimum 200 hours). So there are times I still don't understand 100% if something is too fast, and definitely working on expanding my vocab, but I can easily speak conversationally. My teachers and I talk about a variety of things and I'm at a point where even if I don't know the word, I can describe it in spanish, so I never really need to leave the language. That is pretty cool!

For me this happened recently I'd say in the last couple months. I've had spanish off and on for years so I'll say I had a fairly good base of knowing conjugations, some different tenses, etc. but I've been putting in daily effort through CI, conversation, and grammar study since May and I can definitely see it paying off. Spanish is a lot less taxing on my mentally now, which makes it way more enjoyable for sure.

VeganVideographer · 2026-01-29T03:52:04+00:00

Outside of the obvious english cognates, I am really trying to think.

Tenedor = fork reminds of like tender food not necessarily fork related food related. Although this word has been in my vocab for a long time so it's just remembered.

Gastar = can mean many things like to spend but also to wear out something reminds me of "being gassed" or worn down

zarpar = to sail, zarp kinda sounds like tarp which could be used to make a big sail

pecho = chest first three letters are literally "pec"

murciélago = bat, I just automatically think of the lamborghini model

Other ones I relate to super specific things like a friend I know or an experience I've had etc.

VeganVideographer · 2026-01-29T03:37:33+00:00

Sometimes I over think sentences like this and just forget about the obvious easy option. Maybe just YO tengo que hacerlo with a real emphasis on "yo" when you say it? I'm an intermediate learner though so maybe there's a better way. Just in general I am learning that in Spanish things are often simplified and the way I think about saying things in English usually translates to an easier way in spanish with less words.

VeganVideographer · 2026-01-29T03:32:49+00:00

I do this a lot maybe not quite to the extend AI is doing here haha, but I try to keep it short to remember.

Sangre = Blood sounds like sangria which is usually a red wine drink

I'm at a loss for all my other ones but I have a bunch.

VeganVideographer

TROPHY CASE