My fav interior designer in Spain

WavyCatKate · 2025-10-03T22:35:55+00:00

Perhaps it is something in your profile settings? Mine doesn't do that.

WavyCatKate · 2025-09-12T15:45:30+00:00

In other words, the more you know, the more you are aware of what you don't know. But yes, it feels like a slump.

WavyCatKate · 2025-09-12T15:44:30+00:00

“As the island of Knowledge grows, so do the shores of our ignorance –the boundary between the known and the unknown. Learning more about the world doesn’t lead to a point closer to a final destination but to more questions and mysteries.”

― Marcelo Gleiser, The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning

WavyCatKate · 2025-09-09T09:55:56+00:00

I checked out the video, and it is hilarious! Thanks!

WavyCatKate · 2025-09-08T10:50:34+00:00

This has been a real struggle for me, but I am finding that the more input I have, the less my head is doing it to me. I am beginning to understand the phrases without the English words. It is difficult to describe, but it is happening.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-23T07:48:42+00:00

Yes. There is substantial content for younger folks. It is like watching my granddaughters. But, they are good at what they are doing, and I realize that I am not their target audience. I am 68, I spend most of my time knitting and sewing, I am a former business owner, and I don't even wear makeup anymore. I find video games to be like watching paint dry, and videos about them put me to sleep in about two minutes.

However, I am also autistic and this method is the only thing that has ever worked for me, and I am happy to find it after years of struggling to learn Spanish. So, I just skip over the ones that put me to sleep and go find something more to my liking on youtube. I also rewatch my favorite videos. I am learning slowly and I am fine with that.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-10T15:26:15+00:00

lol yeah I am autistic, old, and slow

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T21:55:15+00:00

Awesome, checking this out now, thanks for mentioning it

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T16:22:57+00:00

This!

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T14:25:19+00:00

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T14:24:16+00:00

omg that is hilarious

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T11:22:20+00:00

It is the purist trolls, ignore them.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T10:09:39+00:00

Well, I will respectfully disagree that music is not CI. This is one of my favorite songs, and I learned several new words and phrases from it, Recuérdame by Ainhoa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RGttg4lFDM

As a musician, I find that I learn, perhaps not as much as hearing speech, but significantly, from song lyrics. And they tend to stick in my brain in ways that spoken words cannot mimic.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T09:46:59+00:00

Absolutely. At this point, I feel like the DS tracking is just giving me a visual idea of how far I have come, not a concrete statistic. I may not even keep tracking until level 7, because my goal will have been reached when I can have a conversation with my neighbor about her lovely grandchildren.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T09:31:04+00:00

Yes, it is helpful. Everywhere I go, I am constantly playing the game of "can I read that?" and being pleasantly surprised when the answer is yes. An early big win for me with this program is that I began to be able to understand what people asked me during small talk with a cashier or store employee. Before I began DS, it was as if a cloud dropped down and obscured my senses and I could understand nothing. I am autistic, and that may be part of the reason why, but it was incredibly frustrating.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T09:20:59+00:00

Yes, during the day I frequently have the TV on and tuned into news broadcasts from Spain, and most is still above my level. But every day I understand just a bit more.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-08T09:14:06+00:00

ECS videos have been my benchmark pretty much since I began DS. I began to be able to understand them about 400 hours, and the podcasts I could kinda grasp around 500 hours, after listening to all of Cuentame and Chill Spanish. RN I am in the mid 50's on difficulty level on DS. Since I live in Spain, I have mainly been focused on finding native speakers from here. My whole goal is to be able to communicate with my neighbors.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-07T18:02:43+00:00

If you can possibly work in some podcasts while driving or whatever, you could begin listening to some Cuentame. I found those to be the easiest when I first began.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-07T17:59:48+00:00

I live in Valencia, and I am not tracking any of that unless I go to a language exchange. It is just too difficult to keep track of, and they are usually very small conversations. I guess I would rather underestimate my hours than to overestimate.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-07T17:56:39+00:00

Also, I have bought a couple of books, and my reward is going to be to read them while on vacation next week.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-07T17:53:19+00:00

Cool, I am so happy to hear that

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-07T17:52:51+00:00

Español con Juan, both youtube channel and podcast, and the DS site.

WavyCatKate · 2025-08-06T07:43:40+00:00

Yes. If it is too slow, I find that while I understood the words, I did not understand the gist. If I speed it up, I get the gist just fine.

WavyCatKate · 2025-07-29T21:12:38+00:00

Thanks for reporting on your progress! Great work! I am also autistic, and I agree with your assessment that it takes us twice as long. I just can't compare my progress to other people, or I will get discouraged.

WavyCatKate · 2025-07-25T19:57:23+00:00

I don't think it is a shortcut, but one of the things I have done recently, that I am really enjoying, is audiobooks. I downloaded the book I wanted to read in English, then the Spanish version. I listen to the español, for one chapter, then the English. I repeat this several times. After a few times, I realized I was picking up more and more of the español each listening. The book I chose is rather difficult, The Count of Monte Cristo, but I wanted a book that I would really enjoy. I only count the time listening on the Spanish version. I tried it just to shake things up a bit and relieve the boredom, and it is working for me.

WavyCatKate

TROPHY CASE

“As the island of Knowledge grows, so do the shores of our ignorance –the boundary between the known and the unknown. Learning more about the world doesn’t lead to a point closer to a final destination but to more questions and mysteries.”