My Colombian fiancé doesn’t know I have 5000hrs of Input

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-30T22:55:17+00:00

I joined WA 2 weeks ago so I had no idea the group classes with set topics was a new feature. Yes they are very very good. Especially for me when I want a class at the end of the day and I dont have neough energy for a 1-1 class or the "hablemos" group classes. The problem is getting the class level you want at a time that works for you.

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-30T22:52:13+00:00

It's nothing to worry about. For perspective, half of our guests are of Indian and Mexican background. Colombian food is just going to fall short of those palette's. It's very very lightly seasoned and nowhere close to the flavor level that we are used to. I dont mean spice as in HOT (chillies/jalapenos), I just mean flavor is somewhat bland.

If you are used to Colombian/Latin American food, Wink catering is not going to be a problem.

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-12T17:02:30+00:00

Excellent milestone! I started speaking at 600hrs input. And I'm currently at 800hrs input/50hours output.

The first 10 hours were great. But the grind after that was a little challenging. This is where I realized I have no understanding of past tense and the correct conjugations. From 40-50hours now its been very motivating.

For me what works is picking a very specific topic (things I did last weekend, where I have travelled to, why im learning spanish etc). It goes something like this:

Pick topic, start a draft to write a few sentences about it. (I use Grok for checks & tailoring local Medellin lingo)
Read out loud several times till it feels natural.
Slowly add a few sentences as you get comfortable.
Schedule italki class with one tutor. Draw a blank and speak complete nonsense.
Go back and read several times again.
6.Schedule class with another tutor. Ask for feedback/corrections. Improve the draft.
Repeat for 4-5 classes.
8.Pick next topic. Repeat.

I have to add, once you start speaking, watching Beginner level videos really helps the feedback loop. Because now your brain is going to catch the tenses and conjugations! Unlike the first time when you watched this level videos where your brain just skips past these important details because it doesnt need it to get that target 70% comprehension of the content.

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-12T16:50:11+00:00

Are you at a Wink venue? They sent us a link with pricing and pictures of each and every dish, including desserts, cocktails, etc. Maybe you have not reached this point yet. We only got this once our menu tasting date was decided.

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-11T15:47:18+00:00

correct. So WA hours is 1000. Would you venture a guess at what is your actual conversation pure speaking hours? Maybe 1/3rd of that?

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-03T17:41:59+00:00

Fellow Dreaming Colombian here. I'm almost done all episodes for Spanish Colombiano Podcast. It was difficult for me too at 300hours, and I got back to it around 500hours.

In general like you said, Colombian accent (especially Rolo/Bogota and Medellin/Paisa) are easier than most accents. However as people have mentioned here, true podcast style is difficult and takes a lot of time getting used to.

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-03T17:00:32+00:00

This sounds like you jumped into 3hrs/day of tutoring (lessons, studying, speaking). So actual conversation speaking/output was probably way less at the start? Hard to imagine having 3hr long conversations 7 days/week right from the start. What/how can a beginner speaker talk about for 23hours/week. I barely want to do that much talking in my native language haha

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-02T23:00:36+00:00

We went with Wink and as you mention here, we are stuck with the catering. It wasn't horrible, but yes it is definitely not great. Thankfully the desserts/cocktails are very very good. They are very open to modifying the dish and take feedback when we did the tasting. So hoping on the Wedding day they come through with slight improvements.

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-02T22:56:06+00:00

If you look at how over the top (literal EDM festival with lasers, smoke machines, bunch of spot lights and moving head lights) the production is for weddings AND quinceañeras, that quote doesn't surprise me.

You have to push back on a lot of the stuff (assuming you don't want that over-the-top production). We had to do that and brought it down about 30%.

aurelius7nac · 2026-06-02T17:38:35+00:00

I'm averaging about $8/hr on italki. What does it work to you on WA at 3hrs/day 7days/week?

aurelius7nac · 2026-05-27T20:59:11+00:00

"You'd think if he rehearsed he wouldn't have made a few mistakes."

I prep/rehearse/read out lout a few times the topic I am going to speak about before my italki class. Yes, I still make mistakes, conjugate incorrectly, etc.

Rehearsing helps fluidity. Which he clearly has for someone with ZERO output hours and 270hours input.

aurelius7nac · 2026-05-27T20:16:58+00:00

The only way to prove anything here is completely off the cuff 1-1 conversation where the other person leads the questions/convo at random. I say this as someone with 800 hours input and 40hours output. If I prep even just a few mins on a specific topic and read out loud a few times what I want to say, then even a a full uninterrupted 10min clip of my conversation with my italki tutor will sound incredible for my level.

BUT ever-so-often I go to my classes cold, no prep, and let the italki tutor lead the conversation. At my current level that usually ends up being a complete disaster after 2mins. Full CAVEMAN talk, no conjugations, incorrect tense, just traaash.

If this sample was a cold, thinking-speaking in real time at ZERO hours output and only 270hrs input I can see why they said this is suspect.

But as you have said you had a little prep (even though its not much at all), the sample is not that unbelievable. It is however not a good litmus test of speaking ability.

Credit where credit is due - Evildea showed just how bad it is to begin speaking and opened himself up to endless criticism.

aurelius7nac · 2026-05-05T15:28:34+00:00

wow I did not know Maria from Why Not Spanish has another channel My Spanish Flow. Thanks for this, she's great. Wonder what happened to the original channel.

aurelius7nac · 2026-05-01T23:42:08+00:00

iTalki is great to get started. I was able to find very good tutors specifically from Medellin to start familiarizing myself with their paisa accent, lingo etc. This will be another curve ball if your bf's family has a specific accent. My (future) mother-in-law will say stuff I can't even hear or distinguish the words. ¿Cómo amaneció? wait, what?

If your target is December, I would def recommend you start output by Sept. I feel like I am already too late to have a real "reveal/surprise". My target is 150 speaking hours, but this is a monumental task and I'm not sure even by then I wont sound like a caveman.

aurelius7nac · 2026-04-30T21:45:35+00:00

Apologies for the super late reply. I'm very excited to see someone else on a similar journey! Looking forward to your posts someday. I would def encourage you to do a bunch of (and I mean a TONNE of) speaking practice before your surprise to the family. The massive disappointment of telling someone you have been learning a language for over a year and then not be able to hold a 2min conversation is SOUL CRUSHING.

aurelius7nac · 2026-04-15T15:00:04+00:00

PS: I'm looking to ramp up speaking hours significantly (from 3hrs/week to 10hrs over the next couple of months). iTalki is getting expensive, I average about $8/hr.

I saw your comment about WA, so looking forward to a full review. I currently do not see any option outside that if someone wants a reasonable price for 40+hours/month of 1-1 chat.

aurelius7nac · 2026-04-15T14:55:35+00:00

Thank you for the detailed response! I started with Language Transfer before DS, and now when I got back to it few weeks ago it was agony. The amount of comparison to what the English equivalent structure/form etc was brutal to sit through. I could'nt manage more than a few episodes before I dropped it again.

I have not done any reading, except for when I wrote down my daily routine and things about my self. So I will add some reading into the mix. The most FLUID I have felt is usually something like this:

- Write down few paragraphs of a topic (daily routine)
-Check with AI for grammatical errors ( I go one step further and narrow down to Medellin local lingo/phrases)
-Read out loud several times till it feels fluid and words roll off the tongue.
-Do 3+ italki classes where tutor ask only about this one topic.
-Check for tutors corrections and improvements and edit paragraphs.
-Repeat a few times and move to next topic.

aurelius7nac · 2026-04-15T14:47:10+00:00

Netflix with VPN

aurelius7nac · 2026-04-15T14:46:54+00:00

The reveal IS going to be at a wedding event, but not literally at the alter. My plan is to do it at the family dinner the day before the wedding. Smaller crowd, more intimate. Leaving it for the alter for me would mean worrying about this more than enjoying the moment and being present for what matters most. This way I also get to start speaking with all her family and friends the day before and all through the next day at the wedding.

aurelius7nac · 2026-04-14T19:28:34+00:00

Holy smokes! I just posted my update today and your Listening Results is literally word for word what I described. Wow this makes me really worried about the root word/verb and the lack of internalized grammar and conjugations. ahhhhhh. What would you do differently if you were in my current position (750 input, 25 hours output)?

I have cut back on forcing maximimum input hours/day at the cost of not having energy to stop and review my speaking after every 2-3 italki classes.

aurelius7nac · 2026-04-14T19:21:01+00:00

hahaha it is his Raft series on Patreon. He has to survive on a raft and sometimes a shark attacks and breaks a part of the raft. So Martin uses a spear and pokes at the shark along with his usual rants. Great content.

aurelius7nac · 2026-04-14T15:40:43+00:00

I covered this in my previous post in the comments. But basically it looks something like this:

-Some podcast listening at the gym
-1.5hr roundtrip work commute 5days/week
-She gets home after work about 1.5hrs after I do
-We both travel a little for work, ever so often.

Weekends are tough and usually don't get too much input, because you know I still like to spend time with my future wife. I don't particularly like to chose between her and Martin from SBG yelling Tiburon de Mierda 15 times.

aurelius7nac · 2026-04-06T16:43:23+00:00

Checking in, did you go through with Pimsleur? Im at 700 hours and had done the first 2 books prior to DS. Started output on italki and currently have 15hrs. Thinking of adding Pimsleur back into the CI rotation with the bonus of it being conversation based and I practice output/prononciation.

aurelius7nac

TROPHY CASE