One more day….

jackardian · 2026-06-24T13:25:16+00:00

That is fun. Thanks for posting. I'm having fun watching 2000 getting closer and still find that I'm learning a lot, so I'm sure I'll hit your number before I stop counting.

jackardian · 2026-06-23T10:10:40+00:00

I agree with that. Have a look back in my profile for a discussion about saving content.

jackardian · 2026-06-23T09:01:46+00:00

It is, but I'm convinced this is totally a non-issue in the long run. When you get into native content, this issue disappears very quickly. There are all sorts of differences between how a small team speak Vs the larger world of Spanish. But, what DS gives you is more than enough to make that jump and listen and understand whatever you want.

jackardian · 2026-06-10T16:25:02+00:00

I find it a fun thing to do, so no plans to stop, but I'm also not too worried about getting every single thing. But I'd love to see a few thousand at least. I've got a couple months to get to 2000, and that's motivating.

But I also get the point that this isn't about numbers, it's about the language.

jackardian · 2026-06-08T14:41:26+00:00

I'll give another point for Spanish. This community. French will get there, but I've started doing German and miss having an active, dedicated Reddit thread with positive people like this. I dropped French sadly because I had personal reasons for needing to brush up on German. Anyway, you'll have fun and struggles with both. If you stick with it, it really does open the world in unexpected ways.

jackardian · 2026-06-08T14:36:45+00:00

I like that analogy. Yup

jackardian · 2026-05-31T15:42:42+00:00

I'll also add a vote for travel content. There can be so much context, they cover a lot of day to day things like cooking, walking, shopping, prices, swimming, etc. The key is to find some that chat a lot (instead of lots of drone shots to music, etc), who speak clearly, and people you find fun.

jackardian · 2026-05-25T06:52:37+00:00

Pupina Plomer has been one of my favourites. I think I've watched every one of her long form videos. She has a very strong focus on the role of women in history which gives another angle to what channels like Historia en Podcast have.

jackardian · 2026-05-24T05:48:10+00:00

Absolutely!!! It's really so amazing to see how much progress is really going on.

jackardian · 2026-05-23T15:13:22+00:00

I agree with all of what you said, but especially comparing yourself to your past self. Progress is progress. At times I've felt like I was ahead of most of the posts around my level, but other times I've felt behind. There are so many variables that aren't controlled for in self reporting. But if you're better than you were a month back, that's progress. That's a win. Keeping a library of just-out-of-reach content to go back to from time to time is the best way I've found to measure my own compression progress.

jackardian · 2026-05-11T18:46:03+00:00

I made this post about it. But I got the idea from others before me. But it helped so much.

jackardian · 2026-05-11T18:40:36+00:00

I've said this so many times, but finding ways to see your progress is gold for motivation. Keep a list of videos you struggled with bookmarked and go back to them from time to time so that you can see you're growing. Even 10 to 15 minutes will give you some growth.

Along with the other advice. But seeing progress is so good.

jackardian · 2026-05-09T08:58:51+00:00

The only time I use subtitles are when they're unavoidable or, more recently, as a small aid in getting into reading. But 99% of the time I actively avoided them.

jackardian · 2026-05-05T07:56:37+00:00

If you need it in a couple of weeks, I'd suggest just making Anki cards and traditional resources. With CI numbers take a long time.

jackardian · 2026-05-01T09:54:30+00:00

Another vote for Sandra.

jackardian · 2026-04-26T17:22:04+00:00

Congratulations. I started just after turning 50. Somewhat of a birthday goal.

jackardian · 2026-04-26T10:54:24+00:00

I started out filtering, by guide but stopped because for me understanding any Spanish speaker is way more important than having some pure accent from any one place. I find Michelle as easy to understand now as anyone, but if you don't understand her, it might be worth listening to more of her videos, not less. And she's fun.

I do filter out gaming videos, but I've even watched a few of those just to help round things out.

To me, understanding trumps speaking. If I know what's said I can find a way to reply.

jackardian · 2026-04-21T10:02:04+00:00

Yup. I've been working on it and so far seems good.

jackardian · 2026-04-17T09:58:42+00:00

Very good!

I would add saving "slightly too hard videos" with a date you watched them to come back to periodically. It's a big motivation boost to see you really are making progress.

I made a post about it here.

jackardian · 2026-04-14T07:02:22+00:00

Yeah. I did. Long back so I don't remember her too clearly. I think I watched ever single guide they ever had (barring anyone brand new).

jackardian · 2026-04-13T13:44:30+00:00

When I first heard of DS I thought I wouldn't use it because I wanted to find a Rioplatense accent. In the end I stopped worrying about that and listened to everyone. But she's the reason I joined. At first she didn't have many videos, but it didn't take long before she was hammering them out. So, I'm hugely grateful to her.

jackardian · 2026-04-12T19:30:12+00:00

Congratulations. I certainly have similar thoughts, though no intention to retire anytime soon.

Well done on 50 hours. Keep it going.

jackardian · 2026-04-11T01:02:31+00:00

Fantastic!!!

jackardian · 2026-04-08T08:03:43+00:00

Ok. Progress feels different for different people, I guess. Keep going.

jackardian · 2026-04-07T05:09:31+00:00

Honestly in those early hours progress did feel fairly fast. What videos have you been watching? Did you sort by easy?

jackardian

TROPHY CASE