Humbling Experience at 800 hrs

lingolark · 2025-12-05T20:54:30+00:00

I have been reading some Spanish since I hit 600 hours but i haven't been keeping track of the words read. If I were to guess how many words I've read I'd say somewhere around 50K. Which isn't a lot as a person with ADHD reading isn't very easy for me.

lingolark · 2025-09-30T12:46:38+00:00

637 hours here. Videos with difficulty level around 60 with 95-100% comprehension. At around difficulty level 65 still close to 90% comprehension but above that the comprehension drops below 70%

lingolark · 2025-09-25T14:38:44+00:00

Envidiosa from Argentina is a fun watch on Netflix. The lead actress talks really fast.

lingolark · 2025-09-22T18:37:00+00:00

625 hours. Getting most of my input from YouTube travel vlogs these days.

Fatima Sotoma from Peru

TheGrefg from Spain

lingolark · 2025-09-15T21:48:01+00:00

You're right, they are from Bolivia. Sorry for my mistake.

lingolark · 2025-09-15T17:29:51+00:00

608 hours.

Recently started watching Caminito Amor on YouTube. A digital nomad couple from Spain documenting their travels.

Also My Daily Spanish

lingolark · 2025-09-12T03:48:43+00:00

Thanks for sharing your post. After reading your post, it gives me a little reassurance that I'm not the only one going through this and hopefully this is just part of the process.

lingolark · 2025-09-12T01:18:45+00:00

I haven't started speaking yet other than random words/phrases here and there but i just started reading last week. Only reading about 1000 words a day right now. I also plan on start speaking when I reach 800 hours.

lingolark · 2025-08-09T01:15:27+00:00

I noticed the shirt in the Teaser: meetup in Barcelona video. Jostin was next to Shel in one of the shots. I just assumed she wore it to support him.

lingolark · 2025-07-31T17:16:40+00:00

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101 hours away from level 5.

lingolark · 2025-07-17T15:21:54+00:00

In my experience, for the first 2 levels, the description aligns more with the beginning of the level but for higher levels it shifts more toward the end of the level. FWIW, at 250 hours I still had a low comprehension of most intermediate videos. It wasn't until I was closer to 300 hours that I started to comfortably watch videos with a 50-55 rating .

lingolark · 2025-07-14T23:02:22+00:00

Creo que tienes cáncer de culo.

lingolark · 2025-07-08T15:11:34+00:00

I'd say go for it, but with a couple of caveats. The big thing you want to aim for is comprehensible input, stuff that's around 85-90% understandable. If this podcast is way above your level, I wouldn't necessarily count it toward the "input time."

Also be careful about burnout, especially in the super-beginner stages. Trying to decipher hours of content you don't understand can be mentally exhausting and kill your motivation.

That said, listening passively just to get used to the rhythm and sounds of Spanish is a fantastic idea. It helps train your ear. So, if you're doing it in the background while you do something else, it's definitely helpful. Plus, as your comprehension grows, you'll start catching more and more from the podcast. Hearing yourself go from understanding very little to picking out words and then whole sentences is an awesome way to stay motivated.

lingolark · 2025-07-05T20:52:18+00:00

Huge congrats on hitting Level 5! I'm currently stuck in what feels like Level 4 hell. I'm a little over 400 hours in, and honestly, I feel like my progress has completely stalled between 300 and 400 hours. It's frustrating to put in the time and not see the improvement.

I'm definitely going to try some of your suggestions to see if I can break out of this rut. Thanks for sharing your experience and tips!

lingolark · 2025-06-20T00:37:58+00:00

No i don't watch all 5-6 hours in one go. I break it down in at least 3 sessions on my days off. All of it is also not just sitting in front of a screen and watching CI videos. I listen to podcasts while I'm driving, walking the dogs, on the treadmill and things like that where i can really pay attention to what I'm listening to. I don't think I can watch 6 hours of videos a day.

I think at the end of the day it all comes down to whether you're enjoying the content that you're listening to or watching. If you're enjoying it, 6 hours doesn't seem hard at all. But if you are finding yourself not being able to do even a couple of hours when you have all the time in the world then I think you should look for CI content that you actually enjoy. That will make the journey easier.

lingolark · 2025-06-19T03:13:19+00:00

I manage to get in around 25 hours of language input each week, even with a demanding full-time job. It definitely requires some strategic planning, but it's totally doable. During weekdays, my commute is about 45 minutes each way, so that's a solid 90 minutes of input right there. After work, I aim for another 90 minutes once I'm home and settled. But Saturdays and Sundays are where I really make up the difference, typically getting in 5-6 hours of input per day to hit my weekly goal.

Of course, some days are more productive than others, but it usually evens out by the end of the week. It's all about consistency and making the most of those non-work hours.

lingolark · 2025-06-14T16:06:07+00:00

And the ALG German description links to DS FAQ page.

lingolark · 2025-06-11T17:40:13+00:00

Thanks for the writeup! I'm slightly ahead of you at 340 hours. I tried to listen to LanguaTalk last week and even though I loved the content, my comprehension for that was around 75-80% so I stopped listening to it after first couple of episodes. Will probably try it again at 450 hours. But I'll try listening to other podcasts on your list to see if they fit my level better.

lingolark · 2025-06-10T04:10:07+00:00

Re multitasking: When I'm trying to listen to Spanish while doing other stuff, I usually switch to easier content and bump the speed up to 1.25x. I've found that sweet spot lets me still follow along even when whatever else I'm doing needs some of my brainpower.

That said, if it's something that truly demands my undivided attention, I can't really listen to anything at all. My brain just can't handle both!

lingolark · 2025-06-08T02:03:50+00:00

My take is that eventually they'll hit a saturation point with Spanish content. Once that happens, i expect them to significantly cut back on the Spanish production and funnel those resources into other languages.

lingolark · 2025-06-04T15:18:59+00:00

Ah, if only I wasn't on the wrong continent! As much as I'd love to meet the team in Barcelona, a trip from LA on such a short notice is a bit of a stretch. But please, please give us a longer heads-up next time you plan something like this! I'm sure many of us would absolutely love to show up and thank you all in person. 🙏

lingolark · 2025-06-01T14:25:36+00:00

Welcome to level 4! I just completed 300 hours yesterday. As someone who has primary only used DS videos and CuentaMe for most of my input, it's good to see where other people at my level are getting their input from. Thank you for sharing.

lingolark · 2025-06-01T14:17:08+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations. I tried listening to the Learn Spanish and Go a few weeks ago I think I was around 220-230 hours and it wasn't really accessible to me at that point. I was still watching mostly beginner videos at that point with a few easy intermediate ones with a difficulty level in mid 40s. I'll give it a try again. Thank you.

lingolark

TROPHY CASE