1700 hour update
Hello everyone! Long time lurker and occasional poster (never as much as I intended to). I wanted to share my journey, create a bit of an AMA and share my fave resources that have helped me get here. Bit of a long post incoming!
First, I’ll give an overview of my Spanish journey. Then, I'll give an update of where my understanding, speaking, reading, and writing are today. Finally, at the bottom is my resources list.
History of my Spanish learning
I spent an hour on Duolingo once in early 2023. Then I went to Spain for a few weeks for a job. I loved it and decided I wanted to move back and learn Spanish. The same day I found Dreaming Spanish and decided to sign up for premium to hold me accountable. I started DS in February 2023 and didn’t use any other methods.
I did a lot of crosstalk at the beginning of 2023 with a language exchange partner I found online, watched lots of DS and listened to a lot of podcasts.
I moved to Spain at the end of 2023 with 300 hours, which was enough to get by (kind of, but not really…), with heavy reliance on Google Translate. Juggling working, studying and other commitments has meant that over the last three years I’ve had mixed levels of commitments, e.g. a month of three hours of input every day followed by weeks where maybe I got none.
Whilst living in Spain I have worked in a position where I speak English, meaning that my Spanish has maybe progressed slower than one would expect from immersion. I have used Spanish in daily life but in very limited interactions, as many of my friends/roommates spoke good English or wanted to practice it.
In the middle of 2025 I finally hit 1000 hours. I started watching TV shows made for native speakers, started talking much more and also attended my first Spanish classes on WorldsAccross. I went to WA classes for a month over the summer whilst I had fewer work/study commitments. I almost exclusively attended speaking classes and requested not to do grammar, but occasionally still had a grammar-focused class. I felt my confidence in speaking improve, gaining fluidity and the ability to talk about many topics, but I still probably didn’t improve my grammatical ability.
I finally hit 1500 hours in December 2025. I have definitely speed run during some periods and also had months where I almost completely stopped. My advice would be consistency is definitely the way, but also at times impossible due to external commitments. So, if you take a break, come back (even if it's a long break).
Today I have 1755 hours of input to be exact and 490,000 words read. It’s impossible to say how much speaking practice I have, but I would guess close to 400 hours which includes speaking, crosstalk and my month on WorldsAcross. The speaking is all included in the 1752 hours input.
Where I am at with understanding
I can understand at a pretty high level. I have been watching Spanish TV shows for almost a year and have found that I now understand so much more than I could at the beginning. Whilst I’ll still miss many jokes, I rarely miss anything else. In conversations I rarely have problems with understanding, but often do with my speaking. My main problem with understanding is occasionally I struggle with pronouns and don’t get who is being spoken about (he likes me vs I like him, that sort of thing). I have listened to a lot of Spanish from Spain but have never tried to limit my exposure to other accents. In terms of youtubers I listen to Spanish from other countries, but TV is exclusively Spanish.
Where I am at with speaking
I only started regularly speaking 10 months ago. Previously, I spoke daily but in very limited contexts and in short interactions. There were a few exceptions, such as random talks with people on public transport.
I started speaking with my partner last year. I was very nervous and for a few months we spoke maybe an hour a week. After a month on WorldsAcross we started speaking more. Now, we speak in Spanish a few days a week. I am trying to speak more in Spanish, but because most of my Spanish friends speak English (and their English is 1000x better than my Spanish), it feels a bit unnatural to switch.
Overall, how is my speaking?
Honestly, not as good as I would hope! I can express almost anything I would like, but I still have large issues with my grammar, but am told that they are not barriers to me being understood. I frequently get gender and singular/plural wrong, and almost always use the incorrect verb tense, except for the present.
My idea now is to increase my reading and I will change tactics if after 1 million words I have not improved.
Where I am at with reading
I have now read 490,000 words. I started off with several books from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Then, I read another few books for younger kids, progressing to Wonder which was a great book, although retrospectively I would’ve read it a bit later as some of the sentences are quite complex.
I just finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I read the first Harry Potter by myself, and then a friend suggested an audiobook. I read the second and the third whilst listening. I have found that it helps me keep a steadier pace compared to when I read alone, when I tend to go back and reread sentences.
Where I am at with writing
I can write any text messages but I always check them with a translation. I still make a lot of mistakes. I don’t write anything else at this moment.
Best parts of the journey (the highs!)
- The DS meetup in BCN in June last year – what an amazing and incredibly surreal experience that was! I apologise to anyone I met, as I was definitely kind of awkward but internally freaking out.
- Doing Brazilian jiu jitsu classes for a month last year. I found that my Spanish was more than adequate for understanding the class but not enough to confidently participate in small talk (win some, lose some).
- Visiting my friend in her village for a few days last summer, playing games in Spanish and losing many consecutive rounds of cards.
- Having WorldsAcross classes with other people from DS including pickypenguin which was very cool! Legend!
- Random chats with people on the metro that leave me buzzing for the rest of the day. Loving that I am now at a level where I can connect with people even though I am nervous.
- Finally having a month-long streak where I hit my daily goal every day of the month (only happened this year).
- Navigating a broad range of experiences in Spanish including my first ever emergency room visit this week (not exactly a high but good to know I was able to handle it).
Struggles I have had or still have (the lows!)
- Confidence: In English I am what the Gen Zs call a yapper. I talk a lot to whoever about whatever, am generally very confident socially and love to joke. I think for me this has been a double edged sword when it comes to Spanish: on the one hand, I speak a bit faster in Spanish than someone of my level normally might; riddled with grammatical errors but at a decent speed. On the other hand, because I (thankfully) tend to feel comfortable socially, the fact I feel uncomfortable speaking Spanish has given me a healthy dose of humility. This means that I feel maybe more awkward than I have ever felt before.
- For some reason whenever I have a long conversation in Spanish that I didn’t anticipateI sweat like you wouldn’t believe.
- My grammar is an absolute mess. Have loved the CI method but the downfall is you don’t know what you don’t know. No amount of thinking helps me to pick the correct verb tense form. When I make a mistake I rarely fix it.
My favourite resources:
I have below my recommendations for Youtube, TV and Podcasts. My top faves are in bold.
Youtube
I will try to group them from easiest to hardest: (these are just my favourites, but I have more if anyone wants!)
CocinandoCorea
LuisitoComunica
Cocina con Conqui
Carolette Martin
Alex Tienda
Diegodoal
Mami Vegana
Judith Trial
Anthropococo
Ibai
La Hiperactiva
Gerard Alvaré
TV Shows
First, I watched dubbed content. I started with Avatar the last Airbender (watched all of it). Then a bit of One Day at a Time, The Good Place and all of Friends. Friends I think was a good dubbed show to watch, as there is so much of it that by the end you are more ready to watch native TV. I started Friends at around 700-800 hours.
Native TV
Aqui No Hay Quien Viva: Maybe my favourite show of all time. I started last May and only just finished last week.
Machos Alfa: Hilarious and written/directed by the same people as Aquí No Hay Quien Viva. Very keen for the new season.
Jugando con Fuego: Watched both the Spanish and Latino season.
Paquita Salas: Watched all of it but didn’t like it as much as the two above. I think many of the jokes rely on more cultural knowledge/context. I still enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as the others. They also speak Spanish faster than I've ever heard on another show.
La Revuelta: Have only watched a few episodes but want to watch much more.
Podcasts
Beginner
- Cuéntame: (she says the same script twice per episode, first slowly and occasionally translating a word, and the second time at a faster speed). So you can always just listen to the easier or harder version. I would say this is the easiest podcast I know of. I was listening to it about 3 years ago and finished all that she had uploaded at that point.
- Unlimited Spanish podcast with Oscar: Have listened to almost 20 episodes or so of this podcast and I liked it!
Intermediate
- Español con Juan: Have listened to heaps of him (55 hours in 2023 alone, according to my Spotify Wrapped, lol), so he would be one of the podcasts I've listened to the most. I find him pretty good as he repeats himself well and is quite funny. He is also still entertaining at a more advanced level. I still occasionally listen to him now if I am cooking or doing a task where I can listen but wouldn’t be able to focus on a native podcast.
- Intermediate Spanish podcast: Spanish Language Coach. It’s by a guy called César, who has several other podcasts. I have listened to his intermediate and advanced ones a lot. Love them, as they’re on a wide variety of topics and tend to be very interesting.
Advanced
- Advanced Spanish Podcast: Spanish Language Coach.
This is César’s advanced podcast, which I love, and the topic is different each time. He often has guests. When he chooses a specific theme for the episode, it's well researched.
- Más que Historias - Stories to Improve your Spanish: Spanish Language Coach
César, the same host as the Intermediate, Advanced and Spanish for False Beginners Podcasts! Have listened to a few of these and enjoyed them. He discusses and summarises some famous texts.
- Hoy Hablamos: Listened to quite a few of these, and they can be pretty difficult at times as they speak quickly, but enjoy them as they do a short podcast every day on a vast array of topics.
Native
- Malditos Veganos: Only started this podcast recently but I love it! Very funny but also covers many topics related to being vegan.
- Tenia la Duda: Absolute Favourite! Each week Judith Tiral interviews a guest (anyone, from a cardiologist to someone who works with chimpanzees) and asks all the questions you would want to ask if you were sitting there. A huge range of guests and she is a fantastic host. I learn so much from this podcast I forget I'm actually listening to learn Spanish. She posts 20 mins of each podcast free on YouTube. The full podcast (usually about an hour) is available on an app called Podimo (message me for a code which gives you two month subscription for free). This podcast is slightly easier than “No es el fin del Mundo”.
- El Verdadero Robo del Siglo: Listened to this one about a year ago. Only about 8 episodes from memory but super interesting!
- No es el fin del Mundo: I like this podcast but it's definitely pretty hard. Very interesting and about different geopolitical issues around the world. Has a panel cast which for me is harder to follow or sometimes people are speaking at the same time but I am excited to listen to this podcast more.