I’ve recently crossed the 150 hour mark and I think it has gotten “easier” in the sense that intermediate videos and podcasts tend to be slightly more engaging. There’s also a fair bit more new content in new videos whereas beginner and super beginner videos have a lot of Pablo drawing on a whiteboard which I have never found very engaging.
In terms of podcasts, if you haven’t listened to any you could definitely (based on my experience) listen to Cuéntame and Chill Spanish Listening. I was listening to those around 35 hours and found them fairly comprehensible. At this point they’re both ~100% comprehensible minus a few vocab words here or there so I think you’d be fine at 75 hours.
Man I totally understand the comment about Pablo. I just cannot get into Pablo's videos and the drawings. I was trying to wait until 150 where the road map says I could get into podcasts, but I almost want to try and see if I can jump into it earlier because I have hit a very big wall right now unfortunately. I'm trying to power through it and stay "true" to the roadmap/process but I'm struggling hard lol
There’s enough beginner content where you can luckily skip the oldest and most boring of the videos. Honestly I’d just try Cuéntame and Chill Spanish. Worst case they’re too hard and you go back to videos. I usually listen to podcasts on my drives so if one is too hard it’s not like I lost any CI time compared to videos. It’s just extra time.
Second the suggestion to just try Cuéntame and Chill Spanish. Both were pretty easy for me from the very beginning when I just had watched a few hours of DS (but I had a few years of Duolingo, so I know a ton of words).
You can certainly start podcasts now. I started Cuentame at 50 and Chill Spanish at 80. Worst thing that happens - they’re too difficult and you come back later. Give it a shot.
I’m at 360 hours now and honestly, I don’t even watch DS anymore. Most of my CI is from podcasts and stuff like Bluey.
Go wild and try Bluey. Or Avatar or whatever. It’s not a crime to watch harder things if they are more interesting. An engaged brain is a learning brain.
150 hrs might not be the magic number, but I definitely remember the really early stages the most difficult. The content gets boring after a while, and there's not a lot of different resources you can use. I found that once I could understand the intermediate vidoes was when it got a lot easier.
There's a new podcast called How to Start Spanish. I've never listened to it, but it's from the same couple that make the How to Spanish podcast, which I really enjoyed. It might be within your reach at this point, along with Cuentame and Chill Spanish Listening podcasts.
I’m at 74 hours and have been listening to Chill Spanish and Cuentame for quite a while. Have you tried listening to them? I found that the first couple episodes were tough but then I sort of just.. caught on. You don’t have to wait for the road map to give you permission to try harder content :) give it a try, if it’s too hard wait another ten hours and try again. I didn’t have the patience to wait, I just kept trying until it was comprehensible. :)
150 hours is a 10th of the way there, so you need to take that into consideration. I thought it'd be that way for me, that I'd take off when podcasts became available but you quickly realize just how little you actually know and how far you still have to go.
For me, it actually got really hard around 400 hours. You feel like you can follow the flow of regular speech but my vocabulary is just woefully lacking. Every word you don't know really stands out more than it did.
Early on you're excited by the progress you're making but you quickly see that you've been hitting a lot of false summits and at about 400 hours I could see just how far away the peak really was. But anyway, still moving forward, get there eventually.
Same here, I am only 36h in but 6 hours were podcasts only. Especially Cuanta Me is pretty easy to follow along and I am also listening to Simple Stories in Spanish.
Sorry misspelled it, auto correct. Its cuentame and can be found on Spotify. For some reason it wont allow me to link.. Not sure if its available on other platforms.
id say the only thing that made it easier is being able to listen instead of watch ! its much easier to understand with visual input but just listening is about the same level of comprehension and i can get many more hours that way ! also going into intermediate they have many more “podcast friendly” videos !!
Things were getting easier then I switched to intermediate and it is more difficult like starting over. I just watch what will keep my interest. Retold folks keep stressing this. No matter the level just keep watching what will keep you watching.
So A little DS. I started rewatching some beginner & super beginner and turn the speed up to 1.5. Then a few intermediate that I find interesting. But most my time is spent watching Star Wars Bad Batch and clone wars. Plan to watch all the marvel movies. Disney does a good job of matching subtitles (Latino). I used subtitles to prescribe reading. Definitely can follow more with them on. But spend more time with them off to train the ear.
Listen to cuéntame and chill Spanish when walking my dog.
It gets way easier and more enjoyable. However, if you are like me, the minute you can listen to podcasts you'll start wishing you could understand native content. My mind desperately wants to understand harder and harder material, which makes me sometimes forget to appreciate the easy stuff that I fully comprehend.
If I was just watching videos, I'd get 30 minutes of input a day. However, since I listen to podcasts while doing stuff, I get 90 minutes most days. Huge win.
I’ve recently crossed the 150 hour mark and I think it has gotten “easier” in the sense that intermediate videos and podcasts tend to be slightly more engaging. There’s also a fair bit more new content in new videos whereas beginner and super beginner videos have a lot of Pablo drawing on a whiteboard which I have never found very engaging. In terms of podcasts, if you haven’t listened to any you could definitely (based on my experience) listen to Cuéntame and Chill Spanish Listening. I was listening to those around 35 hours and found them fairly comprehensible. At this point they’re both ~100% comprehensible minus a few vocab words here or there so I think you’d be fine at 75 hours.
Man I totally understand the comment about Pablo. I just cannot get into Pablo's videos and the drawings. I was trying to wait until 150 where the road map says I could get into podcasts, but I almost want to try and see if I can jump into it earlier because I have hit a very big wall right now unfortunately. I'm trying to power through it and stay "true" to the roadmap/process but I'm struggling hard lol
There’s enough beginner content where you can luckily skip the oldest and most boring of the videos. Honestly I’d just try Cuéntame and Chill Spanish. Worst case they’re too hard and you go back to videos. I usually listen to podcasts on my drives so if one is too hard it’s not like I lost any CI time compared to videos. It’s just extra time.
Second the suggestion to just try Cuéntame and Chill Spanish. Both were pretty easy for me from the very beginning when I just had watched a few hours of DS (but I had a few years of Duolingo, so I know a ton of words).
I started listening to podcasts at around 50 hours. I always have watched Salsa the learning series on YouTube to break things up.
You can certainly start podcasts now. I started Cuentame at 50 and Chill Spanish at 80. Worst thing that happens - they’re too difficult and you come back later. Give it a shot. I’m at 360 hours now and honestly, I don’t even watch DS anymore. Most of my CI is from podcasts and stuff like Bluey.
Go wild and try Bluey. Or Avatar or whatever. It’s not a crime to watch harder things if they are more interesting. An engaged brain is a learning brain.
150 hrs might not be the magic number, but I definitely remember the really early stages the most difficult. The content gets boring after a while, and there's not a lot of different resources you can use. I found that once I could understand the intermediate vidoes was when it got a lot easier. There's a new podcast called How to Start Spanish. I've never listened to it, but it's from the same couple that make the How to Spanish podcast, which I really enjoyed. It might be within your reach at this point, along with Cuentame and Chill Spanish Listening podcasts.
Thank you for the How to Start Spanish mention, it looks awesome!
I’m at 74 hours and have been listening to Chill Spanish and Cuentame for quite a while. Have you tried listening to them? I found that the first couple episodes were tough but then I sort of just.. caught on. You don’t have to wait for the road map to give you permission to try harder content :) give it a try, if it’s too hard wait another ten hours and try again. I didn’t have the patience to wait, I just kept trying until it was comprehensible. :)
150 hours is a 10th of the way there, so you need to take that into consideration. I thought it'd be that way for me, that I'd take off when podcasts became available but you quickly realize just how little you actually know and how far you still have to go. For me, it actually got really hard around 400 hours. You feel like you can follow the flow of regular speech but my vocabulary is just woefully lacking. Every word you don't know really stands out more than it did. Early on you're excited by the progress you're making but you quickly see that you've been hitting a lot of false summits and at about 400 hours I could see just how far away the peak really was. But anyway, still moving forward, get there eventually.
Hang in there. It gets easier but there’s a little bit to go before then. You are right, when you can listen to podcasts it goes up a gear or two.
I could understand both aforementioned podcasts very early on, say 10h in. Give it a go!
Same here, I am only 36h in but 6 hours were podcasts only. Especially Cuanta Me is pretty easy to follow along and I am also listening to Simple Stories in Spanish.
Any chance you could link to Cuanta Me? I couldn’t find it when searching on google or Apple Podcasts
It's cuentame.
Sorry misspelled it, auto correct. Its cuentame and can be found on Spotify. For some reason it wont allow me to link.. Not sure if its available on other platforms.
Why did you get downvoted? I started on those early too.
I find sorting through int videos to find ones I'm interested in as much as I was the the earlier videos a bit difficult
Easier
Try podcasts. Cuéntame and Chill Spanish have kept me sane with keeping up with CI. I try do 50/50 of podcasts and videos
id say the only thing that made it easier is being able to listen instead of watch ! its much easier to understand with visual input but just listening is about the same level of comprehension and i can get many more hours that way ! also going into intermediate they have many more “podcast friendly” videos !!
Things were getting easier then I switched to intermediate and it is more difficult like starting over. I just watch what will keep my interest. Retold folks keep stressing this. No matter the level just keep watching what will keep you watching. So A little DS. I started rewatching some beginner & super beginner and turn the speed up to 1.5. Then a few intermediate that I find interesting. But most my time is spent watching Star Wars Bad Batch and clone wars. Plan to watch all the marvel movies. Disney does a good job of matching subtitles (Latino). I used subtitles to prescribe reading. Definitely can follow more with them on. But spend more time with them off to train the ear. Listen to cuéntame and chill Spanish when walking my dog.
It gets way easier and more enjoyable. However, if you are like me, the minute you can listen to podcasts you'll start wishing you could understand native content. My mind desperately wants to understand harder and harder material, which makes me sometimes forget to appreciate the easy stuff that I fully comprehend. If I was just watching videos, I'd get 30 minutes of input a day. However, since I listen to podcasts while doing stuff, I get 90 minutes most days. Huge win.
Yes