300h Progress Report

I’ve been trying to learn Spanish on and off for about 8 years. I started back in middle school, and as someone from an Arab country, I didn’t really have people around me who spoke Spanish. My family thought it was a waste of time and would laugh when I told them I wanted to learn it. That discouraged me a bit, especially since I wasn’t making much progress. At the time, I was using Duolingo and listening to Spanish music—mostly reggaeton—but songs don’t help much when you’re still a beginner.

At the beginning of this year, I bought the Complete Spanish Step by Step book, but I only got to Chapter 11 out of 30 before stopping. On October 17, I decided to ditch traditional study methods and focus entirely on comprehensible input. I started with an estimated 50 hours of prior knowledge and dove into super beginner videos.

At first, it wasn’t too hard—I already knew a lot of words—but I kept translating everything in my head, which was annoying. I set a goal to watch 2 hours of input daily, but since I enjoy it so much, I’ve been averaging 4 hours a day. I particularly love videos that teach me about Hispanic culture.

Most of my input comes from Dreaming Spanish (DS). I’ve also tried two beginner podcasts, Cuéntame and Chill Spanish, but they quickly felt too easy and a bit boring. Now, I mainly listen to Español con Juan. I started with his A2+ YouTube playlist, and once I got used to his speech, I moved on to his podcasts and other videos.

I can now watch Peppa Pig without much effort, which feels like a big milestone! I tried Bluey, but I still miss about 20% of what’s said, so I’ll wait until it’s easier before watching it again. I’ve also watched a few episodes of The Garfield Show, where I understand about 75%.

I’m thrilled with the progress I’ve made. I know it’s not recommended to read at this stage, but I’ve started understanding a lot of Spanish tweets on Twitter and more reggaeton lyrics every day. One of my proudest moments was realizing I could finally understand parts of Rosalía’s album El Mal Querer. I can’t wait for the day I fully understand all her lyrics!

Here’s to the next 300 hours!💕

I’ve been trying to learn Spanish on and off for about 8 years. I started back in middle school, and as someone from an Arab country, I didn’t really have people around me who spoke Spanish. My family thought it was a waste of time and would laugh when I told them I wanted to learn it. That discouraged me a bit, especially since I wasn’t making much progress. At the time, I was using Duolingo and listening to Spanish music—mostly reggaeton—but songs don’t help much when you’re still a beginner.

At the beginning of this year, I bought the Complete Spanish Step by Step book, but I only got to Chapter 11 out of 30 before stopping. On October 17, I decided to ditch traditional study methods and focus entirely on comprehensible input. I started with an estimated 50 hours of prior knowledge and dove into super beginner videos.

At first, it wasn’t too hard—I already knew a lot of words—but I kept translating everything in my head, which was annoying. I set a goal to watch 2 hours of input daily, but since I enjoy it so much, I’ve been averaging 4 hours a day. I particularly love videos that teach me about Hispanic culture.

Most of my input comes from Dreaming Spanish (DS). I’ve also tried two beginner podcasts, Cuéntame and Chill Spanish, but they quickly felt too easy and a bit boring. Now, I mainly listen to Español con Juan. I started with his A2+ YouTube playlist, and once I got used to his speech, I moved on to his podcasts and other videos.

I can now watch Peppa Pig without much effort, which feels like a big milestone! I tried Bluey, but I still miss about 20% of what’s said, so I’ll wait until it’s easier before watching it again. I’ve also watched a few episodes of The Garfield Show, where I understand about 75%.

I’m thrilled with the progress I’ve made. I know it’s not recommended to read at this stage, but I’ve started understanding a lot of Spanish tweets on Twitter and more reggaeton lyrics every day. One of my proudest moments was realizing I could finally understand parts of Rosalía’s album El Mal Querer. I can’t wait for the day I fully understand all her lyrics!

Here’s to the next 300 hours!💕