Hola a todos 👋
This is my end of September update where I share my progress with Spanish.
We’re going to see whether I’ve achieved my goals from the previous month, as well as declare my next goals moving forward to October.
Updating and sharing one’s progress is a great way to hold oneself accountable. And I would appreciate it if you’re willing to share yours, wherever you may be in the journey, by leaving a comment below.
Anyway, let’s get the update started.
September Update
My main method of learning Spanish is through immersion.
No, I’m not in Spain or Mexico to immerse. I simply picked up Spanish content online to immerse on. For simplicity purposes, I decided to use Dreaming Spanish to get comprehensible input in Spanish.
Back in August, I decided that I won’t be setting any goals yet, since I’m still getting a feel for how much I could do. So let’s see what happened.
My total Spanish immersion for September has been: 74 hours & 40 minutes.
This averages out to 2.49 hours per day, or basically almost 2½ hours.
I summed up the numbers above from the Dreaming Spanish tracker and got the total time from there.
From the way it looks, it’s pretty safe to conclude that I can sustain 1 hour a day very well.
In the Dreaming Spanish roadmap, I already reached Level 3, which is 150 hours in total accumulated time. I achieved it this September, and by the end of the month I’ve exceeded just above 170 hours in total.
So how am I in terms of ABILITY?
Slowly but surely, I start uncovering grammar bit by bit, acquiring it one rule at a time. The same goes with vocabulary, wherein I still discover new words despite knowing a lot from English and Tagalog.
It’s also funny how I’m starting to utter or whisper some Spanish. Is it the prelude to doing output in Spanish? lol
In terms of reading skill, I haven’t started reading yet. I may encounter Spanish text from video games or through some subtitles or YouTube headlines/thumbnails. This is already helpful in order to get a sense of how words are spelled.
But the more important change I’ve observed is how easier it gets to immerse more in Spanish. Ever since getting back to momentum, I’m having less problems with picking up new Spanish content, which further boosts my immersion time.
Speaking of picking up content, I begin to discover external resources outside of Dreaming Spanish. The community has been so helpful for suggesting content ideas to immerse on. I started searching on YouTube especially on specific topics that I’m curious of immersing on.
Goals for October
Moving forward and carrying this momentum, what then could be some realistic goals for October?
Immerse 1 Hour a Day – I’m now capable of sustaining 1 hour per day in comprehensible input. That’s why I’ll declare this habitual goal for the month of October.
Finish All Beginner Videos in Dreaming Spanish – I would estimate that the total time of Superbeginner and Beginner videos at Dreaming Spanish to be attainable at around 230 hours or more. That’s why I’m so excited to finish everything so that finally, and officially, graduate to Intermediate videos, where things get a little bit fast and have lesser cues.
Get to 300 Hours Total – Dreaming Spanish does a great job tracking my overall milestone. That’s why I’m motivated to get to the next level at DS, which is Level 4 or 300 hours. It would be nice if I get it this October.
Explore and Try Reading – at this point I can begin to read already, so I may as well start with beginner material such as graded readers and short stories in Spanish. Inserting it bit by bit is my minimal strategy for now.
More Community Interaction – especially at the DS Discord where I get a lot of motivation to keep going, I want to hang out there more and support other people there as well.
That’s all the goals I could think for now. At least for the month of October.
Thanks for reading until the end. Let me know too where you are in your Spanish journey, let’s talk about it in the comments.
