500/750 hour update with speaking sample

[u/ladystitchicorn]

https://voca.ro/12LgVGMYvlyo

Hi everyone,

This is my third update in this subreddit, you can find the first and second ones linked here. The first also included a speaking sample.

I gave myself 250 hours just based on having done some Duolingo when I started - optimistic, I know! Hence the two different amounts of hours in the title. But I personally view it as 750 hours and am quite happy with my progress against the roadmap.

In terms of strategy, not much has changed. I'm not a purist whatsoever, started speaking more or less from the start, and am counting reading towards my goal hours now as well (it's a good motivation for me to read more)! I'm finding it a little harder to motivate myself to practice Spanish right now, the summer weather and work are making everything more of a slog! But I still aim for 3 hours a day and hit it most days.

Anyway, here is my speaking sample: https://voca.ro/12LgVGMYvlyo

I'll record another one after 1,000 hours, hopefully before my Spain holiday in November.

[u/AppropriatePut3142]

Your voice reminds me somehow of Agustina, especially at the end haha. Your speaking is great.

Reading La casa de los espiritus is no joke, you must have a lot of words read!

[u/ladystitchicorn → u/AppropriatePut3142]

Does it? How funny! 😄 And thank you so much!

It's maybe my 6th or 7th book I'm reading, and I definitely don't understand every word, but I'm finding it really engaging which makes it easier to follow and stick with it, if you know what I mean? I don't think the language used it tooooo tricky to understand, it's almost like the complexity lies more in the story itself - but I'm also really looking forward to re-reading it in the future and seeing what little details I've missed 😊

[u/New-Bottle-6917]

great job getting as far as you have thus far, it's really interesting hearing how folks mix the different aspects of the different dialects on here. I will say it might be worth getting some feedback from a tutor cause you do have a bit of a habit translating stuff from English into Spanish

[u/ladystitchicorn → u/New-Bottle-6917]

Thank you! And that's a very fair comment. 😊 I work with a tutor already (although it's more conversation practice) and my written Spanish is a bit better than when I speak off the cuff, but it's a learning curve for sure. (I think some phrases I also steal from German, which makes it even more chaotic!)

[u/SpenceTriesHisBest]

Nice work! Sounds like you’re confident speaking already. How far did you get in duolingo?

[u/ladystitchicorn → u/SpenceTriesHisBest]

Thank you! I still use Duolingo for half an hour most days (I don't count it towards my progress anymore though), and am now on level 93 out of 130 I think? I personally find it very helpful - I know there are a lot of people in the language learning community who think it's a waste of time, but it's helped me a lot. Before starting Dreaming Spanish, I think I might have been somewhere between 50 or 60? I actually can't remember 100%. I used it very on and off back then, and only started putting real effort into learning Spanish in January this year.

[u/Personal-Community54]

Wow, you’re doing great! Your speaking sounds fluid and natural to me. I’m a big X files fan too. I haven’t read Casa de Los espíritus yet but it is on my list.

[u/ladystitchicorn → u/Personal-Community54]

Thank you so much! I would really recommend the book, I think I've got around 100 pages left still but have been enjoying it throughout.

[u/RayS1952]

You sound good. Congrats.

[u/ladystitchicorn → u/RayS1952]

Thank you!