Gracias Pablo! Does Dreaming Spanish work in the real world?!?!

We went through a lot, you guys! Super stressful and through it all, we are grateful to be here in Spain.
Through tough times come tough lessons. We learned a few lessons so far on this journey.
Comprehensibe Input saved us and we are grateful to Pablo and the Dreaming Spanish team!
www.dreamingspanish.com
Thanks for watching and sharing our experience!

[@TinOfBeans321]

Proud of you guys! This is the great thing about when you have little to no choice, you realise you understand a lot more than you think :)

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

I know! I was so proud of Gregory for telling the police officer to just speak in Spanish!

[@languagelearningdabbler]

Whew! What a rollercoaster! Glad it all worked out!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

En serio!!! It was a very stressful time!

[@seanatalavera3301]

It sounds like baptism by fire 🔥 keep up the good work!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

haha! So true! Thank you!

[@ericgruendyke4377]

All those situations (lost passport, sick on vacation, upset train patrons) are frustrating enough in English, huge props for getting through it in Spanish. It’s stories like this that get me excited about pressing on in DS. Your videos are so encouraging.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Someone said Greg didn't have to lose his passport to prove he knows more Spanish hahaha! It's like the KZbin gods said, Oh, you need content...I'll give you content LOL! Thank you for the comment....happy learning!

[@alb91878]

​@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6utoh my God that is so hilarious!😂😂😂 Well if anything's going to encourage you or cement the lesson, it's going to be panic and fear! Lol!

[@nickblooruk]

Really pleased for you guys for a number of reasons. 1) It seemed like you were really discouraged last video (or maybe the one before - Feeling defeated). I often feel this way, when I listen to my French and it's almost like I don't understand anything. They fact that when you "switched to Spanish" with the police officer, you were able to "easily communicate" compared to communicating in "English" is a testament to how far you've come. 2) Your Spanish has come in useful... Having these little challenges that life throws your way forces you to step up. 3) Understanding people around you / instructions etc.... is really cool. 4) Recognising that people want to practice their English. In Spain, they won't have much opportunity to practice English (like you might not have a huge opportunity to practice Spanish in the US - depending on where you live). Recognising that it isn't a snub on your Spanish, but an opportunity for them.. I am greatly encouraged by how far you guys have come. I understand if you (and you may or may not be) are still a bit frustrated when you don't understand everything.. or even sometimes, anything. But I feel that you could perhaps call yourselves "bilingual' (or more if you speak other languages). You probably will never be completely satisfied where where you are. But it will be in a way, a super fit "gym goer" wants to "work on their legs" etc... as opposed to "someone extremely unfit, wanting to start out". There will always be small improvements. But I am looking forward to seeing more of your journey. Proud of you guys.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Wow!! Thank you so much for writing all this. I love it! I would love to call ourselves Bilingual! You're right, it will be a long time before we are satisfied. We are getting by so much better than the last time we were here so we're encouraged to keep going. Thank you for your comment. It means a lot!

[@alb91878]

I completely agree with this, I felt so bad on that last video because it really felt like they were bummed out and I completely understand! Me as a Puerto Rican not knowing my own language is always really bothered me and I'm 46 and I've been trying to teach myself for a couple of years now maybe even three years now and I still feel most of the time that I don't understand what the heck is going on! Funny enough when I watch dreaming Spanish videos or other videos I understand so much or when I watch Jurassic Park in Spanish or other movies I've watched a number of times in Spanish I understand so much but then I have a conversation with someone and I seem to only know three words, lol.

[@KingT72]

I was looking forward to this update to see how things worked out for you guys with your move and also because I did something similar with my family as we moved to a Spanish speaking country, Costa Rica, but unlike you guys we went in cold, no Spanish training, thinking that would somehow work out. Our arrival was not as 'exciting' as yours but it's good things have worked out. I like that you dropped the Spain 'lisp' when you said farmacia! I am looking foward to your 600 hours update.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

So thankful that your arrival wasn't exciting! haha! We went in pretty cold when we first arrived to Spain last year so we can imagine what you went through!

[@tinynhhouse5467]

I'm glad you made it to Spain safe and sound. I'm sorry about all the passport hassles. I started doing Crosstalk recently and I was amazed that I was able to understand 80 to 90% of what my friend was saying. Dreaming Spanish and CI really do work! Looking forward to hearing about your adventures in Spain! - Dave

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

It does work! We still have soooo much more to learn but we are definitely more comfortable after listening to DS. It's a big difference from last year when we came here.

[@jamesbond-xl3xs]

How many hours have you done to get you to cross talk? Also what is C1? Thanks in advance.

[@tinynhhouse5467]

@@jamesbond-xl3xs I started doing Crosstalk at 1,000 hours but you can do it much sooner. You and your partner might need to draw on paper some things that you are talking about. Search for Dreaming Spanish and Crosstalk; Pablo has several videos about doing Crosstalk. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across the world. The C1 level an advanced level. The person can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning. Can express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.

[@TB-xm4ic]

@@jamesbond-xl3xs crosstalk can be done from day one. You meet with a partner and you speak English, they speak Spanish only. You use print outs (with images of fruit & veg, seasons, colours, times of day or year, body parts etc.) objects, gestures, and drawings so that you can understand each other. You might tell each other stories, or bring a magazine and they go through it describing what’s on the pages, as time goes on and you understand more you can have normal conversations if you like. And CI (not c1) means comprehensible input.

[@jamesbond-xl3xs]

@@TB-xm4ic Thanks for the feedback and edification on this. Very helpful.

[@ajvesp]

Something about you two always makes me smile, you seem like such nice genuine people. Great video guys, i look forward to the next one!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

😭😭🥰🥰😊😊😊 Thank you so much!

[@j-t4436]

They change to English because they’re having a hard time communicating with you. We’ve all been there! That being said, its a good way to measure how much better your spoken Spanish is getting too. The less and less they speak English - that means your Spanish is getting better and better!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

So true!!! on all of it!

[@clairecharmasson-armstrong6256]

Welcome to Spain! (Okay, I’m only here for a couple more days, but you get it.) You’ll be speaking more fluently faster than you know. I’ve made my share of grammar mistakes while here but overall it’s been a success (I was even complimented twice on my Spanish by natives). My advice would be to use as much Spanish as possible and keep watching DS videos. You two have got this!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

That's right! I remember you said you were going to be here! Thank you for the encouragement...it means a lot! Have a safe trip home!

[@alb91878]

You guys this is such a sweet video! I am so sorry that you had to go through all that, I know it had to have been scary! But so proud of you guys! Thank you guys so much for the encouragement! I cannot wait to start my subscription!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Thank you! It was super scary. But we were in it and had no other option. Just super grateful we had Pablo jaja. Glad you're getting the subscription!

[@alb91878]

@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut jajaja, I love that so much! You're very welcome! It's crazy what you're capable of when you have no choice! For as scared as you were, it sounded like you guys really kept your heads together and that's definitely an accomplishment as well!

[@richardbryant3600]

Wow!! I can think of no better way to test whether or not Dreaming Spanish actually works than being thrown right into the fire like you guys were. This is a testament to the benefits of comprehensible input. Thanks for sharing and enjoy the rest of your trip as bilinguals lol...

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

For reals!!! When things settled and we had a chance to just sit there...we looked at each other and Greg said...we have to thank Pablo!

[@terrylwilliams]

I didn't go through the ordeal that you all did. But did go somewhat similar on a trip to Mexico. Our taxi driver spoke very little, if no English. He overshot our destination and I had to get him to stop and turnover, etc. Then at the airport and trying to schedule a pickup at our hotel, for when we had to return back for our flight home. Glad it worked out for you all.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

oh gosh, sounds like your spanish skills were tested too! Glad we all made it through!

[@captmoroni]

Level 4 here. Love this story. You should be even more proud because stressful situations can have you tripping over your words even in your native language. Great work, both of you. Customs, cops, customary train delays, cabs and comida, estoy orgulloso de vosotros.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Hello Fellow Level 4! Thank you! I was so proud of Greg for telling the officer to speak in Spanish. He trusted what he learned and it worked out!! 😅😅

[@zephrynk9693]

Hi Greg and Lisa, I'm in the process of learning Spanish as well, and I haven't the hours on Dreaming Spanish that the two of you do, nor can I understand more than half of what I hear in their intermediate videos. But what I have done is researched the Spanish learning process because I wanted to know what the hurdles would be that I would I have to clear. I believe it's possible that the challenge you're currently facing (and the challenge I will soon face myself) is transitioning from the Spanish spoken on Dreaming Spanish and the Spanish spoken on programs and movies made for fluent/native speakers. The former is done so as to articulate clearly the words being spoken, and often times repetitively and at a slower pace, while the latter is much more difficult for us to understand because of what is termed "Connected Speech". We do the same in English, for example for the phrase "do yo know" in the sentence "Do you know what I mean?" we might utter the sound "dyuh-know." Here is a video link to a Spanish speaker who is well-versed on the matter: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIaofaKBhcmBpa8 Unfortunately, I'm unsure how this bridge is crossed in terms of learning, but my suspicion is it's a matter of listening more and more to native programs and people AFTER building a solid foundation with programs such as Dreaming Spanish. Just my thoughts.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Excellent thoughts! I agree. I think we need to build the foundation. Like Pablo always says..."just listen more". That's the answer to everything. We talk about how we slur our language all the time too and I can only imagine how difficult it would be for someone learning English if they heard our two boys talking to each other for example. Thank you for the video link. I'll watch that today.

[@robertgross9580]

Oh no! This is a fantastic video.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Thank you so much!!!

[@katelin_gates_rn]

Yay!!!! Congratulations! I've been excited to see your update. I'm so happy for you guys. 😊

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Thank you Katelin!!!

[@black_man_free_thinker8147]

Thank you guys so much for another honest review. Much appreciated.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Thank YOU for watching!!!

[@Imhimnow713]

Mi gente ❤❤💪🏾💪🏾

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Hola tio!!!

[@buunuki]

You guys are just awesome! Congratulations 🎉😊

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Thank you so much!!!

[@SpanishWithMikeLee]

I'm super happy you two is in Spain, Keep up the great work you 😀

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Thank you so much Mike!!!

[@heyrooman1]

Wow! That is a crazy and terrifying story. I'm glad everything worked out and it is fantastic that you were not only able to use your Spanish, but in some very serious circumstances. I gained confidence or at least lost some of the fear of speaking during my trip to Costa Rica. Sounds like you are going through the same. I hope the remainder of you trip goes well. Keep the updates coming!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

It was terrifying! Thank you for the well wishes! I like how you said, "lost some of the fear". That's how it feels. We aren't confident but we at least lost some of the fear. Thank you! Take care!

[@paddyduddy4956]

Great update guys. Congrats on all the success!!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Thank you so much!!!

[@AmoPerrosMás]

Okay, first of all, did you get a cat? 😅 I'm super happy for you guys and how much you're speaking and understanding. But Greg, you really didn't have to lose your passport for the cause! Keep up the great work and I hope your son is feeling better.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

HAHA! Your comment cracked us up!!! That kitty is Skittles. We brought our baby with us. That added to the stress! UGH! I have a video that I will make to help people who are bringing their pets internationally. I still need to film it but I wanted to help those people who need it. Thank you so much!!!

[@AmoPerrosMás]

@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut Oh wow! Looking forward to that video. It was super easy for us to bring our dogs with us to Mexico. We just drove across the border no questions asked. I think you're supposed to go to some agricultural office but I didn't learn about that until a year or two later.

[@jamesbond-xl3xs]

Loving the adventure and the overcoming obstacles, stressors and pushing through. I think that is a part of this language journey as much as anything else. Keep on rocking and I look forward to more updates. Maybe you'll get thrown in to a bull ring and have to understand what the bull fighter is saying in order to survive. 😄 Just messin.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

HAHA!!! I know! Someone told Greg that he didn't have to lose his passport for the cause! 😂😅 Thanks for commenting!

[@xojaci]

thanks so much for sharing, i've been waiting for yalls update! crazy how that all went down but amazing how it was a chance to really see how far comprehensible input can take you. i'm around the same amount of hours as yall and have a similiar experience, i recently moved to spanish speaking country as well and can understand more than i thought i would, but i def have my struggle moments still hahah

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

We def have our struggles too! We don't understand everything but just enough to get by. Little by little though, we'll get there!

[@paulwalther5237]

I can relate to forgetting stuff on the plane. I have almost forgotten stuff so many times and I did forget my iPad once. It’s so easy when you’re traveling. You’re probably sleep deprived, you’re carrying way too much junk, and you’re out of your routine completely. Knowing I’m probably going to forget something I just make sure it’s not my passport or wallet 😂. That’s really great that you’re understanding so much. I would suggest hitting the grammar a little bit since you can USE it now but you’re obviously doing well. I just watched a KZbin video about the Refold KZbinr learning Czek and they’re really into input and he said he learned Spanish without studying grammar until after he could already speak Spanish and he intended to do the same thing with Czek So I guess it can work. I think I’d study some grammar though.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Hi Paul...good to see you! Poor Gregory was doing too much as we were boarding. It was chaos so I can see how it got lost. We learned a hard lesson though. I hear what you're saying about Grammar. It's important to me too. That's why I'm listening to Language Transfer on KZbin. It's teaching some grammar stuff. We keep talking about reading soon so I think that will help too.

[@Sonny3734]

Thank you both for the update! Glad you’re finally settled in a little. Curious if you moved to Spain or are just visiting? I’m headed there for some weeks this summer with my family and am feeling super anxious about it. Mostly I’m concerned that we’ll feel cut off from everything due to the language barrier. Your videos are helping me to feel more comfortable with our plans and definitely trying to channel some of that “can do” attitude from both of you. Keep the videos coming!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

HI Sonny! We are coming here with the intention of applying for the Digital Nomad Visa. Things are up in the air whether we are applying now or in October but regardless we aren't going back to America. We'll travel in and out of the Schengen until we can apply. We want to settle in Spain though. What part of Spain are you traveling to? MANY people here speak English so I don't think you'll feel too cut off especially if you know a little Spanish. By the time summer hits you'll be surprised at how much you can understand. Happy learning!!!

[@Sonny3734]

@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut That sounds so great! We'll be in Almuñécar in the south of Spain. We'll be there in June/July so I wanted to be near the coast where the weather might not be quite as hot as inland. We're both excited and nervous but super grateful to be able to follow your experience on KZbin.

[@quenteriuscarson9886]

🫡 It's amazing to see you guys learn and have fun together. I've been following you guys for about 3 months and I can see you guys progress. You guys inspired me to try Dreaming Spanish and I can say its really helping. Thank you guys for your updates because it incourages me to keep going. Nos vemos en el siguiente video 😅.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Thank you so so much!! That means a lot to us!!! Nos vemos!! Venga!

[@Dan.50]

I've found that people typically seem busy and don't feel like walking me through my spanish so will just speak in english to hurry the situation along. That's the feeling I get anyway. I have had good interaction with folks that speak little to no english.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Agreed. We get that feeling too for some people. I don't blame them. If it's a busy restaurant or store, they may not have time to fuss and understand our slow Spanish. I like it when they don't know English though. Then we have no choice but to really understand each other. Thanks for commenting!

[@esemiliojoel]

Bienvenidos a España 💃🏻

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

ah Gracias!!!

[@punkrawkmom]

I gasped when Lisa said no I don't. So cool that you guys were able to use your Spanish but man that must've been so stressful! Are your kids learning Spanish too?

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

The word stressful doesn't convey how we felt...it was blah! Blah explains it better! haha! Yes, the boys came with us. They only sporadically listened to DS before we came so they are paying the price now. Our oldest loves talking to people so he's struggling right now. We are recommending DS but they are doing their own thing. One is doing Duolingo 🤦‍♀️

[@janelle.loves.languages]

Well I wouldn't wish that terrifying and stressful experience on anyone, BUT apparently you guys have been training for it the whole time haha

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

haha! Who knew we were in training LOL! Thanks for the comment!!

[@mfc4655]

baptism of fire

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

For reals!!!

[@DeeCee1984]

And are you at 600 hours now? I can’t wait to get there. I’m at 260 now. I want my dubbed tv so bad 😂

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

No, haha! We have an update video coming up this weekend. We both barely had time to listen this past month. I only gain another 30 hrs. ouch! We'll tell you more this weekend. 💓

[@kkvasas]

Haha checked your channel yesterday to see if theres an update to see how u guys did. The only other thing would love to know would be how many hrs of CI have you guys got at this point?

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

We have an update on our hours coming up this weekend but we were both only at about 480 hrs. January was a busy month so we didn't gain too much leeway last month. We'll share what happened soon.

[@DeeCee1984]

Did your old passport eventually show up or get found?? Good grief what a stressful first day for you guys. Glad it all worked out!

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Super Stressful! I was in tears 😭😢 It was not found. :( We are here long enough that he was able to get a regular 10-year passport vs the emergency 1-year passport. So that part was good. The police and Embassy were amazing! Thank you!

[@DeeCee1984]

@@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut I’m so glad it worked out and he didn’t have to fly back to the US.

[@gordonchong3580]

I think you guys are ready to shift gears a bit. Namely, to put a lot more emphasis on the actual speaking. As Lisa pointed out, you guys are "intermediate listeners". But it must be frustrating to understand so much but struggle to express yourselves at approximately the same level. I'm from the "speak Spanish from Day One" camp. It's so liberating to interact with Spaniards at a more equal footing.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

I hear what you're saying. We do want to speak but DS has gotten us further in our language comprehension than anything else we've ever tried. We are eager to talk but we're trusting the Comprehensible Input philosophy of understanding first. We're getting there though. At this point, we have no choice but to speak so it will happen naturally soon.

[@smrtzttspanishenglishtutor67]

Why don’t you speak Spanish? Biased video.

[@GregandLisaLewis-vz6ut]

Are you familiar with the Dreaming Spanish program and how it works?