How I'm Learning Spanish

[@DreamingSpanish]

Keep it up!

[@ShaneGodliman]

Dreaming Spanish thank you so much! Would still be stuck writing “the cat likes to swim in the pool” on Duolingo if I hadn’t found your channel! 😂

[@Deemabdul08]

Dreaming Spanish was my starting point as well!! Now i can enjoy watching advance level videos and it feels great😅 Thank you so much , Dreaming Spanish team for the amazing work!! And good luck Shane in your language learning journey 🙏

[@PaulBudny]

Same here Dreaming Spanish was were it all started for me. I think it's the best comprehensible input material out there for super beginners.

[@felixflores4778]

Sharing your experiences about learning English not only help those people who want to learn Spanish,but also those people who want to learn English.In my case,my native language is Spanish (central America) and I have been doing what you did to learn a seconde language.Your videos are enjoyable and helpful.By the way, your Spanish is awesome.

[@ShaneGodliman]

Thank you! I’m glad the videos are useful for you 🙌🏽

[@joachimjustinmorgan4851]

I started watching live Sims games in Greek (farming sim, Minecraft, other gaming stuff). The players basically describe what’s happening on the screen, so perfect immersion material.

[@InnerExploration]

One thing that I am finding really helpful is watching El Paisano on TVE because it is so fascinating listening to Spanish villagers chatting away so naturally and about very down to earth topics. I find it amazing that we can freely watch TVE in England and that most programmes have the option of turning on Spanish subtitles so however difficult the accent it is possible to understand - and also to get more familiar with different Spanish accents in different regions of Spain. Really glad to have discovered your channel this week as it is helping to clarify for me how to make effective use of my study time.

[@ShaneGodliman]

I have heard of that but I’ve never watched it! I agree it’s really cool that we can access so much native Spanish content, at the moment I’m hooked on Aquí No Hay Quien Viva

[@roylerroycerickson]

Where/how do you watch no hay quien…

[@BEN-hl6yt]

I just saw your 1 year progress video, great job! Awesome.

[@ShaneGodliman]

Hopefully I can keep progressing! Are you learning Spanish right now too?

[@BEN-hl6yt]

@@ShaneGodliman Not yet, I'm on French and Swedish at the moment, but I want to learn Spanish in future.

[@ShaneGodliman]

Ah very cool! Good luck!

[@AqilahSafia]

Ayeeeee I peeped the spanish on Matt vs Japan 🙌🏽🙌🏽 great job converting your settings to Spanish . I’ve done it a couple times but I always get overwhelmed when I have to do work 🤦🏾‍♀️ this just inspired me to get back into it

[@ShaneGodliman]

Yeah sometimes it’s a bit awkward at first but you get over it pretty quickly I found 😊

[@KellyC77]

Really interesting ideas, thanks for sharing 👍

[@langandgeo]

Love your videos dude 🔥💥. Thanks for helping us all out. I'm currently at where I'm transitioning into content as well.

[@SallijaBule]

Such a great video! Been learning Spanish for 6 months now and feeling stuck, your advice helped a lot! And I totally agree with what you say, that kinda off feeling that I'm saying the word or sentence wrong in some way. 😄👏🏻 Many thanks for this vid 🙆‍♀️What kind of books do you suggest reading - listening to?

[@ShaneGodliman]

Thank you Sallija! I’m glad you enjoyed the video 😊 there are a lot of graded readers in Spanish (like short stories made for learners) I would start there for reading. Books like Olly Richards Short Stories, Paco Ardit books, stuff like that

[@leenobody3249]

You have really spurred me on Shane mate. Thanks man.

[@jaybro1010]

Thanks for the insight I’m trying to learn Spanish too, and I do find myself overthinking sentences and each individual word.

[@ShaneGodliman]

Glad you found it useful! Thanks for watching 😊🙏🏽

[@bvrple]

Great tips mate this videos a hidden gem 👍🏽

[@ShaneGodliman]

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it!

[@chsinskyy]

really good advice my friend!

[@ShaneGodliman]

I’m glad you found it useful 😊🙏🏽

[@Cav203]

Thanks Shane, Your channel has been an immense help for me. I've been learned Spanish for about a month and have become frustrated with my progress and lack of ability to fully comprehend Spanish speakers. I'm a software engineer so I'm used to being able to quantify my progress when learning a computer language.

[@ShaneGodliman]

Thanks for checking out the video! I’m glad it’s been useful for you 🙏🏽 check out the video I made in tracking if you haven’t already - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gX3YlKCwmK6SoM0 that might help with the idea of quantifying your progress

[@susanschuetz7985]

I am subscribing this chancel too, and totally agree what you said. 👍

[@ShaneGodliman]

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the video and I hope you enjoy the rest of the content that I upload 😊🙌🏽

[@kodyrrr]

Muy bueno! Hay otra canal de KZbin llama How to Spanish Podcast.It has helped me on my journey which is also close to one year. It's so fun to learn another language. There is an excitement when thinking about what the next language will be. Hah.

[@ShaneGodliman]

Awesome, I don’t think I’ve come across that one before! Thanks for the recommendation 😊

[@Johnny-tr2sy]

Hey Shane, really been enjoying your channel. What platform did you find the best for finding audio books in spanish? From memory when I had audible (I'm in Australia), there weren't a heap of Spanish books available. Cheers for your help and keep up the good work

[@ShaneGodliman]

I was just using audible yeah, not the most cost effective method but there is a lot of content, you can just filter by language

[@Johnny-tr2sy]

@@ShaneGodliman thanks Shane, I'll give it another look then. Have a good one

[@JamesMcCabe703]

@ShaneGodliman Did you just use the free Dreaming Spanish videos or his monthly subscription? Is the monthly subscription access worth it?

[@ShaneGodliman]

I just used the KZbin channel, can’t speak for the monthly subscription personally but I know a few people that use it and say it’s great value 👍

[@JamesMcCabe703]

@@ShaneGodliman Appreciate you responding. Thanks.

[@goerfeliz8769]

Keep going man

[@ShaneGodliman]

Will do! Thanks for checking out the video 😊🙏🏽

[@goerfeliz8769]

@@ShaneGodliman Que me recomiendas para ser italki community tutor

[@ShaneGodliman]

@@goerfeliz8769 creo que lo que más me ha ayudado es preparar muchos temas de conversación de antemano

[@goerfeliz8769]

@@ShaneGodliman Si es muy interesante. Tomaré tus consejos muy en cuenta gracias hermano

[@edwardmacnab354]

You obviously learn languages way easier than I do . The thing I can't understand Is why people like me forge on regardless of how much bloody time It takes to learn a bloody language (excuse my french) ! It was my worst subject in school and for good reason (french) I'm perfectly capable of utilizing English I wish I knew why I feel such purpose to learn any other languages (french , spanish) . God I envy you !

[@ShaneGodliman]

French was definitely my worst subject in school too 😂 I think the key is really just finding a method that suits you, that’s why KZbin is a good tool because you can see other peoples experiences and take parts of their advice and methods that make sense to you

[@danielbazinga]

How much time did you spend on dreaming Spanish and which levels did you go through? How much do you think this helped with your progress?

[@ShaneGodliman]

Unfortunately I didn’t record it really but I’d say a good few months at least, I didn’t specifically go through all the levels I mostly just picked out the videos that seemed the most interesting to me, but I started out mostly with intermediate videos and some beginner ones. I think it helped a huge amount because it gave me the confidence to watch more stuff and find more content

[@danielbazinga]

@@ShaneGodliman would you say you acquired much vocabulary and grammar just from consuming these videos? Or was it more so just helpful for improving your listening and solidifying things your were actively learning?

[@ShaneGodliman]

I’d say both, I haven’t ever really spent anytime going through any courses or anything specific, just a bit of Duolingo in the beginning. So pretty much all of my vocabulary and understanding of grammar has come from input from videos like those or ones similar, sometimes it’s new words sometimes it’s reaffirming old ones, but I just focused on getting more input and being consistent

[@danielbazinga]

@@ShaneGodliman thanks for taking the time to reply. I’ve spend maybe 6 months learning Spanish in a more traditional way, I understand all of the grammar rules and I spent a lot of time using baselang, but still find it difficult to hold more than very basic conversations. I believe there is certainly a difference between recalling words that you’ve acquired and those that you’ve learned. Seeing your progress is very motivating and I’m hoping that switching things up and investing a lot of time in this kind of method will help me improve a lot

[@ShaneGodliman]

No problem! I look forward to hearing about your progress in the near future 💪🏽

[@peterlovstrom4286]

No mencionaste tu experiencia con iTalki Shane, ¿cómo empezaste eso? en plan ¿cómo elegiste al profesor? cómo te preparaste para tus lecciones , si eligiere profes profesionales o comunitarios y tal y tal?

[@ShaneGodliman]

Hola Peter, he hecho otro vídeo hablando de mi experiencia con italki que puede resolver algunas de esas dudas - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2i4iWWlhLBmd7c

[@peterlovstrom4286]

@@ShaneGodliman Estupendo-gracias por eso. Lo echaré un vistazo más tarde

[@peterlovstrom4286]

@@ShaneGodliman WOW….how did you manage to do more than 200 iTalki Spanish lessons in a year?…that’s about 3-4 lessons week isn’t it?

[@van11410]

Would you recommend reading at Level 1 (pretty much uses only present tense) and more boring or say a 5th grader reading level that's more well rounded, not as comprehensible, but more interesting? I'm stuck in the middle of which to do. Would you recommend I do less interesting but more comprehensible or more interesting but not as comprehensible? Still both at a child's level though.

[@ShaneGodliman]

Personally I have always favoured more difficult content that I actually find interesting over boring content that is more comprehensible because if the content is interesting then I don't have to motivate myself to try and work through it, and of course if I don't understand something then I can just repeat it until I do. Everyone is different and it depends of the level of comprehension and your individual tolerance for ambiguity but that is how I've thought about it

[@van11410]

@@ShaneGodliman Perfecto! Thank you for your feedback! Your videos are much appreciated!

[@milagroslizarraga4606]

Veias las series de televisión con subtitulos en español o sin subtitulos? O con subtitulos en inglés al comienzo?

[@ShaneGodliman]

Al principio con subtítulos en español y luego sin subtítulos, no sé pero para mi verlas con subtítulos en inglés me parece demasiado confuso jaja

[@jazminem6015]

What shows would you recommend to watch on Netflix or Hulu?

[@ShaneGodliman]

I don’t have Hulu so I can’t say about that but for Netflix some of the shows I’ve watched that (most of which I’ve enjoyed ) - la casa de papel, gran hotel, el vecino, el embarcadero, criminal - spain, paquita salas, valeria, alta mar, élite 😊 hopefully at least one of those may be of interest to you! Thanks for watching the video 🙏🏽

[@leenobody3249]

@@ShaneGodliman how did you cope with all the slang etc in Casa de Papel Shane? I find I have to stop the show every few seconds to look something up !

[@ShaneGodliman]

Mostly just trust in the process! A lot of the slang is very common and comes up over and over and within the context you start to understand at least the general idea, it’s hard to resist translating a lot of what you don’t understand but if you give your brain the chance to piece things together it will often do a pretty good job of it. Of course sometimes you will look some stuff up but for me it’s only when there’s something that comes up a lot over a long period of time and the context just isn’t helping, as a random example not too long ago I learnt that in Spain the word “chorizo” can be used to call someone a thief instead of “ladrón”, I l knew it was being used negatively but I couldn’t get the specific meaning. But again in large part, I try and trust the process, it’s like slang in our native language, often if you don’t understand the context you don’t understand the slang, I’m sure there’s slang from London that I wouldn’t understand for example, but if I spent time living there I’d likely pick it up without having to ask someone or google it

[@milagroslizarraga4606]

Buscabas las sinopsis de las series en español o en ingles?

[@ShaneGodliman]

Al principio en inglés para hacerlo más fácil y más rápido

[@inescalilii1999]

Do you stick to one spanish dialect when watching or listening to Spanish?

[@ShaneGodliman]

I personally focus on Spanish from Spain, but I don’t go any more specific than that

[@goldvideo]

Get involved with language intercambios!

[@ShaneGodliman]

I have a great language exchange with some Brazilians, they’re amazing when they work but I’ve always found it’s been more effort than it’s worth trying to find someone of similar interests and a similar level of commitment etc, I’d do more if I could but I don’t have the patience to find people 😂

[@aprenderespanolaladeya8478]

Hola. Si deseas puedes pasar al canal y ver si te es útil.

[@samsungok330]

Hola

[@jasonking2865]

How many hours would you study per day?

[@ShaneGodliman]

It has varies, but on average about 2 hours a day. But I’ve found it’s gotten a lot easier over time as my comprehension improves it’s easier to spend more time with the language

[@jasonking2865]

@@ShaneGodliman thanks for the rapid reply man... I really appreciate it. And before you indulged in spanish for an entire year, how much did you already know before hand?

[@ShaneGodliman]

No problem! And only a handful of words really

[@jasonking2865]

@@ShaneGodliman last question. I'm know a lot of words but conjugating the verbs is very difficult. What methods have you used to figure out how to conjugate the verbs to be the most simple and effective?

[@cathyd8411]

Para mí, el mayor obstáculo es mi edad. Tiene casi sesenta y cinco años, y la memoria no está bien como en la juventud. Tengo que "wrack my brain" para que encuentre las palabras. En mi primer año (en una clase) mi fuerza estaba hablando. Ahora puedo escuchar major que hablar. Supongo que necesite trabajar más, como dos horas todos los días. Tengo demasiado pasatiempos!

[@viewer5498]

Do you really just watch the videos? Or do you write down words you don't know as well? How many times do you watch a video?

[@ShaneGodliman]

I’ve talked a lot about this in several videos, occasionally I’ll write down a word if it seems interesting and/or useful for me but there is no strict rule for this I generally just watch, usually just once, again no rule, the goal is just to enjoy content

[@viewer5498]

@@ShaneGodliman I see. Sorry, I'm new to your channel and have only seen a few of your videos so far. I just feel like I'm not really studying/learning when I'm doing just that. But it helped you, so I'm going to just enjoy it as well😅

[@ShaneGodliman]

It’s easy to fall into that trap but honestly you are learning, just make sure you’re finding content that is relevant and interesting to you and try and pay attention as much as possible 😊

[@jamesmccloud7535]

If you're reading a book or listening to a video, is it okay to look up one or two words then carry on? Or do you just not translate at all? Like maybe you limit yourself to only translating one word every 5 pages or something.

[@ShaneGodliman]

I wouldn’t say I have super strict rules for this, but generally I try to look up as little as possible, especially if it’s a short video or a chapter of a book then I can finish it first and then go back through and look up any words that don’t make sense to me through the context and repetition. I don’t think looking up words is bad but it does slow you down and ultimately a translation is surface level understanding of the word compared to allowing yourself to assimilate its meaning through repeated exposure in a variety of contexts

[@jamesmccloud7535]

@@ShaneGodliman So when there is a word that keeps appearing but you never get the meaning it's okay then right? Especially if it's a word that is essential to understand in a story to make sense. When I do look up words, I remind myself that it can mean different things and so I always take it with a grain of salt.

[@ShaneGodliman]

@@jamesmccloud7535 yeah that’s exactly how I think about it, if I keep seeing it it’s obviously quite important and if I can’t get it through context then I’ll look it up

[@sandydegener6436]

Nice explanation on translating...this is why "Learning by Translation" takes YEARS, if ever. STOP TRANSLATING...if you want to speak the TL the way you have been fantasizing about!

[@ShaneGodliman]

Absolutely agree!

[@sandydegener6436]

@@ShaneGodliman that's why the school methodology fails. You don't have to speak "Social Language" to speak your target language.

[@sandydegener6436]

Dude, your learning methodology is WAY to complex! What you need to do to begin (in the case of Spanish), is to turn a "Declaración" into a "Pregunta" or vice-versa (this is how language works). Once you know how to do that, all you need to know are 5 kinds of words and how to use them, and you can have a simple conversation. This can be done over coffee at a coffeehouse, or the beverage of your choice in some other kind of public house. You can walk in that PH not knowing your Target Language, and walking out knowing so. But this doesn't mean that you are bilingual, and you can socially speak your TL to just ANYBODY, you are "not ready for prime time" yet. The best thing to do is to have a learning partner who will on thee same level as you as you continue to learn. This is who will be your conversation partner, (hopefully together in the same room).