I hit 1000 hours of Mandarin listening comprehensible input last week. These are the hours I started tracking in 2025, so this feels like a big milestone! (If I add the "prior experience of listening comprehensible input" hours I estimated from all my prior study years, I add 547 hours, so a total of 1547 hours of Mandarin comprehensible input I've done!)
A quick reference for future me: I now can listen to Dashu Mandarin with partial attention and not much mental effort (so it feels easy to do a lot of), and follow the main topics but miss details often. When paying full attention (which feels almost as easy to do as listening to English I'm paying full attention to) I can follow the main topics and most words (I can notice the odd word I don't know or feel uncertain-of-the-meaning, which is about once every 2 sentences).
I am at 155 hours of Spanish listening comprehensible input. Espanol Con Juan now feels easier, like Espanol Al Vuelo. Spanish Boost's podcast also feels easier. Not just feeling easier, but for both podcasts I now know enough words to translate most things word by word if I wanted, and I notice when a word every 1-2 sentences comes up that I don't know or don't know fully. I think I may switch gears to watching various youtubers like PlanetaJuan, Alex Tienda, Juega German, and some others I've found.
It is mindblowing, frankly, how much quicker I am seeing noticeable improvements in comprehension for Spanish compared to Mandarin. I am truly suprised by how much Spanish I can understand after ONLY 155 hours. I feel like my understanding of Spanish is already close to my level of understanding in Mandarin. I feel like my understanding in Spanish is already close to what it is in French (in terms of listening). And it took me YEARS to get to the listening skills I have in French. Maybe with French I just truly barely did any listening practice, and so it took many years to build up to around ~150ish hours of listening. Or, maybe, I am learning Spanish much faster. It's probably a mix of both. I imagine me already knowing French to a decent degree, is making learning Spanish faster. I don't know how much faster. But dang.
(I do also think I'm in one of those up-points of learning Spanish. How it feels like I comprehend a TON more than I did previously, which means in a few dozen hours I will feel I'm at a low-point where I notice all the things I still don't know and feel like I'm barely comprehending anything. So I'll probably feel less like "wow I am making such amazing progress" in a few weeks).
Subscribing to Spanish Boost Gaming was like the single most effective thing in helping me learn Spanish.
1. Martin is just so entertaining to me.
2. He was entertaining when I barely understood anything, and watching him I learned more, and he's still fun to watch now.
3. If I see his videos in my recommended, I am always tempted. Which means even if I don't watch when I see, I save to watch later, and so I have "built in" Spanish practice/learning time every week even though I'm not planning it or trying hard to make time. (I also like JuegaGerman for similar reasons)
4. There's a common advice of like "make a language part of your life" to help you learn it. And while I like a lot of other Spanish resources, and Spanish Boost Gaming is definitely Not the most thorough or ideal resource (I think maybe its the ideal resource for say Upper Beginners amd Lower Intermediate learners to practice what they know and be exposed to more, with other supplemental materials to learn and reinforce broader vocabulary to move solidly into Intermediate - Martin makes stuff for intermediate learners and its good reinforcement but there's not Enough broad repetition to probably pick up expanded vocabulary as using say textbooks or intermediate learner podcasts that delve into a variety of focused topics). But it IS a resource I could kind of understand from very early on (literally the first few hours I started learning Spanish, partly why I started learning - however I can read French so I'm sure that helped), there's a ton of videos useful from beginner to intermediate, and there's some videos that have some broader vocabulary and faster speed (to the point I can now branch out and watch some regular Spanish lets players for fun). As far as "fun distraction entertainment" stuff I watch goes, I learn a lot from the videos just relaxing and having fun.
5. Mila makes a ton of videos on the Spanish Boost Patreon (she also has a youtube channel Spanish Boost with Mila). And I got into her videos too. (Their whole patreon is lovely).
Like despite having many resources I found and decided on with deliberation, most of what is causing me to gradually learn Spanish is:
Spanish Boost
JuegaGerman
And when I try to be more well rounded, the podcasts: Chill Spanish, Espanol Al Vuelo
I don't know how much I've learned? I only can say I knew very little before 2025, and now I understand enough Spanish to watch JuegaGerman and Alex Tienda on youtube while relaxing (following what they mean is not mentally intensive to me). (I should try reading and see where I'm at).
A side note on my Mandarin progress:
for the past few months I've pretty much ONLY been listening to 镇魂 audiobook (chapter 1-60 so far, understand is frustratingly hit or miss but now that I've read the whole novel's English translation I can figure out which scenes/parts I'm listening to most of the time), Dashu Mandarin Podcast (I've listened to episodes 1-41), 声东击西 podcast (I've listened to 3 episodes, its kind of hit or miss but listening to this has been exciting because I follow the discussion topics sometimes and I've never been able to follow a regular podcast before recent months, this podcast sort of highlights to me how much I've improved since when Dashu Mandarin felt Hard to me a few months ago, because Dashu Mandarin episoded now usually feel Okay to me, and listening to 声东击西 feels like how listening to Dashu Mandarin felt a few months ago).
Also? The past few months of half assing it have really reminded me doing Something (even imperfectly) is better than doing nothing. Makes sense, right? Of course, any language practice and exposure is going to help you improve compared to nothing. But like. I really have just been putting on Dashu Mandarin podcast, most days, in the background as I work or do chores or drive. So at least 50% of the time I'm not paying much attention and my ability to follow their topic goes in and out (as I switch focus to say reading English emails or doing math). When I started listening a lot to Dashu Mandarin a few months ago, even if I paid full attention (like when walking) I could follow topics but didn't understand a decent amount of phrases and words and I had to put in considerable mental effort to follow them (not exhausting amounts, but enough mental effort I'd get tired quickly if I tried doing multiple things).
Just listening by throwing it on, while doing whatever I was doing, I noticed over time I've needed less mental effort to follow topics, and recognized more words when I *was* paying attention, and now I understand enough that I am starting to get picky about which episodes I listen to (some of their interview learners episodes follow the same pattern, and I get bored, so I've been trying to pick episodes where just the hosts talk on a topic, or interview About a specific topic like life in X location).
Anyway. It kind of "proof of concept" makes me realize I could just try listening to AS MUCH Mandarin as possible in a day, as many days as possible, and maybe make a leap in progress. (Probably in the same number of hours, but those hours fit into less days). Alas, I still have mental fatigue issues and migraines from mental fatigue post brain surgery so like. I can't multitask as much as I used to. Just listening to something While doing something else exhausts me way faster. So I am not really feeling up for "listening in the background" like that. It feels twice as fatiguing to do 2 stimulating things like listening And looking at my work computer. So. :/ ... still. I am excited about seeing progress even from listening how I have been. So I hope eventually, if and when I feel like I CAN do more in a day, I could listen in the background/paying partial attention more and maybe fit in learning hours in less days.
I've also been listening to the MoDu audio drama. Of which I understand maybe most words, but only 85% of all scenes? The scenes I understand I understand pretty Well, enough to enjoy most lines. Then there's scenes I can't totally place, and I catch most of the lines but since I'm not sure who's talking or what setting (since its an audio drama) I'm not sure what scene its supposed to be. It's been fun, but slow going. I only listen to this when I'm walking during some lunches, and I can pay full attention to it without any distractions. Since I want to enjoy it and follow along. And its been so so hot, too hot to go outside in the middle of the day.
Watched Two Dads episode 1, could follow all the main ideas and the gist of most details. This is an improvement over a month ago, in terms of comprehending the Taiwan accent. Taiwanese dramas are still noticeably hard for me, compared to Chinese dramas. With podcasters and lets players it's not quite as bad, but I think podcasters and lets players speak quite clearly and loud (not loud background noise compared to their speaking audio) which makes them easier than a show like Two Dads where comedy music is often as loud as speaking. Or Had I Not Seen The Sun, where they talk closer to real life volume. (I really want to watch: Had I Not Seen the Sun, Victim's Game, and finish Detention and Close Your Eyes Before It's Dark).
Watched 神话 ep 1-4, with Mandarin subs. Improvement was mainly in how much easier it felt compared to watching Checkmate a few months ago with Mandarin subs. Significantly easier.
Watched 东宫 ep 1-3 with no subs. Improvement was in how easy the interpersonal dialogue was to follow. The politics heavy stuff, I often wasn't sure what people were arguing for/against doing, but I did recognize a lot of individual words (like taiwangzi wudi shengmu muhou dihuang) easily. Again, noticeably easier than last time I tried to do this a few months ago. More mentally exhausting to watch without subs though, compared to with Mandarin subs.
日谈公园 podcast: noticed an improvement from episode 1 to 2. Episode 1 I caught many phrases but not enough to really know what the main ideas were. Episode 2 I listened to today, and could sometimes tell the main ideas - traveling to Brazil, something about being back in school, a particular trip, trip to Uruguay. Not all the main ideas, maybe 25-50%. It feels like learner podcasts like Dashu Mandarin felt a few hundred hours ago. I'm not sure if improvement was more from adjusting to their voices, or if epiaode 2 was simply more straightforward in it's discussion.
Just a general ease of listening has improved. Not sure if it's from doing close to 4 hours a day in February (so lots of daily Chinese I'm more Ready to hear it), or because I got another 50+ hours of practice and improved simply from the practice (as expected).
Audiobooks: still feel similar to before. I am noticing different words, which makes me think I have fully learned some words and my mind is moving onto newer words to full-learn. Either way, it's not enough to enjoy a new audiobook yet.
General: I notice I'm picking up a lot of abstract words lately, and not-abstract words (like 生母) i'm picking up almost instantly. I'm starting to feel differences between 变化 变成, those kinds of things. I'm noticing 佩服 包括 区别 得 (dei) way more.
Spanish:
I can understand Alex Tienda now.
I can also understand some lets players easier now like JuegaGerman and Auron.
I can finally understand (some) of Espanol Con Juan's podcast while just listening. It's still hit or miss. But this is an improvement over a few months ago, when I could only follow some of his episodes IF looking at the videos and the video had some context (like his video on the death of the Spain leader).
I can understand Chill Spanish podcast now, but it's hard. I had fo learn more words to grasp him, and I guess I finally know enough. (For me, Espanol al Vuelo and Cuentame are so much easier... in part I think, because both of those are structured like someone telling about their life. Whereas Chill Spanish is explaining a topic's vocabulary, so there's a ton of new* words with very little story-explanation to make sense of those new words. So Chill Spanish seems easier for reinforcing words you know and filling in gaps. Whereas Cuentame and Espanol Al Vuelo, to me, feel easier to learn many brand new words easily in the context of someone sharing a personal story/information.)
Peppa Pig Espanol - way easier now than it was a few months ago (so idk 50ish hours ago). Obviously the visuals help. But now I also feel like I know almost every word they're saying. I can't actually... Peppa Pig uses around 5000 unique words and I imagine I only know 1000-2000 words tops. But maybe the French cognates and visuals make the rest of the words easy enough to grasp that mentally I'm not working as hard to follow the cartoon. It feels much easier. This is an interesting benchmark for me: because I remember when Mandarin felt like this (could understand most things without looking, when looking I could also pretty easily understand the rest of the words, nearly immediately in listening), and I remember when Spanish felt HARDER than this (when I was entirely relying on visuals and yo and nouns and adjectives that seemed like cognates to French or English). So I know from this my Spanish has improved.
I am going back through some Spanish Boost Gaming videos that were fun but hard months ago, and checking if I understand more. I think I do understand more words? Knowing tienen now helps a TON. Still a lot of words feel vague, but like I have a better guess of what they mean. (And now I know things like soy, lugar, which are pretty critical).
General: I think I might finally be figuring out what hacer means (hoy, hacer etc). I think it means something like to be (somewhere) so kind of like estas/es "is" except more nuanced? I also think hacer maybe means "to do" so like what is the man doing? The man is doing (is) in the house. What is the weather? The weather is doing (is) raining. I am still not really sure what hacer means. But it's used in situations that in English I would have just expected "is." I think hacer is doing more though... still. Even a vague guess of what hacer means, is more than I used to have. Any tiem I saw hacer I knew it was important but had no idea what it was conveying, just that it was ALWAYS around doing stuff.
Side note:
I was trying to remember French conjugations for some reason yesterday. I am happy to say I did still remember when I gave myself a minute to recall. I feel this (hopefully) means if I was thrown into a situation where I heard French and needed to respond, I could get something understandable out.
It's weird in that... all the French I know comes to me easily when I read French. At worst, if I take 6 months+ away from reading French, it takes an hour or two of reading again for it all to come back. With podcasts, right now, French takes 5 minutes to half an hour to "get back into the flow of understanding" to my usual amount of understanding. For passive understanding, my French is pretty solidly where I left it. And remains, for the most part, there when I take breaks.
But I never use it actively, so my recall of French sucks. Occassionally a friend asks me "what is X in French?" And I take a few minutes, something comes to mind, I spit it out. Or I ask myself "wait what was X in French again? What if I want to say it?" And after a few minutes, my brain gives me something. It's usually right (or at least would be understood as close enough to get the point across). But i don't remember WHY any of it is what it is.
I don't remember why I have is "j'ai". I don't even remember "je" is I unless I make myself think about it and try to recall it. Even though in active recall I sometimes forget the absolute fucking basics like "I" and "you" because I rarely actively speak or write French, when I listen or read it all is so Immediately Understood I don't even think about it. It is almost like reading English to me. I just don't think about it usually, unless I took a long long break. With listening, sometimes it's obviously harder-than-english, and that does make me notice a bit more the differences. But for the words I know well, I just understand them and don't think anything.
It's sort of like where I am with hanzi I know now. I'm going back and studying them more, because I cannot for the life of me recall the components in most hanzi I can read. I just READ them and understand and move on. I don't think about the individual components anymore. I don't write (only type), so I don't ever need to actively recall the components. Hanzi I know, are like English, I just understand. My brain doesn't think about the components just like I don't think about the spelling in English with words I know. The words just Are that and I just Understand them and move on. With hanzi I don't know, my reading slows down and I think conciously about them - and with French listening when I don't know a word (which is more often than reading) I slow down and conciously contemplate what the word is and if I know it in reading or if I can guess it.
Anyway my French is just in such a weird place. I couldn't recall "comment t'appelle tu?" Spontaneously to save my life, despite how basic it is. I need a few moments to remember tu means you informal and how i say "whats your name" in french for informal tu. But if i read or heard it I'd understand immediately and move on. If I read/see "j'ai heureux" I immediately know it means I'm happy and move on, but if I try to conciously recall how to say it then i need to think a minute about how to say i am something in french and then HOPE the word for happy pops up in my head.
I am GLAD my passive understanding is so instant. But it is frustrating I can't output shit, even though it is clearly in my head somewhere as if I give myself a few minutes I can recall some stuff. I can read conjugations but off the top of my head, right now, i couldn't say how the fuck to present tense conjugate for "he x"... il parle? I had to think a minute and think about how u ususally say "he X" for a verb i have said often before. Okay so it's "e" ending for il present tense. I can read it but fuck I cannot remember so much for output. It's fine, as I have absolutely no need to speak French at the moment. But it does really hammer home that for me, I will need to do additional stuff to get "good at outputting" besides just hoping lots of input makes me capable of outputting.
(I'm sure input helps, as i have a bunch of french i understand in my head, which i'm sure means i could respond to someone talking to me by recalling/outputting what i remember based on what they say aloud to refresh me on. So if someone says to me "parlez-vous francais?" Its easier for me to recall responses i can understand that relate to that like "je parle un petit peu" or "vous aves une soeur?" "Qui, j'ai une soeur." But off the top of my head? I can't really start any converdation or jump to a brand new topic... I can't recall the words spontaneously, I need some reminder. I do think that for me, listening-input helps with speaking more than readimg-input, as with listening-input I find myself making sentences in my own head more. When I shadow/echo what audio says, I find it easier to make up sentences and responses in my own head without prompting. I think for me... shadowing/echoing, journaling, and conversation practice, is going to be needed to get better at output in any language.)
My japanese feels like my French but lower level (like A2 maybe? N4?). What I know, I simply understand when reading or listening. I don't think about it after a half hour to hour of re-adjusting to Japanese. (Obviously there's a lot more I DONT know that of course slows me down and makes me think, compared to French). But output wise? I forget everything, including basics like "watashi wa" if I haven't read/listened in a long time. I abaolutely can't recall Japanese off the top of my head when I'm rusty. Even though no matter how rusty, if I listen to or read japanese then within an hour I am back to understanding what I usually do.
