May is drawing to a close, so I want to do a recap on everything I read, watched, and listened to this month as an intermediate Spanish learner!
Not sure yet if I will do this every month, but I think this can be useful for others who are looking for recommendations for input.
My current level: If you use Dreaming Spanish (DS), I would say I’m likely at around 500-600 hours. (Unfortunately, I’ve stopped tracking at around 300 hours, and I am not a “purist” for the DS method, so I’ve been speaking since day 1 and have learned grammar. So take my estimate with a grain of salt.
This month, I also registered for the November B2 DELE with my teacher’s blessing (woo!). I was originally thinking of taking the B1 exam in May, but my teacher recommended that I just skip that and prepare for the B2 in November. Let me know if it would be interesting to write a post on my preparation and reviews on the materials I’ve used.
Without further ado, here’s a review of my input:
Read
May was a huge reading month for me–I feel like it’s the first month since I started that I am starting to feel a little bit more comfortable.
There will be a full writeup on reading soon–detailing reading my first 300,000 words in Spanish.
Magic Tree House (Books 7-11)
I am a huge fan of the Magic Tree House books (La casa del arbol) by Mary Pope Osborne. It was one of the first book series I read when I moved to the US and was starting to read in English for the first time, and so it was nostalgic to be able to read this in Spanish. Plus–I know it works to help build vocabulary and it is challenging but not frustrating.
They’re starting to be a bit too easy for me, and I can get through one of these in about a day (probably around 45 minutes of reading). I look up only minimal words. What I like about La casa del arbol is that every book takes place in a different time or location–Atardecer en el pueblo fantasma took place in a ghost town in the wild west, for example, and I learned vocabulary related to horses because the character encountered some cowboys (galloping, mare, foal, whinny, herd, etc.).
I plan on finishing the rest of what my library has available (to book 24), but books 7-11 closes out my May.
Harry Potter (Book 1)
It felt ambitious this month to start reading Harry Potter, but I’m incredibly glad I did.
This was also inspired by the fact that when I started reading in English, my reading level jumped dramatically after reading Harry Potter.
I figured if it happened in English, it would probably happen in Spanish, too.
And I was right. I sandwiched reading Harry Potter between Magic Tree House books, and I credit my now-fast reading speed of the Magic Tree House series to the growth I received from reading the first Harry Potter.
The Hunger Games (Book 1)
Although technically I believe that The Hunger Games is the same Lexile level as Harry Potter, I actually find the reading level of this to be another step up.
Technically I haven’t finished it yet (I am about 10 chapters away from finishing, or about 65% through), so I will continue working on it in June, but I think what makes this book a little more difficult than Harry Potter is just that there are a lot of different settings and activities that the characters are doing.
Katniss goes from hunting in District 12 to doing interviews and training at the Capitol, and then to the Arena, where again, lots of things happen: I just got through Rue’s death scene (it’s every bit as emotional for me reading it in Spanish as it was in English!), but of course there was the scene where she detonated the Careers’ mines, and the scene where she cut out the wasp mutt’s nest to launch them at the Careers.
The descriptive language is a little more complicated than that of Harry Potter (because face it really they’re just in wizard school the whole time), but I also think I have gained a lot from reading it, as slow-going as it is.
Quijote y Yo–The Camaquen Trilogy (Books 2-3)
This is a graded reader. Kind of an expensive one at that, but I remembered I had bought the entire trilogy last December and wanted to finish since I spent the money.
This particular series is graded as “novice high” (the author also has novice low, medium, and intermediate low and medium), but you don’t need to have read any of the author’s other books in order to read this one. This trilogy details a group of magical kids who have to rescue their friend who turned into a mummy because he touched an Incan relic.
It was… okay. I really appreciate what the author is trying to do with writing a comprehensible input book, but I think it’s more suited for kids learning Spanish in school (which to be fair, is what it’s marketed towards).
The story does feel a little bit childish, and I think once you start reading books for natives (even if it’s for children, like Magic Tree House), the writing, characters, and stories of graded readers just don’t feel interesting anymore.
I read this after I finished Harry Potter, so I got through these two books in about a day. It was probably a little too easy for me as I read it at the same speed as I do in English.
As far as graded readers go, I actually like Juan Fernandez’s graded readers a lot more, but I also decided this will also be the last graded reader I ever read.
Watched
I’m not the biggest fan of shows, but this month I managed to watch a few!
Cielo Grande (Season 1, Netflix)
This was such a fun watch.
This is an Argentine musical series about a group of teenagers trying to save a resort (and also, discover a family secret).
It was cheesy, the musical moments were a little cringe, and the plot was… pretty obvious–but the Spanish was very comprehensible, and I honestly found the characters to be so lovable and cute. The first season only had 11 episodes, which I watched in less than a week.
Best of all–no cliff hanger! You can rest happy after watching the first season without wishing for more.
Soy Luna (Disney Plus)
I started Soy Luna a few days ago, and it is a Mexican-Argentine Disney Channel musical soap (telanovela).
And when I say soap, I mean soap. The first season alone has 80 episodes, and each episode is about an hour long.
Again–this is for kids, so expect cheesy plotlines and cringey moments. The Spanish for me was pretty accessible, but one thing of note: Disney Plus has no Spanish subtitles available.
I’m not someone who gets easily hooked onto shows and I don’t really find any of the plot “bingeworthy”, but it’s not boring either and I’ve been enjoying it.
That said, I’m not sure I’d sit through all 200+ episodes of this, charming and cute as this series is.
Youtube
Now Youtube–I watch so much more of. This won’t be an exhaustive list since that would simply take too long, but here is a rapid fire of some the creators I’ve enjoyed this month (and a bit about what they do:
nonigamer: This is a gaming channel, and he plays mostly simulation games. I like putting him on when I cross stitch. This month I watched his Videoclub simulation series, which honestly is pretty repetitive, but kind of fun when you just want some passive input.
Alba de Lomas: I’ve been wanting to find a good chess streamer/content creator in Spanish since Anna Cramling doesn’t post quite as much. I know there’s Rey Engima but… I can’t stand the voice change effect he uses. Plus–something about chess girls! I love watching the chess girls. Alba was streaming a tournament earlier this month, and she has started a series on becoming a WFM (Women FIDE Master)
While I don’t really enjoy watching movies or television, I really enjoy hearing people talk about it… and Youtube is a great place for that. Ginecido is a creator who breaks down movies and shows. I found her through searching for Hunger Game deep dives. Warning: girlie talks fast. But I love her energy and excitement as she breaks down each show and movie. I also really like Maquicienta, who breaks down pop culture moments and does deep dives on different events and the careers of celebrities. Thankfully, she speaks a little bit slower.
Lastly, I’ve enjoyed the videos of Megaproyectos. As his name implies: he talks about big projects. Big bridges, big buildings, etc. It’s a little outside of what I usually watch, but interesting nonetheless.
Listen
I still listen to the same podcasts that I’ve been listening to for months now (learner podcasts), but I’m starting to find learner podcasts to be effortlessly comprehensible–even slow (which is crazy). Thus, this month I added an additional podcast for Natives into my rotation.
Dreaming Spanish Podcast (at 1.2x speed)
There was a point in my journey where I thought I would never find the DS podcast to be slow… but here we are. I still really like this podcast because I generally enjoy podcasts where two people discuss a topic, and DS does this perfectly–it’s always a discussion. About culture, about current events, about language. It’s still a great listen, though this month I bumped up the play speed.
Andrea la Mexicana (at 1.2x speed)
Andrea used to be part of the DS cast, but she’s since split off and started doing her own thing. I don’t watch her other content (and honestly never watched her either on DS), but her podcast is part of my regular rotation. I like how thoughtful she is, and each podcast episode covers a different life lesson or personal experience.
Español con Juan
His podcast level differs; sometimes I find them to be completely comprehensible, and other times a little less. I also think, if you sit through every single episode, he does start to repeat himself a bit. (I used to be very, very completionist about podcast episodes and I listened to Juan from the beginning till the end of what he has recorded for 2018… and then made the executive decision to give up on trying to “catch up” and just listen to his latest releases).
Easy Spanish
There’s a joke that “Easy Spanish” isn’t actually so easy, and I didn’t start listening to them till I reached the intermediate level. However, it’s pretty easy to me now, and again, it’s a conversational format like the DS podcast. (Though, they’ve recently switched their formatting to weirdly announce chapter headings at the beginning of each section, which kind of disrupts the conversational aspect of it)
Not every episode is interesting to me, so if I don’t enjoy the topic within the first 5 or so minutes, I just skip it.
Español al Vuelo
A new favorite as of late! I find Español al Vuelo to be super interesting, and the host talks about a variety of topics–and I mean a variety. From his time as a competitive gamer to imagining what it would be like to live in space–I think this podcast has so much potential for you to learn new vocabulary.
He is hilarious, too. One of the few podcasters who make me laugh out loud.
Psicología al Desnudo (Native)
This podcast was recommended to me by my teacher, and actually, the host speaks extremely clearly. I have no problems understanding her at 1x speed. It is also available on Youtube, if having access to subtitles is helpful.
Topic-wise, it is a little less interesting to me. As the title suggests, the episodes are related to wellness and mental health–spanning topics like what to do if you have a broken heart, to how to deal with anxiety.
While I am not super interested in the topic, I don’t find it to be boring either, and I think its incredibly high quality input.
What I’m Looking Forward to Next Month
For the month of June, I’m looking forward to:
- More native podcasts! I am hoping to add Jefillysh’s science podcast to my rotation, and maybe try to listen to some episodes of the Wild Project.
- Continue watching native Youtube content
- More! Reading! I want to finish at least 1 more “big book” in addition to the Hunger Games (so: either the second Harry Potter or the second Hunger Games) and finish up to where I want to stop for Magic Tree House (book 24–arbitrary, but that’s what my library has)
And that’s all for the recap for this month! Let me know down below what you are reading, watching, and listening to!