I learned Spanish watching Spiderman 50 times

I watched the same film in Spanish 50 times to see if it would help me to learn Spanish.

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Thank you to Andrea la Mexicana for adding some native speaker goodness to my video. You can see a LOT more of her and a bunch of other native Spanish speakers on Dreaming Spanish:

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 The Experiment
00:47 Why Spider-verse
02:08 How to start in Spanish
03:48 How we learn languages
09:26 How we notice stuff
11:23 After 30 times
13:22 What about the rest of the language?
15:23 How to watch a film 50 times
17:04 How much Spanish?
19:27 This is bad
21:13 A thankful example
22:06 Did it get boring?

OK you've reached the end of the description of this video. There is already a LOT you could comment on.
This part is here to show people who correct my use of "Lo quiero". THIS IS THE VIDEO THAT IT COMES FROM.
Lo quiero is (now) what I say at the end of every video. It's like the YouTuber who says "Hey guy" at the start of his videos, despite it not being correct. I know it's "wrong", but it's right because it's what I intend to say (and often people forget one of its meanings, which would be "I love you" but in a formal context.) It's a reference to this video, and this film. Miles says it to his dad... just watch the film already.

[daysandwords]

UPDATED NOVEMBER 2024:
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[kendroslav]

Language learning and obsessive behaviour all wrapped up into one? Yes I love it!

[RyanLeach]

I watched this video months ago and just wanted to come back to say thanks, you seriously changed my life.

I did a variation of this with Spirited Away in Japanese, put the audio on my phone and mostly listened to it while walking my dog every day for two months.

Listening comprehension was always my weakest skill but after doing this I've made exponential progress. Thanks!

[MethodMarcus]

This is the level of language debauchery that I aspire to accomplish. Well done!

Another benefit to add: with input like this, you tend to try to pronounce things the way you heard them instead of how you THINK they’re pronounced based on how the words are written. Massive perk.

[ummmmmmmmmmmnmmmm]

This makes me think that older videogames might actually be ideal for language learning because they tend to have overly repetitive dialogue to a level where when people think of the game they'll immediately recite some piece of dialogue. The one downside is that the context might be difficult to decipher compared to a sitcom or a cartoon.

[Adonis-dp]

Only 7 minutes in and you’re already giving me Matt Vs Japan “why you still don’t understand your target language” level quality when it comes to explaining to me truths I’ve known for a while and yet still needed explained to realize. Bravo, you knocked it out of the park with this one, I can already tell

[SomedayKorean]

I actually feel like this would be a really fun challenge to try. I've always been someone who likes re-reading and re-watching things, so as long as I chose a good piece of content, it'd be a fun experiment. Also, just wanted to add that the editing in this video was even more excellent than usual. I especially liked the morphing logo.

[robinsonmitchell]

I read the entire Harry Potter series in English to each of my kids - all seven books, three times, three years apart, so I knew the stories really well. I already spoke Russian, but found the Harry Potter audiobook series in Russian - and when I listened to the series I knew so well from having read it aloud three times (not to mention pre-reading and also listening to two different audiobook versions in English) I found it made my Russian vocabulary expand dramatically. I knew the stories and when I heard unfamiliar words I knew what they were from context and from knowing the stories so well. I started listening to audiobooks in Russian of books I already knew in English to reinforce and expand my vocabulary. I think this would easily serve in other languages as well.

[andrealamexicana]

What a video! Congrats! Thanks for sharing ❤🎉

[hiimgamerspruzzino]

This is basically how I learnt English as an Italian native speaker. Over the years, I always watched almost all yt videos in English and listened to a lot of music. Interestingly, most of the sentences I say or think about always have some intonation that I've heard somewhere, especially from something recent I've been listening to. This helps much better than any school would

[thereallostwalker]

I decided to try and learn Spanish this year and I just finished day 1/50 of this challenge.

I’m starting a routine of Pimsleur (listening, reading, and speaking) and Anki of the 1000 most common words (taking my time of course) in the morning, and then watching content for about two hours with Spanish subtitles (starting with this movie). That gives me about 3 or so hours daily, not including listening to Spanish music in the car.

I’ll be doing this heavy input for about 6 months before spending the second half of the year really solidifying the language.

My goal is to reach B2 by the end of the year and ultimately get to C1 before moving on to a new language. Wish me luck!

[the_mrlightsite]

Amazing. Don't think I'll rewatch the same movie 50 times, but maybe 10-20 times for 3-5 different movies would be quite fun.

[TheRedleg]

Literally just got Disney plus for their multiple languages this morning. Think I'll watch the original Star Wars trilogy 50x now

[MrReese]

As someone who speaks German, English, and had some French as well as Latin in school it is remarkable how much I Spanish I can understand without ever learning the language at all. There has to be something said for language families :).

[bbyball]

This is absolutely brilliant! Thank you for this. I’m going to do this.

[dontaefranklin]

Im a big fan of repetitive listening and watching. When I did Assimil Spanish and French i listen to each lesson at least 80 times. Aome of them i listened to over 100 times. Granted they are short but to this day i remember most of the dialogues by heart and when i speak i pull from those dialogues to express myself. Also I've both read and listened to every Harry Potter book at least 8 times. This definitely works! Each time i read Harry Potter i discover a new nugget of language or a new nugget of the story thay i didn't notice before. Keep it the good work!

[diegoalejandrosalcedotolos]

Me encanta que te embarques en mi lengua materna, no veía tu canal desde hace algún tiempo y la verdad me tomó por sorpresa verte hablando español. Has hecho un progreso extraordinario, literalmente pasaste de no hablar español a ser capaz de tener conversaciones con un buen nivel!.
Me gustaría verte hablando español más seguido. Saludos desde Colombia!!

[mudkip_btw]

Sooo many insightful ideas in a single video. Being fluent in two, intermediate in two languages and a beginner in Japanese (which is so different from anything remotely European that it forces a different learning perspective), I recognise a lot of the processes you mentioned. Especially with Japanese my fascination with language learning has come back, since I recognise how your experience will switch depending on the language of your thoughts. This is often confusing as you will question whether you have really learnt something you feel you should know. I'm also a big advocate of repetition, but seeing this video has motivated me to rewatch media far more often, maybe 10 times is a good place to start. Thanks so much and good luck on your journey!

[ADHDlanguages]

I think you did a great job making the case for this method. The beginning stages of learning a language kind of suck any way you slice it, so this is a great way to speedrun the pre-native-input stage.

Your stuff has really shown me that l need to watch more tv. Because I've relied so heavily on books, audiobooks, and podcasts with only one person talking, I think I've really handicapped my ability to have a normal back and forth. conversation.

[cacorn]

I do appreciate these videos a lot. You're finally on a language that I am currently working on. I feel like I can actually progress with you and experience what you are experiencing.

I feel motivated again to keep going. I'm going to try the 50xs but try 20 instead.

It's like when you were a kid and you would re watch a movie or show over and over again. (I'm currently using pimsleur, lengalia spanish and now audible.) Hope you progress even more in spanish!