My Current Spanish Routine after 3 years of starting Spanish

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Hey, what's up guys? In today's video, I want to talk about my current routine for language learning, especially for Spanish. For the most part, I'm doing a lot less listening and more reading now.

[00:00:06]When I first started learning Spanish, I put a heavy emphasis on listening and just getting as much listening input as I could. I got to the point where I would use like headphones and just put them in while I was washing the dishes or going for a run or just like exercising at all. And there really there was a time period where I was spending about 5 hours a day or more just listening to the language. And this went on for quite a while actually. And this was super easy for me because I was working at home, so I didn't have to like go to the office or anything. So, I would save time on my commute. I would do my morning routine and just like have my headphones in listening to some kind of podcast. And it really didn't hinder anything in terms of my day-to-day activities. I was pretty much trying to squeeze in listening at any point I could. And I'm really glad I did that because I built up a good base of fundamental vocabulary and grammar in the language. And I don't really have to use any subtitles on really any content I watch. And it's nice because now that I'm reading more, when I read some piece of text, I usually read sentences as a whole and try to make sure that the rhythm makes sense in my mind and sounds like what a native person would actually say. Instead of stopping every two words and then breaking the rhythm of what would be normally said if if you spoke the text out. So, all of that listening really served its purpose in the very beginning, but now I'm moving over to reading. And the reason is because you gain a lot more vocabulary, which is vocabulary that is not usually spoken.

[00:01:09]Because when we speak, we simplify a lot of the words that we say. And when you read a piece of text, you get exposed to saying some kind of idea or expressing some idea in many different ways. Most natives just kind of simplify everything into only a couple different ways of actually expressing that idea. A lot of prose is written with a lot of embellishments, so it sounds nicer and more interesting to read. You expand the repertoire of words that you have at disposal when you start speaking. And also, I feel that an added benefit of reading is that you get better at speaking subconsciously. Because every word that you read, you're sub-vocalizing the word as you're reading it. And so, that gets you better at reading more complicated words and words that are a bit longer, which in turn makes a lot of these smaller words seem a lot easier. So, now I spend 15 or 30 minutes reading something in the morning and then the same in the afternoon or evening. And sometimes I switch off and I end up doing 5 to 10 pages a day, so I don't use like a time limit. I just use like a page count. But the whole point is just to get yourself in the habit of actually reading each day. And I also try to focus on stuff that's really easy to read because you might discourage yourself by reading something really hard and you feel like it's a chore at the end of the day. So, something super light, similar to when you listen to podcast or something, you want to listen to stuff that's kind of easy at your level or maybe just below or above your level. Really in that sweet spot. If you guys are interested in what I'm reading currently, I'm reading Paraiso Travel by Jorge Franco, where it's a big critique against the American dream where you get a big house, huge cars, and like picket fence, and all that. And I'm reading a simplified version of an encyclopedia in Spanish that's about nature, the planets, rocks, body, and just stuff like that. That doesn't mean I'm not listening to anything in Spanish anymore. I do have a couple of YouTubers that I really like in Spanish, so I just continue watching them because it's just enjoyable for me now. And I usually have like one or two Netflix shows that I'll have running at a given time. If you guys are interested in pushing your language learning goals to the next level, I do have one-on-one coaching that you guys can sign up for in the description box below. Also, if you guys are interested in reading, especially in Spanish, I'm creating a platform called Reading Flow and I'll leave a link for that in the description box below as well. It's a platform that has simple stories starting from beginner to advanced, especially in Spanish for now.

[00:03:00]I'll be expanding out to more languages later. And let me know in the comment section below, what's your language learning routine? I'm really interested to see what you guys are doing day-to-day. And I'll see you guys in the next one.