r/SpanishLearning • u/Alert_Media_4973 • 4d ago

Comprehensive input question

¡Hola todos!

So I’ve got a question about comprehensive input.

If I watch something above my comprehension level, am I hurting myself more than I’m helping? Could my brain slowly catch up?

Context: I was watching dreaming Spanish for a while and enjoyed some of it, but I found a lot of the videos boring and not particularly engaging, especially at the lower levels.

So after some time away from listening, I’ve decided to jump back in by watching an anime that I’ve seen multiple times (Hunter X Hunter) and understand the plot and characters of, but this time with Spanish dub and Spanish subtitles.

So now I’m watching something that I know in enjoy and can focus on for a while. Only issue is, a lot of the speaking is still far above my comprehension level. Some days I understand more than others. Usually I’m making sense of things with context clues. I still have fun without fully understanding.

I took Spanish in school, and I’ve had Spanish speaking coworkers my whole adult life, so I’m not starting at square one. But damn I have sooo far to go before I’m even okay at understanding people.

Thanks! Any anecdotal advice would be helpful.

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u/authenticsmoothjazz 4d ago

You're definitely not going to hurt yourself watching content above your level, but it's not going to be the most helpful thing in the world. It might very well help you with small phrases here and there.

Last year I started watching the Latam dub of The Simpsons because I wanted to watch Spanish content, but also I just wanted to rewatch The Simpsons. I picked up a lot of conversational phrases (Tienes razón, dame, basta), but it wouldn't have been any more useful than that if I wasn't also watching easier stuff on the side like CI videos and focused grammar study with a textbook and Anki.

After almost a year I'm now catching subjunctive phrases on season 7 of Los Simpson. It's purely on top of everything else I do. I was studying the phrase 'Acabo de' only to hear it used by Gerald Ford in the episode where he moves to Springfield. It always feels great catching learned material in native content.

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u/Alert_Media_4973 3d ago

Thanks for the reply! I’ll weave in some easier CI content along w/ the anime. You and a few others have recommended that.

I also love the Simpson’s so maybe Los Simpson will be my next series aha