Dreaming Spanish Review: An Excellent Comprehensible Input Resource, Though Speaking Practice is Limited

As someone who grew up a “no sabo kid”—my father is Venezuelan but didn't teach me Spanish—I heard the language but developed anxiety about speaking it. Discovering Dreaming Spanish made me very doubtful of its listen-first, speak-later approach.

However, after evaluating the program as a person now fluent in Spanish, I decided to get the monthly subscription.

What is Dreaming Spanish?

Dreaming Spanish is a website that facilitates Spanish learning through comprehensible input.

From your first day, you watch videos entirely in Spanish. These videos present language just beyond your current level, enabling you to naturally absorb the language in a way similar to how native speakers learn as children.

The Dreaming Spanish website hosts over 3,000 videos, with three new videos added daily for each level.

Spanish proficiency is divided into four main categories and seven specific levels:

• Superbeginner (Level 1)
• Beginner (Level 2)
• Intermediate (Levels 3 & 4)
• Advanced (Levels 5, 6 & 7)

Each category contains structured video playlists that lead you through the language until you have accumulated sufficient input hours to advance to the next stage.

What is the Dreaming Spanish Method and Does It Work?

“Comprehensible input” forms the core of Dreaming Spanish’s methodology. This is a theory developed by Dr. Stephen Krashen, which proposes that you should acquire a language rather than learn it.

You achieve this by engaging with content that is slightly above your current understanding, allowing you to pick up new vocabulary and grammar within context. You won't grasp everything, but you will understand enough to follow along.

Acquiring the language means you are exposed to it without any traditional study activities. The rationale is that this mirrors how we learn our first language, so it should apply to learning new languages.

Learning, by contrast, involves studying grammar, memorizing vocabulary lists, doing exercises, and similar activities.

How Dreaming Spanish Uses Comprehensible Input to Teach Spanish

Dreaming Spanish outlines how to use their videos and explains the comprehensible input method on their “Method” page .

They describe how immersing yourself in Spanish from the beginning—using comprehensible input designed for absolute beginners—will help you develop mental patterns for words and structures you encounter repeatedly. These patterns are intended to resemble those formed in the brain of a native speaker when they learned Spanish as a child.

You are only supposed to watch the Dreaming Spanish videos. You should not study them, answer questions about them, write down unfamiliar words—your only task is to pay attention and watch.

They advise against conversation or speaking practice until you have reached at least 300 hours of comprehensible input through the videos.

After reaching the 300-hour point, conversation becomes an option. However, they strongly suggest avoiding conversation or reading until 600 hours. The reasoning is that you supposedly have not absorbed enough of the language for meaningful dialogue. Speaking too soon might cause you to rely on connections with your native language, and reading before you fully grasp Spanish sounds could harm your pronunciation.

Here’s a chart from their “Method” page that details each level:

As you advance, you will begin to acquire more complex words that lack direct translations or have grammatical roles. Once you get to Level 3, you will start picking up verb conjugations, sentence structure, and other grammatical patterns without any formal study.

The Features of Dreaming Spanish

Leveled Video Series and Playlists

Every level category—Superbeginner, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced—contains a set of video playlists and series. You can locate them by selecting the “Series” tab in the left sidebar.

You can save series to your “Library” for simple access. Each series includes a number of episodes, which can be as short as a few minutes or as long as 30-40 minutes (varying by level and series).

The objective is to view as many videos and series that capture your interest as possible until you have enough hours to progress to the next level.

Currently, I am following three series in the Advanced category—one about relationship challenges, a podcast-style series talking about life and social subjects, and a series that debates social issues.

The videos provide a natural sense of progression. I find them enjoyable, and I never worry about missing something. They are genuinely interesting. I can easily spend an hour or two watching them when I have free time.

Tons of Video Filtering Options

Dreaming Spanish offers multiple filters to help you find the right video to watch next. There are six filters available:

• Sort by. This allows you to decide the order for displaying video search results. Choices include “Random,” “New,” “Old,” “Easy,” “Hard,” “Short,” and “Long.”
• Levels. Selecting a level displays only videos from that level. For instance, I choose “Advanced” to see only videos from Levels 5, 6, and 7.
• Countries. As of April 2024, Dreaming Spanish features videos from creators in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Spain, and Venezuela.
• Guides. These are the individuals who appear in the videos. For example, Agustina is a guide from Argentina and Michelle is a guide from Mexico.
• Topics. Dreaming Spanish offers a wide range of topics—too many to list completely. Some examples are 18+, art, business, challenges, conversations, crime, cooking, culture, daily life, environment, etc.
• Sound. The two options for the sound filter are “Podcast-friendly” and “Other.”

Detailed Progress Report

Clicking the “Progress” bar takes you to a comprehensive report that displays:

• Your advancement toward the daily goal
• Your current streak
• The days you've practiced during the month (and the duration)
• Your present level and total watch hours
• The number of hours remaining until the next level
• And other information

There is also a thorough description of each level, explaining your expected comfort with Spanish at each stage, the number of input hours required to reach them, and an approximate vocabulary size.

You also have the option to add hours from outside the platform. So if you've watched a movie, TV series, YouTube video, etc., you can record the time spent and a brief description.

There is a feature to log hours spent in conversation with others, although again, this is not advised until at least Level 3.

I also personally suggest that if you are fully committed to comprehensible input and following Dreaming Spanish’s methodology strictly, you should limit yourself to Dreaming Spanish videos until you reach a high intermediate or advanced level.

Finding sufficiently comprehensible input for beginners from authentic sources like YouTube is challenging, and the purpose of tracking your input hours is to make tangible progress through your current level. If you devote too much time to content that is too difficult, you won't be making that progress.

12-Part Video Series on How to Learn a Language

Dreaming Spanish provides a free mini-course that details step-by-step how to acquire a language through comprehensible input. The videos are in Spanish with English subtitles, and the course consists of 12 videos.

The videos are brief, ranging from four to 11 minutes in length (except for the last two FAQ videos, which are each 21 minutes long).

How Much Does Dreaming Spanish Cost?

A free version of Dreaming Spanish is available, offering a limited selection of videos. The Premium subscription costs $8 per month.

Premium provides access to all 3,000+ videos. It also enables video downloads for offline viewing, delivers three new videos per level each day, and offers access to their premium podcast feed on podcast apps.

Is the Premium Version of Dreaming Spanish Worth It?

After using Dreaming Spanish for a few days, I subscribed to the Premium version and would certainly say it provides good value —particularly for beginners.

I say this because there are limited sources offering comprehensible input for beginners. Many suggest starting with children's media—such as cartoons and children's books—but these can be uninteresting for adults.

The intermediate and advanced levels primarily benefit from the detailed progress tracking and the assurance that the content is appropriately challenging.

Pros of Dreaming Spanish

• Comprehensible input is effective. The method Dreaming Spanish employs is undoubtedly successful. So whether you use only Dreaming Spanish or combine it with other resources, you will gain advantages from regularly watching the videos.
• Suitable for all levels. Whether you start with no Spanish knowledge or are already conversationally fluent, you can spend countless hours watching videos on Dreaming Spanish.
• Pre-arranged framework that offers guidance. Dreaming Spanish is not a formal course, but it provides a clear route from starting point to advanced. You know precisely when you hit the "hour" milestones, how this relates to your level, and when you advance. Your only job is to participate and log your hours.
• Informative progress tracking metrics. The progress tracking is highly motivating. Even when you are hundreds of hours from the next level, it is compelling to watch your hours add up.
• Truly engaging video content. I can watch almost anything on YouTube without subtitles (in English or Spanish) without trouble. But after starting my first series ("Relationship Problems"), I frequently choose Dreaming Spanish videos over my YouTube subscriptions. I enjoy casual videos that give me the feeling of being part of a natural, meaningful discussion. The advanced series have provided exactly that for me.
• The introductory videos are efficient and maintain interest. I viewed a video from the Superbeginner series "About Shel," and I was struck by how the host—Shel, from Colombia—combined interesting subjects with Spanish that is simple to understand, assuming no prior knowledge. Additionally, the Superbeginner videos are only four to five minutes long, which helps maintain focus and a relaxed viewing experience.
• Introduces various accents and cultural backgrounds. Dreaming Spanish labels all videos with the host's country of origin, making it simple to select which accent you wish to become accustomed to hearing.

Cons of Dreaming Spanish

• The process is significantly longer than conventional study. Acquiring a language requires considerable time—far more than making flashcards and memorizing 20 words daily. Comprehensible input demands great patience. For instance, Dreaming Spanish estimates 150 hours to move from "Superbeginner" to "Beginner." If you watch their videos for one hour daily, it will take 150 days to reach the Beginner level—that's five months. Achieving the highest level (where your comprehension is similar to a native speaker) requires 1,500 hours of input, which would be about 50 months (over four years) at one hour per day.
• Speaking practice is postponed and not emphasized enough. Dreaming Spanish fully acknowledges and accepts that your speaking ability will develop later. This delay is part of their method. They have strong arguments for this, and I am not claiming it is incorrect—only that you will not be able to hold conversations until around 300 hours of input (10 months at one hour per day) at the very earliest. For me, this would be highly discouraging and annoying—especially as someone learning Spanish to talk with family and connect with my heritage.
• Lacks a dedicated mobile application. If you wish to use Dreaming Spanish on your phone, you must use a web browser and the mobile site. I've noticed the videos load more slowly when I do this, which is somewhat inconvenient.

Dreaming Spanish Alternatives

Lingopie

Lingopie adopts a similar immersion-based strategy as Dreaming Spanish, but all its videos include subtitles. The program prompts you to click on unfamiliar words in the subtitles to see translations and add them to a flashcard deck.

Most videos are full episodes of TV shows, typically lasting from 20 to 60 minutes.

Lingopie does offer videos suitable for beginners, but the selection is small. Their aim is not to teach Spanish from the very beginning. Therefore, I would not recommend it for complete novices.

Lingflix

Lingflix uses authentic videos to immerse you in Spanish. Unlike Lingopie, the videos are not long-form—in this regard, it is more like Dreaming Spanish's easily digestible videos.

Lingflix also accommodates beginners through advanced learners, meaning you can begin using the program with no previous Spanish experience.

There is a wide array of learning tools—customized quizzes, flashcards, a video-based dictionary, etc. So if you prefer a combination of active learning and comprehensible input—but in videos that fit into a busy schedule—Lingflix could be the right choice for you.

Here’s a beginner comprehensible input video from the Lingflix Spanish YouTube channel that demonstrates how the program functions:

Babbel

Babbel is a structured language course that integrates grammar and vocabulary into lessons based on conversation. It is not video-based and uses traditional learning methods like exercises, drills, and quizzes.

They also offer “Babbel Live,” which provides live online Spanish classes taught by expert instructors.

In contrast to Dreaming Spanish, Babbel concentrates on helping you speak quickly. So if you need to learn Spanish urgently or you favor speaking-oriented learning techniques, Babbel may be a better fit for you.

Final Thoughts: Should You Use Dreaming Spanish?

Dreaming Spanish is the top resource I've discovered for learning Spanish purely through comprehensible input. If you are dedicated to this method, Dreaming Spanish is unquestionably worth the $8/month subscription fee.

However, personally, I would combine Dreaming Spanish with other traditional learning methods if you want to make rapid progress (I cannot imagine waiting 600 hours before trying to have a conversation).

The videos are interesting, the method works, and the progress trackers are addictive—and it costs only $8 a month. Therefore, I would recommend Dreaming Spanish to learners at any stage.

These are my opinions on Dreaming Spanish, and I hope my experience assists you in reaching your own decision.

No matter your current level, exposure to native Spanish is crucial for improvement, but immersion can be challenging when you are not yet advanced. Dreaming Spanish might be the exact resource you need to obtain that comprehensible exposure.