[coyotespike]

I love this comment a lot. I am not fluent in Latin, but have also experienced amazingly fast progress using CI methods (relying on the resources you mention below).

Currently I'm brushing up on Spanish in the same way and absorbing (for instance) the subjunctive painlessly.

I think most people still underestimate how easily an adult can learn a language.

"Paul Nation in a 2014 article estimates that to acquire a vocabulary of about 5000 words a student needs read about 2 million words."

If you absorb about 3000 words a day, after less than a year you'll have read 1 million words. With a vocabulary of 2500 words you can do quite a lot. For me, in Latin, that's about 40 minutes of reading (I read faster in Spanish, slower in Ukrainian).

Read/listen/watch 3000 words a day, understanding the majority of the words so you understand the whole passage, and after a year or so you'll be mostly fluent.

These figures line up with your 200-300 hours to read the Vulgate, as well.

[nicoburns]

What resources do you use for Spanish?

[coyotespike]

The great thing about CI is that it implies less is more. Don't do anything elaborate, don't memorize, don't practice grammar, just consume media you understand.

I'm at a somewhat intermediate level, so mainly I am just watching The Mandalorian, Clone Wars, etc, in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. I'll often repeat a phrase or sentence into Google Translate, or repeat it into ChatGPT mobile and ask for a grammatical explanation or if the phrase is colloquial.

I do copy transcribed phrases I like, so I can read them again later. That's all the review I do and is more than necessary.

I've also signed up for News in Slow Spanish but not sure how much that adds over watching TV tbh.

In a few months I'll think about adding conversational practice in some way.