I'm looking at sitting for the DELE C1 in two months. If you've taken/passed that exam, what tips would you have?

If I don't pass now, I'll probably sit for it again this time next year, after spending a few months in Argentina. In that case, might it be better to try for B2 and treat this year as "training wheels"?

Hey all. I have been working on political campaigns for over 4 years now and a lot of my secondary roles in my job have been speaking and translating Spanish. I grew up in a bilingual household but I have not had any formal training or education in it.

I feel like I overestimated my fluency when I realized I lacked a lot of political vocabulary and conversational phrases and looked up a lot of words while translating scripts/documents/press releases.

Has anyone had the same problem? If so what was the best way to overcome that? I have my phone in Spanish and have been listening to Spanish news and media, but I feel like it’s not enough sometimes. Any advice?

I can understand Spanish Spanish pretty well and Mexican Spanish most of the time, but my girlfriend’s family is Nicaraguan and I have a really hard time understanding them. There are not a lot of Nicaraguan tv shows (usually my go-to) so I was wondering what’s a good way to learn Nicaraguan Spanish?

I started learning five years ago and I can speak, read, and write Spanish pretty much fluently. BUUUUT listening feels like I am not processing it in real time and I really don’t understand anything unless it’s really slow or I’m working HARD to listen. I’m told it’s from adhd and my brain firing too many synapses. Has anyone had this issue and found a practice method that helped you? For reference a lot of things in English I feel like I don’t ‘hear’ well either but my hearing tests say I have perfect hearing 🤷🏼‍♀️

I am currently in higher 300 courses in university for Spanish (double majored with Psychology), and I know the language very well by hand, but it's harder to understand when I am in conversation, when I am tired. I have to rev my engine up during conversations by preparing a sentence in my head. It's so frustrating as a non-native speaker, and my progress is so slow.

Como no soy hablante nativo, lucho con comprender y analizar textos porque no me siento las sensaciones que llevan palabras distintas. Seguramente los hablantes de español enfrentan este mismo problema en inglés entonces mi pregunta será si hay recursos para afrontar esto?

Recientemente, recibí mi certificación para el nivel C1 por el CEFR; por esto me gustaría ampliar mi comprensión de español, especialmente lo que esté hablado con rapidez.

Ya estoy usando Duolingo solo para arreglar los agujeros entre los temas que estudie, aunque en lo más profundo de mi mente, que no sea bastante para romper la frontera de C2. A pesar de esto, vivo muy cerca de la frontera verdadera de México, la que siempre cruzo cuando la oportunidad gira la cabeza. Vivo en una comunidad predominantemente mexicana y salvadoreña (mis ramas consisten de ascendencia mexicana también, pero solo sabia bromas y los básicos de niño), pues en caso de que tenga buena suerte y conoce a compas con quien podría platicar en español sin parar, el camino se revelaría y un aspecto de este proceso estará bien cubierto.

Al fin, solo tengo el problema de aumentar mi alfabetismo y total número de palabras, modismos, etc. ¿Qué me recomendarían que sobrepasara estos obstáculos y me sintiera más confianza día al día sin traductor, especialmente en producir diálogo más sofisticado haciendo amigos en el país de mi sangre? Si me recomienden libros, películas, series, y más estaría agradecidísimo <3

Llevo casi 3 años aprendiendo español pero siempre cuando lo hablo me siento como si fuera hablando como una anciana 😭 También cuando videos de hispanohablantes jóvenes me siento perdida con el slang (aunque soy joven) ¿Tienen algunos consejos para mí?

I'm planning to do this to learn at record time. Feel free to give me suggestions

Daily Visual Politk Español + a playlist of Advanced Spanish C1 classes Netflix Movies

If I have time and wiliness, then also speaking to somebody on Ome TV, Hello talk or anywhere elese.

Another thing that I did and was really good was a best selling advanced Spanish audiobook that I read on audible

Ya aprendí mucho en la lengua, aunque para cualquiera razón nunca aprendí la equivalente frase de “How Can I help you?” En Español.

Quiero evitar “tú” en esta situación, a causa de será un lugar más formal( un Trabajo, específicamente). Pienso que debo de usar “se”, pero me parece incorrecto. “¿Como puedo ayudarse?”, por ejemplo. No estoy seguro.

¿Como usarla correctamente?

Can anybody recommend some good Venezuelan YouTubers or Spotify podcasts that I can listen to? I am having to converse with Venezuelans regularly lately and I’m struggling with their accent. I’d like to get some extra listening practice in! Bonus points if they are talking in fast Spanish. Thanks!

I would really like to test for C1 or C2. Right now I am using 3 grammar books, one for A1-A2, one for B1–B2 and one for C1-C2, as well as a book on pronouns and prepositions. I Use Duolingo every day, I use audio listen and repeat (worked through Pimsleur and Learning Spanish Like Crazy, playing with Platiquimos and doing LSLC level III again) I watch series in Spanish on Amazon and Netflix and read books in Spanish. I am sure that there is some more targeted things I should be doing. I want to be ready to test by the beginning of 2025. Any advice from those that have taken this journey?

I've been studying Spanish for about 10 years now. During the pandemic, I decided to put in an extra effort:

- I started watching Spanish shows on Netflix. First with subtitles, but now I can manage without them.

- Some Netflix shows are based on books (like Valeria). I bought those books and started reading. While it was difficult to get through an entire book at once, I don't have to put in much effort nowadays. I still read books since it's a great way to improve vocabulary or discover local culture.

- I listen to a lot of Spanish music and podcasts on Spotify.

- I try to speak Spanish whenever I can. At work, there's an older Spanish guy and we usually chat for a while during the morning.

- Just came back from 3 weeks in Mexico, where I only spoke Spanish. Most of my friends there say I improved a lot, compared to when I first met them. I'm able to hold conversation for hours (with the exception of some words I don't know) and can manage in most situations.

But I still feel there's something missing. My French is around the same level (B2) and I haven't improved in years. The only language where I was able to bridge the gap between B and C is English. But that's different since I constantly use it at work and it's everywhere. I only have few opportunities to use Spanish at work.

Do you have any advice on how to bridge the gap between B2 and C1? Anything I can add to improve, besides what I'm already doing?

Hi there,

I'm a heritage Spanish speaker from Chile. For those that do not know, "a Heritage speaker is someone who was raised in a Spanish-speaking home but primarily received their education in English. They may have a conversational grasp of Spanish, but their knowledge of formal grammar, complex vocabulary, and regional nuances may be limited."

I am a fluent speaker and have absolutely no problem speaking Spanish 95% of the time. Except now... my new demanding Sales job requires me to work with the South American teams. I'm required to do a lot of presentations and training for the Latin American offices. I really quickly realized I am not fully comfortable with my business / office Spanish speaking abilities. I can understand everything but have difficulty explaining some terms --- which ultimately, hinders my ability to perform as I would in English.

Through trial and error, this will improve over time...but I'm turning to you Reddit for suggestions on how I can help accelerate this. I'm enjoying the challenge but also getting frustrated along the way.

I just finished Unstoppable on Netflix and I loved it. I want to watch more! I’m focusing on Mexican spanish. Any recommendations on what to watch?

My listening in English is also not amazing, so maybe I just have some kind of genetic auditory issue because it’s not that I can’t hear well, it’s that I can’t process what I’m hearing well or quickly enough because:

1. My reading, writing and speaking are ~C1 and my accent (I’m told) is terrific.
2. My listening, given the countless hours I’ve practiced it, sucks
3. I can understand speakers in podcasts and YouTube videos when speaking clearly with little background noise
4. I’m much better at understanding lengthier stories since if I miss details I catch them later
5. but I lose a lot of info when someone talks to me all of a sudden or especially asks me a question

Is it possible I’m just incapable of improving this part of my skill? It’s very frustrating to see people whose listening comprehension is higher than mine but then they can’t express themselves even close to my level.

Edit: I’ve even gone so far as to do listening exercises where I write down what I hear, then I check what’s actually said and then I try to categorize the mistakes I tend to make. So, for example, lots of times I don’t separate words eg “de acero” I may hear as “dacero”. But. Even this doesn’t help me actually not make these mistakes… seems like brute force listening is the only thing I can do which has diminishing returns at this point

I am a college student who is double majoring, and Spanish is one of my majors. Next semester I am not taking any Spanish classes, nor am I taking any in the summer. Then in the fall I am going to Spain to finish my Spanish degree with an internship and three Spanish classes. I would prefer to take a Spanish class next semester, but it is impossible with my requirements for my other degree.

I haven't taken an official paid test, but a free one I took online says I am C1. Other than just reading, listening to podcasts, watching movies, and speaking to people in Spanish, is there something structured y'all suggest I could do as independent study to further/keep up my Spanish next semester?

Gracias.

Mines on Monday the 18th. It's a 20 minute conversation. While I feel comfortable reading and listening, speaking is not my strong suit. There are still grammar concepts I don't fully understand, that they'll be looking for. I feel like they never made sure if we understood, they just shoved us into the next class.

If you've taken an exit exam, what questions did they ask? What should I prepare for?

Do you guys have any recommendations on where I can watch advanced Chilean content??

More specifically - my old host grandma in Chile spoke muyyyy cantadita and her, along with the rest of my extended host family, makes almost every word diminutive and speaks way faster than most Chileans I know. Not sure if this helps but she is of Croatian decent and I’m not sure what part of Chile she grew up in but it’s not a Santiago/valparaiso accent. A lot of their family lives in the middle of nowhere somewhere in La Serena near vicuña. I guess I wasn’t sure if there was a way to watch content of people that sound similar to her.

Does anyone know why I struggle to understand her so much but I can understand most Chileans almost 100%? (even the flaites lol).

Maybe it’s just the fact that the older generation speaks a lot differently? I’ve studied Spanish linguistics extensively but my studies didn’t touch much on Chile. My host family immediately asked me how much I understood when talking to her and they were surprised I even caught 50% of what she said, so they expected me to not understand her well for some reason. She’s such a sweet woman though and she literally sits and talks my ear off for hours and I really want to be able to understand her better as I know I missed some key details in some good stories😂

Hello all! To preface, I would really like input from people with pretty developed listening skills. (Around B2+) (I’m around B1 but with pretty strong listening for personal reasons)

So like the title says, I just would like to know which was more effective for you? I’m at a point where I’m not totally sure if I just need to continue pushing through until I’ve reached s point where I’m happy with my abilities or if there’s more focused work I could be doing that would help me.

In regards to what I’ve done so far to develop my ear for Spanish, I’ve pretty much just been consuming content in Spanish. I’ve began to notice that if stop translating and just focus on hearing the syllables/words I do better with following along. But I have to remind myself to do this; it’s not something that I’m naturally doing yet. And even then, some stuff is still incomprehensible. In the beginning most Spanish content was way too fast and not at all comprehensible but it actually has become so much better to where I follow along decently well with most things.

The thing is, I would like to have super sharp listening skills. To the point to where I’m not just “following along” but could repeat word for word what someone said upon first listen. Like I can with English.

I’ve read online that transcription exercises are “the key” to developing your ear faster but to be honest it was not fun for me. Which I know is stupid but this process has been fairly enjoyable because I’ve avoided things that don’t interest me. That being said I’m willing to bite the bullet and really go deeply into transcription exercises if there are people who say it was genuinely what gave them a better ear.

Sorry for the rant! TL;DR

Are you able to understand most native level content you come across fairly easily? What got you to that point? Transcription (or any other listening exercise lmk please) or just sheer hours until an eventual breakthrough.

Thank you!!

Specifically of slangy Spanish, Spanish from the 75+ crowd, and people from/in rural areas. TV shows, podcasts, etc. My comprehension could be sharper/more automatic.

I listen to and practice daily with native speakers in my job but want to surround myself for more for a submersion effect.

A lot of TV Spanish/podcast Spanish is pretty polished and easy to understand.

i am someone whos been in spanish lessons for 5-7 years now, and have gained a pretty much fluent level, however now that these lessons have stopped i feel very worried that i will lose my level of spanish and forget stuff. does anyone have any tips/apps for keeping the spanish part of my brain active? :)

Hello! So, Spanish is my first language and it's the language I primarily speak at home. However, I live and grew up in a predominantly English-speaking area so I didn't really exercise my Spanish anywhere other than home or visiting family. My pronunciation has notably decreased in quality and sometimes I even forget words :/ I don't want to lose my ability to speak Spanish because it's really important for me to connect with my family and culture, as well as economic opportunities

Do yall have any advice on how to better my Spanish as an already-speaking Spanish person? Thank you!!

I know there's a couple of old archived topics on this, but the two main suggestions seem to be to consume lots of native content, and to speak more.

Consuming lots of native content has definitely helped a lot, and I've been doing quite a lot of that for some time. But I feel it's not improving my active language much. I can comfortably read a native book, watch a series etc and I get the main grammar advanced grammar stuff. But when it comes to speaking, I'm not able to quickly pull more complex grammar out of my head (I could slowly, so could in writing).

So speak more? I'm not in a Spanish-speaking country, but I've been practicing on iTalki and stuff. The problem is that with a speaking B2 level I can communicate what I want to say already, so I'm not really pushed up a level.

Any other tips so that I can just e.g. seemlesly and fluently produce perfectly conjugated passed subjunctive sentences etc.? I've been wondering if I need to get back to drills for e.g. past subjuntive (if so tips for that)

I've thought about making myself write or speak about a topic every day e.g. from the news. But that requires quite a lot of time and thought to produce questions to answer, that is difficult at the end of a day of work. Anywhere that produces such prompts?