Tracking Dreaming Spanish Hours Alongside Other Input

Dreaming Spanish is one of the few learning platforms built around an honest unit: hours of Spanish you've listened to and understood. It tracks the time you spend on its own videos automatically, and its progress page has a place to add outside hours. So why would you need anything else? Usually because, after a few hundred hours, a lot of your Spanish no longer happens on Dreaming.

On this page

The roadmap in one line

Dreaming's published roadmap has seven levels at 0, 50, 150, 300, 600, 1,000 and 1,500 cumulative hours of input. Around 300 hours you can follow a patient speaker; around 600 you understand natives speaking to you normally; around 1,000 you're comfortable in daily conversation (source: Dreaming's Language Learning Roadmap PDF). Our roadmap explainer covers each level and its caveats.

The important part for tracking: the roadmap counts all comprehensible input, not just Dreaming's videos. Podcasts, YouTube, series and conversations you followed belong in the total.

Option 1: Keep Dreaming as the master total

The simplest setup. Watch on Dreaming as usual and add everything else as outside hours on Dreaming's progress page.

• Good for: learners whose input is still mostly Dreaming, and who want the roadmap level shown in one place.
• Downside: outside hours go in as a lump, so later you can't see which podcast or series they came from, or how your time split between listening, reading and speaking.

Option 2: Keep an external log with Dreaming as one source

Once outside input becomes a real share of your time, an external log gives you a clearer picture. Treat Dreaming as one source among several:

Here the input total for the roadmap is the listening and watching rows: 555 minutes, a little over nine hours. Reading and speaking are logged too, but kept apart. Dreaming's own FAQ suggests tracking reading separately (by words read), and the roadmap notes that comprehension runs ahead of speaking, so a separate speaking line shows you how far output trails.

How not to double count

The one rule: each minute goes into exactly one total. Pick which number is the master and stick with it.

• If Dreaming is the master, add outside input there and use any other log only for detail.
• If an external log is the master, enter your Dreaming total once as a starting balance, then log Dreaming sessions alongside everything else going forward. Don't also add outside hours on Dreaming, or the two totals will drift apart in confusing ways.

Either way, check your current Dreaming total before switching, so the starting balance is exact rather than remembered.

What counts as outside input

The same rule Dreaming uses: count time when you were following what you heard. A podcast on a walk counts; the same podcast while you answer emails doesn't. Series with Spanish subtitles count; with English subtitles, most people don't count them. If you're unsure, round down. Your roadmap level is only useful if your hours are honest. More on this in how to track comprehensible input hours.

Turning hours into a date

The roadmap's spacing grows as you go (50, then 100, 150, 300, 400 and 500 hours between levels), so the gaps feel longer each time. A weekly total is the easiest way to see whether you're actually on pace. At 10 hours a week, 300 to 600 hours takes about seven months; at five hours a week, over a year. Knowing that in advance makes the long middle levels much less discouraging.

Doing this in LangTrack

In the LangTrack tracker, you can enter your hours from before LangTrack as a single total, including your Dreaming Spanish hours, so your history starts where you actually are. After that, Dreaming, podcasts and YouTube each become a source, and your usual ones turn into one-tap shortcuts. LangTrack doesn't connect to Dreaming; you log sessions yourself. A level goal shows an estimated finish date at your pace over the last four weeks. If you already kept a spreadsheet, add its hours to that starting total.Start with your current total.

FAQ

Can you add outside hours to Dreaming Spanish?

Yes. Dreaming Spanish tracks time on its own videos automatically, and its progress page lets you add input from outside the platform, such as podcasts, series and YouTube, which counts toward your roadmap total.

What are the Dreaming Spanish levels in hours?

The roadmap has seven levels at 0, 50, 150, 300, 600, 1,000 and 1,500 cumulative hours of comprehensible input. Dreaming describes these as general estimates and notes that understandability of input and related languages change the pace.

Should speaking count toward Dreaming Spanish hours?

The roadmap counts input, meaning listening and watching you understood. Conversations involve listening too, but most learners log speaking separately so they can see how their output is developing.

Related reading: Dreaming Spanish Roadmap: Hours per Level, Explained · Tracking Spanish Learning Progress · Immersion Tracker: How to Log Immersion Hours