Blog

Guides on learning languages with YouTube — dual subtitles, vocabulary mining, and spaced repetition.

Is Dreaming Spanish Free? What the Free Tier Really Includes, What Premium Costs, and Whether It Works

Most of Dreaming Spanish is free, and the free part is the main course rather than a sample: a 972-video YouTube channel plus a $0 account. Premium is $8 a month. Here is exactly what sits on each side of that line — read off their own pricing page in August 2026 — and an honest answer to the question underneath the question: should you pay?

2026-08-13 • 11 min read

Anki

Spaced Repetition

Language Learning

Anki for Language Learning: What It's Great At, and the One Place It Breaks

Anki is still the best spaced-repetition tool for language learners, and almost nobody quits because of the algorithm. They quit because of where the cards come from. Here's what Anki does well, the card types that actually work for languages, and how to fix the part that breaks.

2026-07-29 • 10 min read

Spanish

Comprehensible Input

Dreaming Spanish

The Dreaming Spanish Roadmap, Explained (2026): All 7 Levels, the Hour Numbers, and What They Don't Tell You

The Dreaming Spanish roadmap is seven levels and six hour milestones from 0 to 1,500 hours of input. Here's each level in the roadmap's own words, what each one actually feels like, when the method says to start speaking and reading, and the one thing hour-counting doesn't buy you.

2026-07-29 • 10 min read

Japanese

Comprehensible Input

Language Learning

Comprehensible Input for Japanese: Channels by Level (and the Subtitle Tracks We Actually Checked)

Japanese has a real comprehensible input ecosystem now — you can go from zero to native content on YouTube alone. Here's the channel map by level, why click-to-look-up is harder in Japanese than in any European language, and what we found when we checked which channels ship real subtitle tracks.

2026-07-23 • 9 min read

Spaced Repetition

FSRS

Method

FSRS Explained: How the Spaced Repetition Algorithm Actually Works

FSRS is the open-source algorithm that decides when you should review a flashcard so you remember it with the least possible effort. Here's how it models your memory with three numbers, why it replaced the 1987-era SM-2 formula, and how to actually use it — in Anki or anywhere else.

2026-07-23 • 10 min read

Spanish

Comprehensible Input

Language Learning

Comprehensible Input for Spanish: The Full Resource Map (and the Caption Problem Nobody Mentions)

Spanish has the best comprehensible input ecosystem of any language — Dreaming Spanish alone changed how thousands of people learn. Here's the level-by-level resource map, plus something we checked that most guides don't: which channels actually have Spanish captions.

2026-07-10 • 7 min read

Comparisons

Language Learning

Chrome Extensions

Language Reactor vs Trancy vs Migaku (2026): Which One Should You Actually Use?

We pulled the pricing pages, changelogs, and store reviews of the three big YouTube language-learning extensions and compared them honestly: free tiers, paywalls, review systems, and where each one falls down.

2026-07-10 • 11 min read

Language Learning

Comprehensible Input

Method

What Is Comprehensible Input? A Practical Guide for Self-Learners

Comprehensible input is language you can mostly understand from context — the raw material your brain uses to acquire a language. Here's what the theory actually says, how to apply it with real content, and the one thing input alone won't do for you.

2026-07-10 • 7 min read

Announcements

Language Learning

YouTube

Introducing LingoKeep: Learn Languages Watching YouTube — and Actually Remember

We're building a Chrome extension that turns YouTube into a language classroom — dual subtitles, a click-any-word dictionary, one-click flashcards, and free spaced-repetition review. Here's what it is, what it isn't yet, and how to get notified at launch.

2026-07-02 • 3 min read