# Beginners: If you can do this, you will learn Spanish
> Took four years of Spanish in high school but didn't really learn Spanish? Chances are, you spent a lot of time learning *about* Spanish, but little time *in* Spanish.
**URL:** https://migaku.com/blog/spanish/get-started-in-spanish
**Last Updated:** 2025-09-01
**Tags:** discussion
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Life is kind of difficult for people who want to [learn Spanish](/learn-spanish): there are tons of apps and courses out there that all claim to make it "easy" or to help you learn Spanish "fast".
Many of them suck.
(You've likely noticed.)
The truth is that learning Spanish really boils down to just one thing, called _input_, and that if your resource of choice is doing something other than encouraging you to spend a lot of time _in_ Spanish, it's probably not doing much for you.
That's an opinion—I know—but bear with me:
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## What every successful Spanish learner has in common
I'm a marketer, but I'll be honest: people have learned Spanish in a _lot_ of different ways.
> What all of those people have in common is that, inevitably, in some way, they spent a massive amount of time _in_ Spanish.
>
> - Maybe they read a lot of books
> - Maybe they read a lot of telenovelas
> - Maybe they fled from the government and took up a new identity as a goat farmer in Spanish-speaking Córdoba.
This act of "spending time in Spanish" is called _input_. It means nothing more or less than simply getting real Spanish into your head.
It's also _magical_.
## Why most beginners fail to learn Spanish
Most beginning Spanish learners fail to make it to the intermediate level (let alone to become an advanced learner) because they spend a lot of time learning _about_ Spanish but virtually zero time _in_ Spanish.
- They follow a textbook and read about grammar and tenses
- They drill verb conjugations until their brain is numb
- They watch YouTube videos promising to demystify ser vs estar
And then they stumble into a conversation at the local Mexican restaurant or hear _Despacito_ on the radio... and all that knowledge seems to just disappear.
> It'll happen to you, too.
>
> *Unless* you find a way to integrate Spanish into your daily life.
The rest of this post is a roadmap to doing just that.
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## Step 1 → Find some basic Spanish comprehensible input on YouTube
[Comprehensible input](https://comprehensibleinputwiki.org/wiki/Spanish#Video) is a special type of content aimed at language learners. It is entirely in Spanish... but the speakers speak clearly and intentionally use simple words and gestures or photos to help you follow what is being said.
The idea is that if you can follow the general _message_, then eventually the _words_ will come to have meaning, too.
Here are a few sample channels, sorted roughly by difficulty:
- [Dreaming Spanish](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z5zt4duxFU&list=PLlpPf-YgbU7GbOHc3siOGQ5KmVSngZucl&index=3)
- [Spanish with Alma](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2LhPsO9u0&list=PLZyAayWtbKrAjMtJCH1EGwbmwFbyAaff8&t=25s)
- [Spanish a la Chilena](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uwNAi-CR94&list=PLdaIB-VOgu8DleLDOntl_nTHusI3GQFsi&index=14)
- [Spanish After Hours](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slsiyldJbrA&list=PLLFFrODykXG96ZZ-JQ4Upppexe_CCVRFo&index=6)
- [Spanish Boost Gaming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro3vgBw_Sxw)
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## Step 2 → Use Migaku to look up unknown vocabulary words and make flashcards
The fact that this content is for _beginners_, unfortunately, doesn't mean that it's _easy_. If you're just starting out, it'll be hard. You'll likely find new words in every single sentence.
Migaku solves that problem for you. We'll:
- Generate subtitles if they aren't available
- Optionally display English subtitles beneath the Spanish ones
- Enable you to tap on words in the subtitles to see what they mean
If you decide that a word is useful, you can just click that orange button in the top-right corner of the dictionary entry to make a flashcard. It contains your word, the sentence it appears in, a snippet of the video audio, and a screenshot of the video.
Your brain is an incredible thing. If you give it enough input, you'll pick up on things like pronunciation and how adjectives change their endings to follow nouns naturally.
Migaku simply enables you to begin getting that input earlier than would normally be possible.
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## Step 3 → Gradually work up to more difficult content and follow your interests
To move from beginner to intermediate, you need to understand two things about how vocabulary works:
- **Not all words are used equally.** → While natives know tens of thousands of words, you only need to know ~1,500 words to recognize 80% of the words you see.
- **Domain specificity** → Every genre, medium, and niche has its own "usually rare but common here" words. For this reason, your first steps into a new type of content will usually be difficult.
And this brings us to a very important point:
> The more time you spend doing things you enjoy in Spanish, the faster you will build the specific skills to do the things you enjoy in Spanish.
_([Here's a bunch of Spanish shows you can work your way up to.](/blog/spanish/best-spanish-shows-guide))_
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## TL;DR → If your app or course doesn't focus on input, it won't contribute to your language learning journey
Learning Spanish isn't easy, but it _is_ pretty simple.
To succeed, you only need to remember one thing:
> If you consume media you enjoy in Spanish, and you understand at least some of the messages and sentences within that media, you will make progress. _Period._
Conversely—if the approach you are following _isn't_ having you spend the majority of your time _in_ Spanish, it's probably not going to take you very far.