Is Dreaming Spanish really the best way to learn the language?

Hear me out. This isn't another post questioning the method. I think it's fair to say, if you're here you're already a believer.

I hit a bit of a block in recent days where content I'd normally find really comfortable was just not making any sense, so decided to drop down to some really easy content for a while. It's not the first time I've done this but I've always come back stronger afterwards so no need to stress it.

Anyway, after watching Shel's video on non Newtonian liquids (fascinating subject!) I went on YouTube to find a video to send to my daughter to make some for my grandkids 😀 Whilst on YT i stumbled across a guy (won't share his name as he doesn't deserve the exposure but let's say he claims to be a hyperglot) absolutely slating the DS method in several videos, calling users lazy and having a low IQ. He says DS is slow, inefficient and isn't the most effective way to learn a language. Instead we should all be using spreadsheets to memorise common phrases.

Whist I think the guy is an absolute arse and comes across as an arrogant 🔔🔚, I do feel he's got a point about efficiency and speed of learning.

When my daughter was at school about 20 years ago, I learned some Spanish from Pimsleur and textbooks. I gave up. Years later I tried again with Pimsleur. I gave up. 18 months ago I started Duolingo and Pimsleur. Over the following 12 months I tried a multitude of other apps. I learned a lot of vocab but I couldn't understand much when listening and I couldn't form sentences beyond the fairly basic.

In September I started DS (I dropped everything else) and my listening comprehension has rocketed. BUT....I still question my own ability to really become fluent using DS (or any method). Is this just going to be another failed attempt to learn Spanish? For the people who are on level 6,7 and beyond....is it common to keep stumbling like I'm doing? When I reach advanced videos rated 70-80, will there still days when only SB video will makes sense? Will I ever be able to watch native content and understand it like I would in English? ( OK, you can't answer that, but isn't that what we all ask ourselves?)

In short, Mr YT hyperglot really annoyed me with his opinions but succeeded in making me question my own language learning ability.