Hi Pure Emptiness,
It's alright. Whichever method fits you is the one you have
affinity for...
Hearing chanting in dream is quite usual. Practise as much as
you can but don't look for 感应。
The best sign of improvement is your compassion grow...you feel
the sufferings of sentient beings more and more and wish to help
them. The other signs are like you can see your own faults
more and more... you lose interest in worldly pursuits. You
treasure Buddha's teachings more and more...your understanding of
dharma deepen more, and you wish to practice even harder... your
sense of impermanence will deepen... you become more and more
humble and selfless and you lose interest in the 8 worldly
dharmas like gain and loss, happiness and suffering, fame and its
opposite, praise and criticism.
Most importantly, when bad situations, illness, suffering ripen,
your faith in dharma and karma never shake... this is sign of
improvement.
Dreams, see this thing, see that thing is all phantom and
opera. Don't go after this kind of things or else the spirits /
karmic creditors will make use of it to mislead you.