Learning Spanish by Telenovelas

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Want to learn Spanish? Want a method that is free, fun, and definitely not boring? Telenovelas!

• What is a telenovela?
• Do you want to study or relax?
• Does it work?
• Here's what worked for me.
• Is that enough?
• Closed Captions?
• Advanced Study
• Why telenovelas?
• Recaps
• Resources

What is a telenovela?

A telenovela (TN) is a Spanish language soap opera. The most popular ones appear in the evening (7 to 10 PM) on the Univision and Telemundo networks. Each show is one hour, Monday through Friday. One series will typically run for seven to fourteen months. The final show of the series typically features a wedding between the two leads, some horrible death or “fate worse than death” for the worst villain(s), and redemption for the bad guys who were less evil than the villain. Are they cheesy? Por supuesto que sí! (Of course!) They’re soap operas! But they really are engaging, and sometimes the cheesiness is part of the fun. They also are racey, just like American soaps. There is usually a strong moral component – the evil are punished and the good are rewarded. As one friend said, they are “Sunday school with sex.”

Do you want to study or relax?

If you want to watch TNs to improve your Spanish, you have to decide how much you want to get out of it. Some people simply want to relax and absorb what they can, and that’s fine. Adalante! (Go ahead!) But this page presents a plan for more deliberate study. It requires more work, but of course it also produces faster results, and it’s still much more fun than any Spanish class I’ve ever taken (disculpame, Maestro).

Does it work?

I can only speak for myself. Before I discovered TNs, I had taken weekly Spanish classes with limited results. When I started watching my first novela (LFMB), I could understand very little of it. Within two months, using this study method, my comprehension had doubled! Within 18 months, I was ready to write recaps without closed captions! (More on recaps below.) Be advised, I do not have a natural gift for learning languages. On the contrary, specific experiences tell me I’m actually below average in that area.

Here's what worked for me.

1. Watch and record the show at night.
2. Print out the recap (see below) the next morning.
3. Re-watch the episode with the recap in hand. Read a scene in the recap, then watch the scene. Listen for the key words that tell you they are saying what is in the recap. As you progress, try to decipher entire sentences.
4. Repeat for the next scene, etc.
5. Write down words or phrases that you like. Keep a list, and try to incorporate some into your vocabulary. One of the favorites from TN “study” was, "Cuándo me vas a dejar en paz?" (When will you leave me in peace?). I keep my list on computer. That way I can re-sort it or add and delete words as necessary. When I keep a list on paper, I lose it.

Note, my comprehension on the second viewing was vastly greater than in the first pass. Why? It was my second hearing, I had slept on it (I think that is important), and I knew what to expect because I had just read the scene in the recap.

Is that enough?

Again, that depends on what you want. For me, telenovelas are my primary method of language study, but not my only method. I also incorporate the following.

• Grammar study. See my ** Favorite Resources below. Learning those verb tenses really will help you get more from the novelas. There is a big difference between
  1. you deceived me,
  2. she is deceiving me,
  3. I deceived you,
  4. if you deceive me I’ll.., and
  5. I know he will deceive me.
• Dedicated vocabulary study. Don’t just make the list of useful words you hear. Actually study the list and try to incorporate them into your spoken Spanish.
• Conversation practice. With the growing hispanic population, it’s getting easier than ever to find immigrants who want to improve their English. Find a Spanish-speaking study partner so you can practice conversation together and help each other learn another language. See Finding a Spanish Study Partner for suggestions.

Closed Captions?

All the telenovelas have closed captions in Spanish. Should you turn them on or off? I’ve heard arguments for both sides. I really think it depends on your learning style. For me, watching without captions works best. When they are turned on, I pay attention to the captions instead of listening to the spoken Spanish. Others report the opposite. You may want to turn them on for the first pass and off for the second viewing. Or you could watch without captions, but turn them on to replay and decipher something you really care about, or to write down a vocabulary item. Be advised, don’t put too much confidence in the captions. They are full of errors.

Advanced Study

After my Spanish improved, sometimes I would transcribe a favorite scene verbatim, in either English or Spanish. It challenged my limits and forced me to focus on grammar items like tenses and pronouns. Again, it's work, but much more fun than writing a report in Spanish for class.

Why telenovelas?

Why not news shows, game shows, interview programs, etc.? I believe TNs are particularly well suited to language study.

• They are melodramatic. The facial expressions are more exaggerated than other kinds of programming, giving you visual clues about the content.
  
  
• They are visual. When the hero physically throws the villain out of the house and says, “Largate!” you know he’s not asking him out for coffee! Just like the difference between reading Shakespeare vs. watching it performed, it’s easier to understand dialog accompanied by action.
  
  
• They are very engaging. Once you get hooked, you desperately want to know what’s being said. You watch with full attention because you must know how the hero will resolve the crisis.
  
  
• They are predictable, and therefore they are easier to decipher. The plot is predictable. There are many key phrases (e.g. “No puede ser!”) which are used liberally. One key point will often be repeated many times as, for example, the kidnappers tell Roberto, “We have your baby,” then Roberto tells his business partner, “They have my baby, and I think it’s my step-brother Mario.” Then his business partner, who is really Mario’s bastard son, tells Mario, “Roberto knows that you have his baby.”
  
  
• The speaking style is easier to understand. Most of the actors use a rather bland central Mexican accent instead of the heaver accents of the northern states (think of a bland California accent compared to a Mississippi or Boston accent). I admit, they often speak very fast. But other times, particularly in very emotional moments, they speak with lots of weighty pauses that give you time to process what they said, for example, “Sylvia.. if you leave me.. my life won’t have meaning anymore.. I’ll have no reason.. to go on living.” Because the novelas typically focus on the lives of rich people, they tend to speak a rather educated style of Spanish (not always, but generally).

Recaps

What do I mean by “recaps”? At Caray Caray, volunteers write English language summaries of each day’s episode of Univision’s evening novelas. The recap is normally posted some time the next morning. It’s not a transcript, and it’s not just a strict retelling of what transpired. Instead the recappers give commentary on the important parts, skim over some of the useless stuff, and add their own style of humor. Then the viewing community comments on the recap and the progress of the show. A large percentage of the people commenting on the recaps are watching novelas to improve their Spanish, just like you. If you read a scene in the recap before you watch the scene, it is a tremendous aid in deciphering the Spanish.

Resources

• Word Reference. It's not just an online Spanish/English dictionary. It has usage notes, phrases which use the word, links to discussion forums about the word.. the list goes on and on.
• Practical Spanish Grammar by Prado. My favorite grammar resource. Clear, thorough, well taught, useful.
• Caray Caray, English recaps of the most popular telenovelas
• 1001 Most Useful Spanish Words. A marvelous little two-dollar book. I memorize the sentences and it helps my vocabulary, grammar, and syntax.