Wednesday, January 27, 2016

More than entertainment

I have always loved watching drama on television, so when I saw my first telenovela in high school I was instantly hooked. When I was taking Spanish in high school, we would watch portions of the telenovela Destinos practically every day in class. Destinos is a telenovela that was specifically created with the intention of teaching Spanish to beginners. Raquel Rodriguez was a Spanish speaking lawyer from California who was hired by a dying man’s family to track down his first wife who had been presumed dead after the Spanish Civil War. Raquel travelled to multiple different Spanish speaking countries while also teaching our class basic Spanish. Needless to say, it grabbed all of our attention and made learning the Spanish language fun. One of the things that I think makes telenovelas so cool is that they are not only super dramatic, but they are also great tools to help learn the Spanish language. If my high school Spanish class had not watched Destinos then I would not have cared enough to learn as much of the Spanish language as I did. This is one of the main reasons that I'm excited about watching the telenovela that I chose, La Patrona. While I am obviously looking forward to the drama, I am also looking forward to having another tool to help me in my Spanish class this semester.

4 comments:

  1. I completely agree with what you are saying. I took Spanish a few years in middle school and high school and we would watch episodes of Telenovelas every now and then, but I could tell it would be very helpful if we watched them more often. Sadly, I can't remember what we even watched since it was so long ago and we never really got into the plot of any series, but they were fun to watch and always grabbed our attention. It makes me wish i was still taking Spanish so I could have two classes helping me side by side. I can already tell after a small portion of my Telenovela, Pablo Escobar: El Patron Del Mal, that my Spanish has been refreshed from what i used to know. Also, I can definitely say I'm hooked on my Telenovela as well, and I really enjoy sitting down and watching a few episodes.

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  2. I also took Spanish in high school and we would watch telenovelas. Telenovelas are more than melodramas; they are also fantastic teaching tools. These shows are not only spicy and addicting but also an extremely effective tool for learning Spanish. I personally found that these extremely dramatic shows would actually help with my Spanish. Without knowing all the words I could still understand all of the interactions. The music coupled with dramatic acting and editing would always give clues to mood changes. I am also majoring in Spanish and even in college I use telenovelas on Netflix to help keep up with my Spanish.

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  3. I also took spanish in highschool and i wish i had been exposed to telenovelas during my courses. I haven't taken spanish in a year but i already feel like i have a better undertsanding of the language than i did after my 11 years of school spanish courses. I think this is a perfect way to teach the language while incorporating spanish culture into the lessons as well. really wish my teachers had thought of this as a useful tool...

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  4. If I had known about telenovelas in high school, I would have watched an episode every day! After watching hours of Rebelde, I feel like my Spanish listening comprehension has increased greatly. I used to not like completing listening activities but now they are very enjoyable. Also I get to learn new vocabulary in context of what is going on in the scenes of the telenovela. Even after finishing the class, I know that I'll continue watching telenovelas!

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