or - I watch telenovelas to improve my Spanish...¡en serio!
La Madrastra (The Stepmother) was my first. The show had been running for about two months when I discovered it. Even if my ear had been more discerning, I would have been lost by the complex storylines already in play. At this stage in my studies, the spoken language still sounded like the rat-a-tat of a machine-gun. Did they really have to talk so fast? But when I followed along with closed captions in Spanish I saw that these people were spewing not bullets but words!
Over time, the broad strokes of the plot became evident; then gradually I began to fill in the details and I became more involved in the story. I found myself caring about the characters. I wept with Victoria Ruffo's sorrowful Maria; I swooned over the rich basso profundo of César Evora's Esteban. Well, you get the idea.
Since that time, I have tried to watch at least one novela daily. I kept using the closed captions long after I really needed them. These days I'm more comfortable without them. Reading them distracts me from listening.
Okay. So what can you really learn from telenovelas? From this parallel universe of freakish good looks, and wealth beyond imagining, where the improbable becomes probable and nothing has gone far enough until it has gone way way way too far?
Words. Telenovelas definitely expand your vocabulary (although sometimes in odd directions!) Consider the title: La Madrastra
Here's the whole family:
stepmother: la madrastra
stepfather: el padrastro
stepson: el hijastro
stepdaughter: la hijastra
stepbrother: el hermanastro
stepsister: la hermanastra
Tune in next week when we'll take a closer linguistic look at this unhappy clan...
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