Telenovelas and Words

A Method to Connect With Words!

Growing up, I wanted to a way to connect to the words of the language I was learning. I thought it was fine to encounter them in texts at high school and college, but I had no real life connection or application to using them or even hearing them outside of school and college. I really wanted to know and even feel how it was to actually use Spanish, hear it spoken, and even read and write in it.
The years in college did pay off a little, because my professors were masters in their expertise. One woman from Colombia even had us dancing to the particular music that was common in various regions and trying foods native to the land. For our culminating activity presentations, we even had a party on the last day. :)

Then I asked myself: Is this it?! This can't be it! I felt a bit forlorn that I would have to give up Spanish eventually.

I did not have the luxury of having any friends or any family members who spoke Spanish. (Well, except for someone in Spain, and at the time, I didn't know they lived there..)I think Spanish radio scared me a little, because they spoke faster in Spanish than even in English.

Anyway, one night I was flipping channels on the television, and I chanced across a beautiful scene of a couple and an accompanying song that went something like this:
"Que porque te quiero?" The male singer's voice entranced me immediately. He sang slowly like most balladic songs go, and it sounded so poetic and appealing, that it made me stop flipping channels. As a result, I learned that telenovelas were my ticket to connecting to this language. Thanks to the creators of *"Topacio"* for creating that show! After a while, my mom would stop by once in a while and ask what was going on. Since she was a nurse, she would ask what was going on in all those hospital scenes. I was only happy to translate, another new - found skill that telenovelas built into me.

(*Note: I believe the program was actually in Venezuelan Spanish, but they did use a lot of words and phrases that were familiar.)

Don't even get me started on "Cristal." That program had the whole world watching!!! :)

I think I was browsing on the net and ran across another relatively new language learner of Spanish, who took it to a even more serious level than me. She got all her neighbors involved in blogging about her favorite telenovela. She would call them and ask what does this mean, and what does that mean? Pretty soon, she had a blog up and running, and readers from all over the world, and they would tune into her daily updates. It took her a long time to transcribe everything, but from what I can tell, but she was very successful in her enterprise. I have her site and link somewhere in my files, and I will give it to you in due time.

So, whatever floats your boat, right?!

Anyway, that's about the gist of it.

If it is interests you and makes you want to learn, then stick with it. If it's a live person you want and not a tube, then I recommend Spanish tutoring or self - study using the internet. These are all fun ways to connect to Spanish. Tapes work to a certain extent also.

At first, the words might be scary and difficult to pronounce. Remember when you were
a kid and you got your first scary word? Today, I hear them say "hard" or "long" word. You didn't really want to try saying it? You hoped the teacher skipped over you and asked the talkative person to try?!

Well, it's kind of like that. You either try it, or you skip it altogether. That means you never really learn it or make it your sound.

Try saying something similar to English.

How about diccionario?

That's pretty much like in the English language.

Dictionary

Sometimes, it's the same sound with a few extra syllables.

If you never try using the words, you will never know where your problem is.
Is it in the sound you are hearing? Is it in the syllable stress? Is it in the
way you are mispronouncing it. These things all affect your language study!

I have to admit I was afraid to start speaking Spanish. Since I had been more or less hearing it or seeing it in writing and print, listening to teachers and telenovela stars, I was too used to other people speaking it for me. I didn't know how I would be trying to say the words myself. I think I tried to listen to the news.

Noticias (no ti ci as)

I tried reading the per io di cos. (newspapers)

I decided to stick to practicing telenovela words in the meantime.

amor,te amo, te quiero, amor...ok, so they were less intimidating words!

Well, not always! There were times I had no idea what was being said. I didn't even
find certain words in the books. When I asked about them, no one knew. Maybe I was pronouncing the words incorrectly? (Years later, I realized some of the words were Italian or French or Venezuelan, so then I knew why no one knew what I asked).

They used words for things I liked:

muneca, joventud, primavera, galan, disfraz (words that made me curious about them)and made me look them up or ask about them.

Sometimes, a particular actriz you liked to follow said something in an interesting way. Each one had his/her own particular accent. Their trademark diction! Gabriela Spanic was very different from Jeannete Rodriguez. Their acting was also distinctive.
I began to recognize them and their trademark styles in other shows. That's how I could first recognize a whole new teeming world in front of me. Otherwise, I was so lost! (Oh, Jeanette's back again in this new show!)

The categories of the words started to surface. The words used in hospital scenes of "Topacio" were radically different from scenes in prison where prisoners would use slang and offensive insults to Gabriela's character. This hardened and personified Gabriela's sketchy character, and made her shine in her resolute manner to escape from life's trauma, and the viewers started to know more about her as the days went on. We began to identify with why the "mean girls" were persecuting her as they too became realistic in our eyes. The words in theme songs (as they are played nightly in a repetitive way)also begin to take shape and form and are not just unrecognizable anymore. Once a word is recognizable, it's like a brand new miracle.
You want to learn it more, then.

When I heard "disfraz" from "La Usurpadora" I, not only, checked for the meaning, but I asked my teacher in school for more shades of meaning. I felt like I was a detective of sorts, trying to ascertain if the dictionary was really telling me every shade of meaning there potentially was for that word. When he told me, (and I always revered him as an ultimate authority and seer of Spanish), I felt so elated and relieved at the same time. I think he started being impressed with us Freshmen so much so that he decided to enter us into a Spanish Recitation/Poetry Contest! I believe it was an annual event, and you won prizes!

My first time was nerve - racking! I had never before articulated Spanish in the public sphere, and needless to say, I had a case of stage - fright and forgot the lines at one point. The judges, though, had mercy upon me, realizing that I was a non - native speaker and gave me another chance to recite it. I did so in a choppy way. Years later, I realized I had mentally memorized it over and over again, possibly tried it out with a friend out loudly in class, but did not say it out loudly enough for me to even digest it mentally. I needed the ability to hear myself say the words and connect to them. So, although I had no memory problems in reality, the mere fact that I was not articulating the words out loudly caused my fright and weakness in the competition. I had practiced certain words out loudly (the ones with the "r" in them) but not the phrases out loudly..

I did manage to attain a prize in spite of my faltering. It was a relief, but even then I didn't connect with the words in that poem. I felt that I cheated myself out of that experience. ("Madre, tu nombre viene lentamente como..")

*See companion blog, "Solitaire" for the actual poem and activity.

( http://spanishsolitaire.blogspot.com )

Poetry is another method that helped me to connect to Spanish. It felt like a fresh way to seeing the words in print and then practice them like one is practicing a song. That took away the terror of having to memorize and present in the future.

Today, if you find yourself not connecting to the words or phrases or the entire content of your work, just focus on the material that you can relate to, and then ask why you are unable to connect to the rest. Each case is different, as each case is unique to your understanding. Once you understand this, you can overcome any stumbling blocks along the way.

I have found most people like teachers, missionaries, and even peace corp volunteers excell in their new languages, because they have that connection or immersion experience that the ordinary student does not have. Not every one is brave enough to travel to a new land or experience first hand, but it is a tempting aspect to language study. Today, I settle for newsletters from Spain or other parts that give me a taste of what is going on in the use of visual print format. There are valuable illustrations, videos, dialogue, translations, and a large quantity of stimulating opinions on the subjects. A travel blog, too, or a hobby blog in the language or cultural setting where your language thrives, are also highly recommended.

If you are somehow trying to connect to Spanish, or are not finding yourself motivated to learn, do not hesitate to make your comments and suggestions here on the comments portion of the blogs. Always check for other like or very different blogs and post there as well. If a blogger has feedback, they know who is reading and what the special challenges are for that given time. A lot of the time, it is very uncommon that someone hasn't been through that problem before and can explain it in a way that is more your speed.

Sometimes, the place where you least expect, makes the most sense to you. So, be on the lookout for new and challenging ways to make yourself find a way to learning your language!

My next venture, watch the World Cup in Spanish and try to see how many new sports terms I can acquire! Lucky me!

!Yikes!