Telenovela = or ≠ Soap Opera

The cultural telenovela transcends television in Latin American countries. It's a basic word. You can place the definite article la (the) and the indefinite article una (a) before the noun.

Many people equate telenovelas to soap operas in the United States. But is that really a correct correlation? Let's take a further look.

Telenovela comprises of the prefix tele- followed by -novela. The prefix is also used in our English word television. The last part, novela, means novel. I don't know about you, but I haven't read any novels that go on and on for years -- just look at "The Guiding Light"! They were on the air for 72 years. That would be quite a long time for a novel, much less a television novel. Perhaps one could equate that to reading "War and Peace"?

Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some similarities. Television novels have a lot of drama just like the United States soap opera. There can be a lot of action, a lot of drama, multiple story lines with very interesting characters. There are fan favorite characters and not so favorite ones.

Soap operas usually have a continuous story line that works its way through for a longer period of time -- one season. It intermingles various story lines from other characters weaving them like a delicate fabric through the story arc. Another interesting aspect is that each story line does not necessarily get the focus on every episode.

The major difference between the two forms is concurrency. With telenovelas, it runs until a definite or finite ending of the series. When the writer has told all it needs to and it ends, that's it. It's all over. They may come out with a sequel if the series was really popular, but it will still have a set amount of time before that ends too.

Now that you know the difference between a telenovela and a soap opera, I have to say that it is a wonderful way to help learn and comprehend Spanish! You not only have good characters, good plot and story lines, good action, but you can really get to know situations, identify vocabulary, build your understanding of Spanish. Besides satellite and cable channels dedicated to the Spanish-speaking population, you can watch telenovelas online. Of course you can do it through subscription services, but don't forget YouTube. YouTube can offer quite a bit in terms of full episodes of telenovelas. One of my favorites is called "Mirada de Mujer". It's no longer on the air as you know about telenovelas, but you can watch full episodes on YouTube here.

Be on the look out for other ones. Try Google searches for popular ones. There are tons to find out there on the Internet.

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith