Las Telenovelas

Telenovelas are a big hit in Latin America and Brazil. Hundreds of them are produced every year, and stars go from telenovelas to Hollywood, like Mexican Salma Hayek and Brazilian heartthrob Rodrigo Santoro, who’s starred in Lost and some mainstream movies.

Watching soap operas in Spanish is a very good way to improve your Spanish and even keep updated with slang and expressions.

Carrusel was a very successful soap in the early 90s. It told the story of Maestra Jimena (Gabriela Rivero) and her students in a typical Mexican elementary school.

You can see the kids 15 years later on this video:

Verónica Castro is one of the most respected Mexican actresses and has participated in more than 15 soap operas and more than 20 movies, besides being a recording artist in Mexico. Her role in Los Ricos También Lloran was highly acclaimed in every country where the soap opera was broadcast. Here’s a video of her role in Rosa Salvaje, where she plays a tomboy who falls in love with the wrong man but, as it turns out, everything ends well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuvGfsYXW_Q

Now, a teen soap that has been a huge success, even after it’s finished, is Rebelde. The main characters have a band off-screen and it’s a hit all over Latin America and the United States. The following video is very easy to understand and it is the first episode of this soap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMoKIto6sv8

Let’s finish by showing the first telenovela trilogy: Maria Mercedes, MariMar and María la del Barrio, which tell basically the same story: a poor girl falls in love with a rich guy and after lots of distress, backstabbing, crying and shouting, the main characters (Mexican actress/singer Thalía and some leading man) live happily ever after.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkFBETOxujw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBlDrL_gLak

Nos vemos prontito.