Sunday, January 13, 2013

Hey, Chula! Come Watch a Telenovela Conmigo! by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga


I’m a firm believer that keeping my mind stimulated can only help foster my creative juices when it comes to my writing life. And one thing I love to do is learn foreign languages. I studied French in high school and Japanese in college, and later lived in Japan and became conversant in the language. I’ve tried tackling Brazilian Portuguese, at least phonetically, in order to sing bossa-nova. Now I’m learning Spanish through an online course. I don’t know what took me so long! Spanish is everywhere in the U.S.—especially in California where I live. It’s so easy to expose yourself to Spanish in restaurants, on the radio and, of course, television (whether broadcast, cable, satellite or Internet!). There’s really no excuse not to try it out and have some fun.

My latest favorite way of studying Spanish is by watching telenovelas (television novels). These are often compared to American soaps and, according to an article from the PBS NewsHour, they did, in part, come about because of the U.S. soap opera. In the 1930s American soap companies began developing dramatic radio programs aimed at housewives and also created shows for the Cuban market. In the 1950s when it was no longer feasible for the U.S. companies to sponsor shows in Cuba, groups of Cuban producers, actors and writers found work throughout Latin America producing telenovelas, which combined some of the American-style soap storytelling with Latin American culture and traditional literature.

Telenovelas offer one big difference from American soaps: they have a definite story arc and, instead of continuing for years and years, might only last one year, or two, or even less. And they are generally shown in prime time and attract family viewers instead of mainly women. Even the most dramatic telenovelas will usually have some comedy relief and although they can be just as preposterous as some American soaps, we do often see deeper character development, unpredictable events, unexpected premises, gorgeous settings and even realistic social commentary. As a writer, I appreciate and can be inspired by this for my own writing.

My current favorite telenovela is from Mexico, Por Ella Soy Eva (For Her, I’m Eva), which stars top actress Lucero in a romantic comedy-drama that takes its inspiration from the American film Tootsie and makes clever statements about the changing gender roles in Mexico along with the seemingly outdated but ever-present culture of machismo. My previous favorite was Soy tu Dueña (I’m Your Owner, or the English title: Woman of Steel), which also starred Lucero, this time as a big-time rancher, suffering many trials and tribulations (of course!) as well as romances with hot men. Muy caliente!

One thing you don’t find too often on telenovelas, though, are English subtitles, but English-language blog recaps like Caray, Caray can come to the rescue in a big way. I admit that at the moment I can only understand about 35 percent when I watch, and what I do is turn on the closed captioning. This gives me what the actors are saying in Spanish, which greatly helps my practice. If there are words I don’t know, I jot them down to look them up later.

Have you ever watched a telenovela? Have a favorite soap? Studied soaps in a foreign country to learn the language? (I did that with “home dramas” in Japan and my character Midori Saito in Midori by Moonlight watched them in the U.S.). Or have soaps helped inspire your writing?

Hasta pronto!


Wendy Nelson Tokunaga is the author of the novels, "Midori by Moonlight"and "Love in Translation" (both published by St. Martin's Press), and the e-book novels, "Falling Uphill" and "His Wife and Daughters," and e-book short story, “The Girl in the Tapestry.” She's also the author of the nonfiction e-book, "Marriage in Translation: Foreign Wife, JapaneseHusband." Her short story "Love Right on the Yesterday" appears in the anthology "Tomo," published by Stone Bridge Press, and her essay "Burning Up" is included in "Madonna and Me: Women Writerson the Queen of Pop." Wendy holds an MFA in Creative Writing from University of San Francisco and teaches for Stanford University's Online Writer's Studio Novel Certificate Program. She also does private manuscript consulting for novels and memoirs. Follow her on Twitter at @Wendy_Tokunaga, friend her on Facebook and visit her website at: www.WendyTokunaga.com

11 comments:

  1. I use to watch Telmundo they would sometimes have close captions on it.But, that's how I would try to practice speaking Spanish by watching the Spanish stations with close caption on them.It would be great to learn how to speak Spanish, but I can't find a program.I find a lot of nice shows on the Spanish station that I'm interest in,but they don't have close captions on them.
    But,not only that they would have a Korean channel on my local station (Wycc it's part of PBS) I use to watch all the time they would always have close caption them from the drama to the music.Also, they was this India broadcast that would show up every Saturday I would watch close caption.Now you talk about movies,and musicals,and the dancing.I don't know if they even broadcast any of these shows I haven't seen them in awhile.

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    1. I know what you mean! You can't always rely on close-captioning. I bought a DVD telenovela from Argentina called "Amor Mio" and there are no subtitles or captioning and they speak WAY too fast for me to understand. On our local Japanese station some shows used to have English subtitles at least. :-)

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  2. I love Soy Tu Duena. Currently I am watching Corona de Lagrimas (it is the story of a woman who is thrown out of her home and marriage with her 3 young sons and nothing but a suitcase. With the help of a woman she meets, she is able to pick up her life and raise her sons. Now grown, her oldest son and favorite, has turned his back on her to make his way in with the rich. Patricio, (the son), became a lawyer, (guess who helped him through school? that's right Mama), and is marrying his boss' daughter. She is a rich, spoiled girl who cannot be associated with poverty. So Patricio told lie after lie. They just got married and his mom showed up at the wedding. I am dying for Monday now! Another good one is Amores Verdaderos. Both are on Hulu Plus. You can also find the Korean soaps on there. I have seen Por Ella Soy Eva but haven't watched it. I will check it out now. I love Lucero. Gaby Spanic, who was in Soy Tu Duena, is my favorite novela actress. She is great in all the novelas she is in.

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    1. Hi Crinstina, if you love Lucero, you'll enjoy Por Ella Soy Eva, though her character is much different than in Soy Tu Duena. Thanks for the recommendations. Once "Eva" is over I'm going to find a new telenovela to watch—one that has closed captioning! Yes, Hulu is a great resource too!

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  3. Hi Wendy. Yes it is after 2 am here and I am still up. You may question why that is. Then again you may just guess I am glued to Por Ella Soy Eva. I am horrible with novelas. Since I speak Spanish and have watched these for eons, I can keep track of several at a time. I try to justify it by saying I just watch to compare them with the book. Hahaha. Just remember you have watched too many if you suddenly wake up and wonder who your real parents are and try to figure out who is keeping your inheritance by not revealing who your real parents are. Hahaha!

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  4. LOL, Cristina! I'm going to be so sad when "Eva" is over!

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  5. I've learned a lot through Korean dramas, which are similar to telenovelas, in that they have a definite story arc and don't run for years and years. They are completely addicting! I'm kind of scared to watch telenovelas (some air on sites like Dramafever with subtitles for non-Spanish speakers) because I feel they would totally consume my life!

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    1. Tara, I've seen some Korean dramas too by way of Japan and, yes, many are quite well done. I'll have to look up Dramafever but, yes, watching too many could be overwhelming!

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  6. I think you just found something new for me to be obsessed with!! Great post!!

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    1. Thanks, Brenda! Yes, but proceed with caution. Excessive watching could cause addiction!

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