Hola Amigos,

I'm on my way to becoming fluent in Spanish!!!

As you maybe aware I have tried Rosetta Stone, Pimseluer and the telenovela method. This post is devoted to the telenovela method.

Telenovela Method
The whole idea behind the telenovela method is to use a form of media that you find interesting. I love watching movies and sometimes tv shows. It's hard to find movies with spanish subtitles for free so I choose to watch a telenovela. I selected "Por Siempre Mi Amor" . You can find an depth explanation of the method here .

In summary, the method requires the you watch a telenovela with spanish subtitles. You pause the show after each sentence and translate it word for word. If there is anything that you don't understand or haven't encountered in the past you use a spanish dictionary, google translate or youtube to research the meaning or grammatical nuance. I do not doubt that the method is effective however, it took me almost 3 hours to understand the first 10 minutes of episode one. A good portion of those 3 hours was spent watching youtube videos to get an understanding of the grammar used in my the characters. I had totally forgotten about the present and past perfect for example. It was then that I realized I needed training wheels therefore I decided to watch "Destinos", which is a telenovela created for the purpose of teaching spanish to beginners.

Destinos
"Destinos" was perfect for improving my listening and comprehension skills. "Destinos" The characters speak slowly therefore I can usually understand them and they use basic vocabulary. However, the action and the dialogue is not so slow that I want to poke my eyes out. The show is about a lawyer who is attempting to solve a mystery for her client. It has a little bit of drama, comedy and cultural education all mixed together.

I'm only on episode 8 out of 52 and I already feel my confidence improving. Do any of you watch "Destinos"? If so leave a comment below.

I will return to the telenovela method once my grammar and vocabulary skills improve.



Gracias,
Moni