Tip of the Day: Watching a Telenovela like "Un Poquito Tuyo"

How do you get the most out of watching a Telenovela (Sopa Opera)?

Un Poquito Tuyo is your typical Latin Telenovela. It is full of emotional characters with super dramatic consequences. One can almost follow the plot just by watching the drama unfold. The Spanish spoken is typical every day Spanish. Since it is filmed in México, it's one of the best examples of Latin American Spanish in the hemisphere. Great articulation and pronunciation. But, it is spoken very fast. Here are tips to get the most of the experience.

1. Remind yourself the goal is to understand the plot. Forget about understanding every word spoken. Even I can't do that, given there are regional differences in what they call things, and a fair amount of local slang. Try to get a gist of what they're saying.
2. By all means turn on the English captions. It's essential for not getting lost.
3. At the same time, try to pick out words or short phrases that are familiar to you. Write them down. it'll help you remember them the next time you hear them, and when you hear them said in context, you'll remember them better.
4. Also write down words/phrases that you don't understand but that you keep hearing over and over again. You can look up the meaning later or we can do it as an exercise in class. 
5. If you have time, watch the episode again. Not only will you understand more, you'll hear more words than before. Remember that learning a language is 80% repetition. You will be surprised how much more you pick up a 2nd time (or a 3rd time)
6. Don't get frustrated. The goal is to understand the plot, and you can do that just by reading the English subtitles and nothing else, so you will achieve the goal. That's cake. Picking out a few Spanish words here and there is the icing on the cake.  

I'll also be jotting down words/phrases  (especially those we have covered in class) and I will try to share them in advance so you know what's coming.

It appears that YouTube carries an abridged version of every episode, averaging about 20 minutes each. But I think the actual episodes each last about an hour. You can view the full episodes on www.dailymotion.com. Here is the link to Chapter 2 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x737oyp. YouTube definitely offers English subtitles. Daily Motion does not appear to come with English subtitles (let me know if you can find them) so I suggest always watch the YouTube version first.

Enjoy the drama that quickly unfolds in the 2nd episode (el capítulo, or chapter) when Julieta leaves her groom at the altar, storms out of the church, and meets Antonio