After weeks of researching telenovelas, writing and performing their scripts, and finally finishing editing their telenovelas, the students in Telenovelas presented their work to their classmates in the Commons at the end of quarter 1.

Telenovelas is a relatively new module at the NYC iSchool, which is taught by Mrs. Charter. Telenovelas is a course about Spanish soap operas known as telenovelas.

Students of the course watch telenovelas in the first part of the course. During the second part of the course, the students use what they have learned from watching them to create their own videos. The students must write their own scripts and can choose their own topics from a plot about two friends that actually hate each other or even a romance.

Gabriel Tockman, a freshman who took Telenovelas in quarter 1, said, “I loved the module, I really want a part 2 of the module. In the module we acted out scenes one by one and at the end edited all together to create a Telenovela.”

Telenovelas are similar to short soap operas. Telenovelas are similar to movies because multiple scenes can be edited together. However, telenovelas are different from dramas and movies because they can be funny rather than strictly dramatic. In many telenovelas situations are taken to the extreme.

Jye Bloome, a freshman, said, “I liked the telenovelas they showed in the Commons. It was really funny and everything was so overly dramatic and had so many crazy scenes.”

Telenovelas are liked by those who even didn’t know what they are. Many students other than Jye liked the telenovelas as well. Telenovelas appeal to many different audiences.  According to PBS”s “The Power of the Telenovela,” Telenovelas in 2011 were watched by 5.7 million viewers in the United States every week.

Mrs. Charter said, “Telenovelas are a big part of Spanish culture. Telenovelas use stereotypes and even break them or use them to make the telenovela even more ridiculous.”

The module doesn’t require a lot of spoken Spanish, but some Spanish is required at the end product of their telenovelas. Telenovelas are not simply only for Spanish culture. There are many telenovelas translated to different languages such as English.

In the end the Telenovelas module is fun and enjoyable. I recommend this module to anyone who likes overly exaggerated acting to make things fun and to those who haven’t heard of telenovelas before.