Mexican soap operas are a great way to learn a new language. And we are not talking just about Spanish. Did you know that Mexican telenovelas have been dubbed into many languages?
From English to Greek, and even Turkish, Mexican dramas have been a great success around the world.
Whether you want to understand the memes based on soap operas, or you want to improve your everyday expressions in other languages, these next telenovelas will come in handy for you.
What You’ll Learn with Telenovelas
It might sound weird hearing that you can learn something from these tragic stories. We understand if you are doubtful. But, believe us, even if you just watch for fun, you can improve your language skills with telenovelas.
A very important thing about languages is their cultural side of them. Mexican soap operas will improve your cultural knowledge. While watching the everyday lives of the characters, you’ll learn about Mexican traditions, lifestyle, popular places, and even typical Mexican food.
You’ll also gain useful vocabulary. In school, we tend to memorize some vocabulary lists related to specific fields. Then we learn the classic “how are you? / Fine, and you?” chat. We don’t usually learn useful words or phrases to express ourselves fluently in all kinds of conversations. Through soap operas, you’ll learn them.
There are many kinds of relationships: friendships, wife-husband, parents and kids, lovers, and more. And many different situations, from funny moments to tragic plot twists. So, you’ll learn vocabulary for tons of circumstances, from hanging around with your friends to flirting.
We know that learning through Mexican soap operas might seem like you’ll only learn Spanish words and Mexican idioms. Which is great if that’s your goal. But you can also learn idioms, vocabulary, and phrases from other countries if you watch the dubbed versions.
When dubbing, each country translates things and phrases into their own jargon, so native people can relate to it. They might not be able to change the actions and situations, but they might’ve changed the idioms and cultural expressions.
Another thing you’ll improve is your listening and pronunciation. When we listen to native speakers of our target language, it might seem like we haven’t actually been attending classes. Their accents and the speed with which they speak are different to what we’re accustomed to in a slow-paced classroom environment. That’s fine. You’ll get accustomed to it.
By hearing the characters speaking over and over again, you’ll learn how to pronounce words, and sound more like a native.
Our List of Dubbed Mexican Soap Operas
1. Los ricos también lloran
This soap opera is starred by Verónica Castro, one of the biggest actresses and singers in Mexico. It’s also starred by Rogelio Guerra, a famous actor. The villain is played by Rocío Banquells, another renowned Mexican singer and actress.
It’s about a young woman, Mariana, who doesn’t have great manners. After her father dies, she goes to the city. There, she ends up living with a wealthy family, and in the middle of a difficult love situation.
It has been dubbed into 25 languages! There’s a version in Brazilian Portuguese, titled “Os ricos também choram”. In English it’s “The rich also cry”. In French it’s “Les riches pleurent aussi”. In Italian it’s “Anche I ricchi piangono”. You can also find it in Japanese, Russian, Greek, Serbian, Mandarin, and many more.
2. Cuna de lobos
This soap opera was praised by the public and critics. It won many TVyNovelas Awards, which are some famous Mexican awards. It stars Diana Bracho, Gonzalo Vega, and María Rubio, who played the acclaimed role of the villain, Catalina Creel.
It’s the story of Leonora, a victim of Catalina Creel and her son. The Creels have done many malicious things in order to receive the inheritance of their late husband and father. And Leonora is looking for revenge.
You can find it in English, as “Cradle of Wolves”. In German, it’s titled “Clan der Wölfe”. It also reached many other countries, like Brazil, Italy, France, China, Norway, and even Lebanon.
3. La Usurpadora
It stars Gabriela Spanic and Fernando Colunga, a popular television actor. It’s about two women with different lifestyles that look exactly the same. One of these women, Paola, forces the other one to impersonate her and live her life. Meanwhile, Paola leaves to follow her dreams. This plan brings many complicated situations.
In 2019 there was a new version, but now as a television series.
It was dubbed into more than 20 languages! Some of them are Portuguese, Indonesian, Greek, Russian, Hungarian.
4. María la del barrio
This internationally famous Mexican soap opera is based on another famous drama: “Los ricos también lloran”. It’s starred by popular singer, Thalía, and famous soap opera actor, Fernando Colunga. The villain was played by Itatí Cantoral. She became one of the most popular memes in Spanish because of that role.
Following the same story as “the rich also cry”, it is about a poor young woman. After a tragic turn of events, she ends up living with a wealthy family, and in a complicated love situation.
It was translated to English as “Humble Maria”. In Portuguese, it’s titled “Maria do Bairro”. In German, it is “Maria Nachbarschaft”. In Greek it is “Η Μαρία της Γειτονιάς”. It also reached many other countries, such as France, Israel, Romania, and more.
You can watch one of the scenes that were turned into a meme dubbed to different languages here: MALDITA ALEIJADA | MULTILANGUAGE em 8 idiomas
5. Amigas y Rivales
This soap opera stars Ludwika Paleta, Angélica Vale, Michelle Vieth, and Adamari López.
It is about a group of young girls that become best friends despite their differences in personality and lifestyles. Each one will go through different rough situations.
This soap opera got a Brazilian remake titled “Amigas e Rivais”. So, it’s perfect if you want to learn Spanish and Portuguese. You can watch both versions and compare them. One advantage is that both Portuguese and Spanish are very alike. So if you’ve already watched one version, it won’t be that difficult for you to understand the other one.
It also aired in the USA, Venezuela, Hungary, and Poland.
6. Rubí
This soap opera was a great success, especially because the main character is not the classic sweet girl. She is a villain. The original melodrama aired in 1968. Then came the 2004 remake, which is the most famous one. It stars Bárbara Mori, Jacqueline Bracamontes, Eduardo Santamarina, and Sebastián Rulli.
It’s about a poor, young, and beautiful woman, who is obsessed with the idea of being rich. To achieve her goal, she’ll hurt and betray many people.
It was nominated for different awards and won many of them.
In 2020 there was another remake, in the form of a television series. And there’s a movie too, from 1970. Both Mexicans.
“Rubí” was dubbed to other languages, including French, Portuguese, Hungarian, and German. Here’s a video where you can watch one of the most shocking scenes dubbed into different languages: Rubi | MULTILANGUAGE – O acidente de Rubi em 7 idiomas: 16:9
Where can you Dubbed Watch Soap Operas?
Many of these soap operas have remained popular to this day because of their dramatic plot twists. Some people watch for entertainment; some watch for fun, because they find all the drama very exaggerated, therefore, funny.
Whatever is your case, now you know that you can also improve your language skills while watching Mexican soap operas.
Because of their popularity, you can find these soap operas on the Internet. It’s easier to find the Spanish versions because they’re the originals. But if you want to improve in another language, just look for clips.
Even if you don’t find all the episodes, there are always clips of them on YouTube. Sometimes you can even look at videos that compare some scenes in different languages. That could help you if you want to be a polyglot.
You can also watch soap operas on streaming platforms, though the catalog might change depending on your location.
So, next time you see a soap opera on TV, don’t change the channel. You can take the chance to improve your knowledge of that melodrama’s language.
And if you still feel like learning more about your target language, take find a personalized tutor here at TruFluency!
Our Bellieu Method is based on building your fluency so you can actually communicate in a new language. We have interesting classes and native tutors.
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