WEB EXCLUSIVE Students in Rebecca Jenkinson’s Spanish II class have been watching the telenovela “Grand Hotel” during the last 20 minutes of each class for the past two weeks as a way to give students a fun path to understand and learn the language.

“It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we are learning a living, breathing and exciting language attached to a culture,” Jenkinson said. “The students are engaged when watching the telenovela, and it’s an interesting platform from which we can launch into and apply things we’ve learned.”

The combination of class instruction and watching the “Grand Hotel” has improved learning comprehension for the Spanish II students, and the show’s dialogue has enhanced the confidence of the students when speaking Spanish in class.

“‘Grand Hotel’ is an excellent way for us to learn how to understand Spanish because it helps us see as well as hear conversations,” sophomore Audrey Scott said. “Being able to understand Spanish through watching a telenovela is an amazing way to learn a language.”

Foreign language programs offer both active and passive learning which helps learn a new language. The best programs for learning have subtitles, predictable structure and capture the attention of the viewer. “Grand Hotel” telenovela storyline has a predictable plot that is easy to follow with subtitles.

“I found the telenovela quite useful, as it has helped me understand how to improve my Spanish,” Scott said. “It is a very useful learning technique to prepare for our oral exam during finals.”