It should come as no surprise that even “assimilated” (non Spanish-speaking) Hispanics want to be able to watch telenovelas. Hundreds of millions of people all over the world watch telenovelas from Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil, dubbed in their native languages. Telenovelas are shown across Africa, Asia, and Europe, and are wildly popular in places as unlikely as Croatia and Greece.
Why do people love them so much? Simply put, they are pure escapism: far-fetched, tear-jerking stories played out by beautiful actors, in beautiful settings. Many U.S. Hispanics were exposed to these irresistible and addictive TV series early in life. It’s no wonder they want to be able to watch them in English!
With the size (50 million) and staying-power of the U.S. Hispanic population (there was a Hispanic population in the United States before the United States was even a country!), TV networks know this market will keep growing for some time, even if its primary language is English, and not Spanish.
More information about the history of the Spanish language can be found in our new book, The Story of Spanish, (to be released in April 2013, St. Martin’s Press).