Can Che Guevara Help You Learn Spanish?

When the 23-year old Ernesto Guevara decided to drop out of the university and make a cross-continent motorcycle trip along with his friend, Alberto Granado in 1952, little did he realize that his memoir of this trip would spawn a biopic decades later and would not only become an iconic classic but also the single most enriching window to the Argentinean culture and history available to a non-Hispanic. The powerful story of Diarios de Motocicleta makes for a perfect tool in every Spanish-learner’s arsenal who is interested in not just learning the language but also appreciate the immensely rich Latin-American culture.

No teacher better than a masterpiece

A road trip turned Che into the legendary revolutionary
Photo credit: Adam Jones licensed CC BY-SA 2.0

Anyone who acquired Spanish as a second (or third or fourth) language and got fluent in it would vouch for the incredible contribution of Spanish flicks and music to their learning. Unless you live in a Spanish-speaking community crawling with nothing but native Spanish-speakers, you have no better channel of authentic input in this language than original, undubbed Spanish movies.

While much have already been written here as well as elsewhere about how to choose from an otherwise mind-numbing ocean of titles from both sides of the Atlantic, today’s post will throw some light on what our Che left behind for us Spanish enthusiasts.

The film, directed by Walter Salles of Brazil, recounts Che’s expedition across the length and breadth of South America that seamlessly transformed Ernesto Guevara from the hedonistic youth into the most successful and feared revolutionary South America ever knew. The screenplay written by José Rivera of Puerto Rico draws from from the travelogs written by Che and his co-traveller, Alberto. Gael García Bernal who essays the role of Che himself is a real treat and if you liked him in Y Tu Mamá También, you will not be disappointed in this one at all.

The road-trip to Enlightenment

Ernesto “Fuser” Guevara (played by the Mexican actor Gael García Bernal) is a medical student about to start his last semester at the university and his older friend, Alberto Granado (played by the Argentinean actor Rodrigo de la Serna) is a biochemist when, in 1952, they both decide to leave everything behind and travel throughout South America on La Poderosa (The Mighty One), Ernesto’s dilapidated Norton 500 motorcycle. Initially the purpose of the trip, that was planned to last four and a half months clocking over 5,000 miles, was nothing more than satisfaction of their youthful sense of adventure and adrenaline rush.

During the course of this trip, the duo gain a deeper insight into the seriousness of life in the continent at large and thus start a journey of historic transformation that made this trip legendary. The scenes of economic disparity, poverty, and social inequality move Che who grows more and more radical, viewing armed rebellion as the only answer to all social problems throughout South America.

The turning point of the film comes when Guevara suddenly assumes a never-seen-before sobriety after a visit to Machu Picchu. At this stage and onwards, his musings center around how a civilization as constructive and rich as the Incas could be taken over completely by the modern urban decay of Lima. When a relatively tempered Granado proposes a peaceful revolution to transform all of South America, Che questions the viability of a “revolution without guns” giving first signs of his Communist ideals. It is this transformation that this film captures so accurately that it deserves to be in every single Spanish-enthusiast’s collection.

A rich source of Argentinean Spanish

The film beautifully tracks more than 9,000 miles of the trip presenting some of the most unforgettable and captivating images of the Latin American identity. From Argentina all the way thru Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela, the locations include the Atacama desert, Miramar, Machu Picchu, The San Pablo Leper Colony, Patagonia, San Martín de los Andes, Nahuel Huapi Lake, and many more historically and culturally spectacular sites all over the continent. The breathtaking cinematography not only makes this movie a visual delight, but also presents a rare glimpse of the South American lifestyle never illustrated by any guidebook or travel video.

As a Spanish learner, your biggest advantage is that the very first time you watch the film these appealing visuals get etched in your memory forever and later act as handles or cues for those wonderful dialogs you hear in crisp, authentic, Argentinean Spanish. The number of dialogs you thus absorb and retain add a whole new dimension to your Spanish vocabulary and Spanish-speaking skills. They are even easier to recall and improvise upon, thanks to the stunning images and immersive storyline.

So, if the flavor of Spanish that you are rooting for is Argentinean, you will be doing yourself a huge favor by watching this film with Spanish subtitles (NOT English!) because the Spanish you hear in this film most closely follows what’s spoken by real people in real Argentina. Let Che teach you some authentic Spanish and give you some history lessons along the way!