Quick Answer: A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word is a portmanteau of tele and novela. Similar drama genres around the world include Musalsala, dizi, serial, teleserye, lakorn, teleromanzo, téléroman, K-drama, J-drama, C-drama and sinetron. Commonly described using the American colloquialism Spanish soap opera, many telenovelas share some stylistic and thematic similarities to the soap opera familiar to the English-speaking world. The significant difference is their series run length; telenovelas tell one self-contained story, typically within the span of a year or less whereas soap operas tend to have intertwined storylines told during indefinite, continuing runs. This makes them shorter than most other television series, but still much longer than a miniseries. This planned run results in a faster-paced, more concise style of melodrama compared to a typical soap opera.