Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish, also known as simply Destinos, is a television program created by Bill VanPatten, who at the time was Professor of Spanish and Second Language Acquisition at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Running for two seasons, the show began in 1992 and was designed to introduce viewers to the basics of the Spanish language. Its 52 episodes are often used for educational purposes in schools, and are available online from the Annenberg Learner site and some local PBS stations. According to the Annenberg site, Destinos is one of the most popular series on the site to stream, and has sold more than any other Annenberg Media learning series or course. Destinos was produced by WGBH Boston and funded by the Annenberg/CPB Project, with additional funding by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Format Destinos uses the telenovela (Spanish soap opera) format to teach Spanish-language communication and comprehension skills. Early episodes have English-language narration in addition to Spanish dialogue, but the English content continually decreases before disappearing entirely. The viewer is introduced to the accents, dialects and cultures of various Spanish-speaking countries. The series consists of 52 episodes that cover the scope of Spanish grammar, including verb tenses of present, future (including future of uncertainty), imperfect, preterite, perfect, pluperfect, participles, and the present, imperfect, and perfect forms of the subjunctive. It also covers a variety of country-specific usages: for example, it uses both the verb extrañar (to miss somebody or something) and the phrase echar de menos (which means the same thing). After the early episodes, the conversation is done at more or less normal speaking speed, improving the student's comprehension. Spanish subtitles are included on both VHS and DVD versions — translations are not provided. The DVDs are available from the Annenberg/CPB project website. An accompanying set of materials is available to complement the series; these include a set of audio tapes and a textbook, the latter of which follows the series episode-for-episode but provides a more systematic presentation such as would be used in a classroom course. Destinos is characterized by frequent reviews of preceding episodes. This may make the series seem overly long and excessive, but the reviews provide repetition in order for viewers to retain the material. It is also characterized by the patriarchal figure Don Fernando, who - despite being on his deathbed in Episode 1 - never actually dies. Main