Exploring Culture

I was able to gain cultural a better cultural perspective with the cultural exploration modules in Lingro-Learning. These modules gave us specific topics to research in Spanish speaking countries of our choice. The modules also had personal testimonies from people from different Spanish speaking countries to give us an idea of how life differs in each one.

These exercises helped me see how priorities are different in Spanish speaking countries than they are in the United States. They showed me how family and group oriented the Spanish culture is by having me research the midday nap times and meal practices and by having me research national holidays and how they are celebrated. I was also reminded that other countries have just as many political issues, and successes as we do here from my research of a famous person from a Spanish speaking country.

Engaging in Communities

Our communities cannot thrive without engagement and contribution. And our local communities would become shut off from the world and we would lose our sense of connection if we did not strive to stay involved with them, and we would lose important links to heritage, and lose our perspectives as human beings.

I volunteer once a year through my employer usually at the Food Bank or at the SPCA. I my previous years I have also contributed to the Senior wish lists, handing out candy on Halloween to the local children, and playing in jazz band and other band performances for nursing homes, and other community events. Unfortunately I do not have visual aids or artifacts to commemorate these events.

Interpersonal Communication

During this semester I participated in multiple Flipgrid video exchanges where I would post an “interactive” response to my professor’s previously posted video. The two videos I have selected to share are about 5 weeks apart and exhibit a slight advancement in content and pronunciation. Both videos are a big step for me since I had minimal exposure to the Spanish language before taking this class.

Presentational Speaking

I recently completed a presentation speaking activity where I had to talk about a person I admire. I constructed my sentences from scratch in English, and then translated them to Spanish for my presentation. This was a big step for me, having to think of the words I wanted to say, and being able to translate the concept into an understandable statement with my limited vocabulary and grammar knowledge. The biggest challenge for me is remembering the Spanish words for the connecting words in a sentence. 

Presentational Writing

I have not completed any presentational writing this semester

Interpretive Listening

This semester, I have engaged in interpretive listening for each module in Lingro-Learning I have also been engaging in interpretive listening by using the duolingo app to enhance my Spanish learning and retention as well as the duolingo podcast.

The Lingro-learning modules had us listen to phone call interactions, conversations between two people, and simple sentences for us to interpret. Duolingo has me listen to simple sentences and fill in the missing word, or to translate a sentence either to or from Spanish. The Duolingo podcasts tell stories.

Interpretive Reading

The interpretive reading I participated in was both in my Lingro-learning modules and my canvas class exams. We would be presented with a paragraph and either have to fill in the blank words or answer questions about the text.

This was challenging for me since there are still a lot of words I do not know and required a lot of concentration to understand the text enough to answer the questions in the allotted time. ? I attempted to overcome these difficulties by first finding the words I did recognize and then inferring the meaning of the words around them based off of that. I have begun to recognize that I develop more of a vague and implicit understanding of the overall text even if I cannot determine the specific meaning, and that was a big step towards being able to pick apart piece by piece to develop a more specific understanding of the message being conveyed.