Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Overall Reflection of SPAN 202
SPAN 202 was the most difficult Spanish course I have ever taken. I am a transfer student from New York, and the college Spanish there was not as intense as it was at ODU. In this course, I took everything I had learned from my previous years of Spanish (five in high school and 1 collegiate course) to turn myself into a fluent Spanish speaker. This course all though difficult, was mostly an extension and a reminder of what I was previously taught. There were a few sections from the textbook that I had never encountered before, and a few conjugations I had not truly mastered in prior years. In this class I was able to talk about my life and what I do in Spanish, something my previous education was not so heavy on. Overall, I remembered a lot of my previous teachings and was able to speak conversationally in Spanish.
Exploring Culture
Something that gave me a better understanding of Spanish culture were the Flash Cultura videos from my VHL textbook assignments. Many of these helped me understand the speed that people speak in Spanish speaking nations, which is very fast, and it also demonstrated some cultural normalities in each nation.
From watching the Flash Cultura videos, I got to see that people in these nations are much more relaxed and surprisingly extremely nice. I was not expecting everyone in the videos to be nice and take time out of their day to answer questions or give tours for a textbook publication. I was shocked because here in the United States, it feels like a “What do I get out of it?” country. So, to see people be so kind and generous was a culture shock in a sense.
Engaging in Communities
SPAN 202 heavily enforced the idea that being able to speak and understand another language allows you more opportunities to engage with other communities who may not speak your language. With the Spanish language, and some more time and practice, I can engage with people from Spanish-speaking communities to learn more about people and their culture.
Interpersonal Communication
TalkAbroad put my conversation skills to the test. Before this course, I had not been comfortable speaking to other people in Spanish unless I was able to write it down in English and then translate it into Spanish. With TalkAbroad, I could prepare myself as much as possible and still when it came down to the actual conversation, there were times when I would draw blanks. TalkAbroad really tested my listening and comprehension of Spanish while also testing my ability to conversate in Spanish.
1st TalkAbroad about Ciudad o El Campo y Natualeza: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kxxCC1oH-kTZSgT4ryHtpC66ufvEKKNY/view?usp=sharing
For this first TalkAbroad, I was extremely nervous and self-conscious about my ability to speak. I had questions ready for my partner but because I was extremely nervous, all of my practice just disappeared. However with some time and a lot of help from my partner I was able to answer some of her questions in Spanish. I definitely messed up a lot and I said I’m sorry after everything I said essentially. Although, I did learn a little bit about the environment in Peru and like the tourists traffic and events that happen a lot near where my partner lives.
2nd TalkAbroad about Careers: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10T9Qyj2WclSM3lCwpVvYEfwO_RkJM682/view?usp=sharing
For this TalkAbroad, I returned to my previous partner because I was very comfortable with her during my first conversation and I felt that if I messed up here and there, she’d understand. I will say, I was much more prepared and confident in my ability to hold a conversation with my partner. I was comfortable asking my partner questions and I was able to answer hers without being so scared of failing. I learned a lot about my partner and the job opportunities there are in Peru for a young female with and without a college education. It was rewarding to be able to converse and to be comfortable doing so.
Presentational Writing
In this composition I wrote about what is a large environmental problem in my city.
Composition-FD-CorsiI will say, I am a lot more comfortable writing in Spanish than speaking in Spanish. My last courses were very written based with minimal speaking, so I believe this is where I excelled in the course. Now talking about nature was new to me because I had never gone over the environment and environmental issues before this paper. Despite though, this assignment forced me to write brief but assertive statements to get my point across to the city. Overall the hardest part of this was the new vocabulary but the construction and writing limits were easy to create and follow.
In my second composition, I wrote about what I wanted for myself in the future.
FD-Comp-2This assignment brought forth my ability to discuss the future. I had a brief understanding of the future tense before writing this but this unit solidified my understanding. The hardest part of this composting was remembering the proper form for the future tense because it’s very different (and much easier) from the previous conjugations I learned.
Interpretive Listening
In English, give a very brief 2-3-line description of interpretive listening activities you completed this semester for or related to your Spanish learning. (See Modes of Communication link for description and examples).
Then, write a short reflection paragraph that includes the different things you listened to/heard this semester inside and outside of class or in the Language Learning Center or its website. Find a recording and add to this section; be sure to cite it. What was unclear or challenging for you? How did you overcome this difficulty? What did you find most interesting or compelling? What was your takeaway from the listening experience? How have you grown with each activity?
From this video I learned about how people within Madrid deal with the stress of living in a big city. This video taught me about some Spanish culture while also giving a little bit of a history lesson. It showed many outlets for relieving stress and also explained that bathhouses were a very popular way to relieve stress. There are not really communal bathhouses in the United States but I wasn’t exactly shocked because I knew that bathhouses are common in other countries around the world like Korea. The largest thing I learned from this video was that Spain, like many nations, was influenced by other nations and cultures. You would see it in the Arabic architect of the bathhouses and even some food from street vendors in Spain came from other parts of the world.
Interpretive Reading
This is a reading that I read on VHL supersite with my answers to show my comprehension of the reading prompt.
El viaje Reading:
Answers to questions about El viaje Reading:
This reading helped me learn more about Spanish vocabulary and sentence structure. This assignment also taught lots of new vocabulary. This reading also showed me that I can use context clues to understand new words or ideas in the story.