Course Reflection
2020 has been a roller coaster year all around. Less than a month before the semester began, I got some lab results back, which have led to a constant struggle. It was weekly doctor’s appointments, daily nausea, and fatigue while also dealing with my diagnosis of PTSD. I started in the dorms, but it was too much, so I moved back to my house. While this improved my situation some, I still had to learn how to manage all of my symptoms as well as figure out medications with a team of doctors.
I was very excited about Spanish 121 because Spanish has always been one of my favorite classes. The fact that I could do homework on my phone while in the waiting room and slowly began to get into a routine. When we switched curriculums, I felt like I was back at square one in the class, having to find a new normal again this year.
Once again, as I am getting into a routine, the semester is over. I plan to take what I learned about what does and what does not work for me into next semester to be successful in Spanish 221.
Course Work
Exploring Culture
What helped me understand cultural perspectives this semester specifically was reading articles about Latin American cultures’ culture, including how they view family. The Talk Abroad’s that I did also allowed me to ask questions about their culture and lives. Honestly, none of these things really challenged my worldview or perspective; they just allowed me to appreciate further a culture I have loved for some time now. The time I spent in Guatemala also opened my eyes to how different the world can be.
Engaging in Communities
Both our local and global communities show is who we are. When we focus too much on one, or neither at all, we lose touch with who we are in this world. I connect with my local community by volunteering. Because of Covid-19, I have not been able to volunteer as much. I connect with my global community by donating to organizations that are providing for people in need and continually learning about and further appreciating the cultures around me.
Connecting with my community has opened my eyes to the world around me and my local community. Seeing the different lives people lead and their impact has made me more aware of my own impact.
Interpersonal Communication
At first, Talk Abroad was scary and unapproachable; after doing the first one, it became one of my favorite things this semester. Being able to talk to women from other countries and cultures allowed me to peek into their lives and cultures.
I also had several conversations with people I know in real life, such as my High School Spanish teacher, Señor Santiago, and the staff at my favorite Mexican restaurant. My family eats there at least twice a month, so some of the staff know me and are always willing to talk to me.
Being able to have these conversations has improved my confidence in speaking and forced me to expand my vocabulary. Vocabulary is one of the things I struggle with the most because if it is not a word I use often, I will forget it easily.
Presentational Speaking
This semester we prepared an audio presentation explaining how to make one of our favorite meals. I was very excited because I only had to record it twice before having something I was proud of. Next time I would recite the vocabulary I am not as familiar with before recording, so I can only record once.
Presentational speaking has helped me to work on my annunciation. This is one thing that I have always struggled with taking at least five takes before getting frustrated and saying it was good. I now feel confident after only two takes.
When I tried to upload both the Ayer Comí audio and the Mi Familia video, I received error codes saying that I could not because of security reasons.
Presentational Writing
This is a design packet for a fictional character. The most difficult part was making sure to use the right vocabulary. When a dictionary gave me more than one word, I would consult another dictionary to see the best word to use in the scenario.
This assignment and other similar ones helped me to expand my vocabulary. I often don’t even think to learn a word until I need to use it. It opened my vocabulary to a variety of clothing words as well as new verbs.
Fashion-Interpretive Listening
This semester we had assignments where we had to listen to a recording and reply appropriately. These assignments required me to listen for words I knew and use context to fill in the rest.
Another form of interpretive listening I practice in my free time is watching videos and Tik-Tok’s in Spanish. I also listen to a lot of music in Spanish. These songs were on my Spotify 2020 in the review.
Listening to something in Spanish at first was very difficult. Music still can be because they are singing, whereas when someone is talking, it is easier to distinguish sounds and find familiar words. By the time I got to the Ayer Comí assignment, I had watched the video a handful of times before fully understanding what it was saying.
Interpretive Reading
I read news articles for myself and children’s stories to my nieces and nephews in Spanish. With the news articles, I will often have to look up several words, but it helps me understand more for the next article. For the children’s books, I read to comprehend the story.
Being able to read to them is one of my favorite things to do. It helps my comprehension and pronunciation without anxiety about being judged for messing up because they barely speak English yet.
