Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

Some of the things I did to gain a better understanding of the Hispanic culture was simply through LingroLearning and the cultural sections they had on the site. Each section had a different topic they would focus on, and they would give a deeper insight on the perspectives of those living in Hispanic countries. To be honest, there are quite a few similarities between our culture and theirs. For example, one section focused on food, and a person stated that food connects their family and friends, which I feel many could relate to. A lot of the sections typically went this way, whether they were talking about the workplace or general family life.

Engaging in Communities

Through engaging in communities, both near and global, you can gain a deeper understanding of the world around you. These can range from very big things such as values and morals, to daily life and stuff people like to do for fun. Its important because you learn how to share ideas and receive new ones. Appreciation for other cultures and people different from you will do you more good than bad. Speaking with my TalkAbroad conversation partner, I learned that we had a lot of things in common, such as liking video games and movies, but that we shared some differences in some of the foods we ate (a cultural difference).

Interpersonal Communication

This semester I completed two TalkAbroad conversations. These conversations were with a native speaker, fifteen minutes long, and of course it was Spanish only (with some help). They were very immersive and I feel it helped a lot, since the conversation topics were focused on the vocabulary we were learning at that time.

Through TalkAbroad, and even just speaking with Ms. Rocio, I realized that I actually understand Spanish a lot more than I thought I did. What I mean is, even if I might not be able to form a sentence back in Spanish, to a certain level I can understand the main idea of what someone is saying to me. I feel more confident holding a conversation in Spanish only, and I typically only ask for help when I’m trying to say something I don’t know the word or phrase for. I would definitely say one thing I excel at is listening and understanding information, and I believe it’s due to the fact that I just remember a lot of the common words used.

Presentational Speaking

The presentational speaking activities I did this semester were typically done in the format of ads or articles, as a way to give information. These activities were for the class to better their vocabulary and sentence structure, or at least that’s how it felt for me.

We did two video presentations in which we had to speak for around 2 to 3 minutes, using vocabulary from the sections we were learning from. For me these really drilled certain words in my mind. Both spoken projects, La familia y yo and #AyerComi were challenging because I had to really take my time when speaking. I had to re record myself multiple times to get certain pronunciations right, and that’s when I realized that I should focus on that more. I also realized that I needed to get a better grasp on certain vocabulary, because there would be times I was writing the drafts and my mind would be completely blank on a word to use. Next time I will definitely focus on having more vocabulary ready to use.

Presentational Writing

For the written presentational activities we produced things like articles and blogs, in order to present information to an audience about things like health or fitness. They were usually 100-150 words long and focused on the vocabulary for that section.

Like I said before, when writing without help I sometimes tend to go blank in the head about what to say. I would typically run out of ideas because I didn’t know what words to use. One thing I feel I should work on after reflecting on these activities is that I could stand to learn more filler words and phrases. I usually just write straight to the point. That, in addition to learning more vocabulary. I also struggled a bit with the command conjugations for a little, but I overcame that with some instruction in class.

Interpretive Listening

I believe the main interpretive listening activities I completed were through TalkAbroad and in class conversation. We also did a lot of listening through LingroLearning in class with certain sections, and it was very important to focus during these because the speakers talk fast.

Listening to in class topics helped me get a better grasp on many things. Just hearing the way other people speak Spanish helped me with my pronunciation, as well as the way I came up with sentences. I have a friend who speaks native Spanish and he also helped me to learn, because I would constantly just say things to him in Spanish and we would have a conversation that way, and from this I would learn new ways to make sentences, just from listening.

Interpretive Reading

All of LingroLearning was basically an interpretive communication activity. The site has a lot of different sources from around the Spanish speaking world who provide information and insight on a wide range of topics.

I was surprised when I first started the class because I didn’t think most of the site would be as much Spanish as it was. A lot of the times, instructions were in Spanish, whole paragraphs were in Spanish, it was everything. But this helped me because it forced me to go out of my way and learn words that I wouldn’t have known before. It also helped me on a cultural level because now I have an even better understanding of the big Spanish speaking world around us.