SPAN 201

Exploring Culture

I had to watch a video about a man who traveled to Mexico and his learning about it. The different tourist attractions they have and all. He explained how welcoming and nice it was. Watching the video gave insight to how another country interacts with the world around them and how others are able to explore their world. The biggest misconception to me is that we think their lives are soo much different from our own and that is not true at all. We like the same things they like and do the same things they do as well.

Engaging in Communities

In this activity I had to learn about different cultures and how they perceive different types of controversial topics. It better helps us understand how alike and different we are and coming to together when social issues arise. I also had to do research of my own to understand different global dilemmas and structures different countries have and how they affect them and the world. I think it is very important to know how others feel around us and we feel to them, that engagement is going to go very far.

Interpersonal Communication

In this class I had to complete two talkabroads. Where I had to have two 15 minute conversations with a native speaker from a Hispanic country. I had to uphold a conversation about two different topics both times. One was about clothing and traveling and the other was about art. I feel this shows you how much you have learned and retained in class. It was hard for me because I was nervous at first, but each time i did them I felt I knew more and I could better understand the conversation I was having. I was better at listening than I normally was. I could pick up more of what they were saying to me. I feel is a positive thing. I tried to stay strictly to the prompt given and ask more questions I felt were more direct to the task.

Presentational Speaking

I had to do a final oral exam with my Professor. I went over both conversations I did in my talkbroads. I had to do this without using notes and all from memory. This conversation was engaging and helpful for me because it showed me I know more than I think I do. I also like it because I was able to show the progress to myself of how far I have come in my Spanish classes. I was nervous at first, but conversing helped me feel more confident. One thing I will definitely do in my future is try to add to my vocabulary and practice having conversations outside of the classroom so I can speak more fluently. I think my strength in this was because I had been through and educated my self on the topics before hand. So next time I will make sure that I have material memorized so I can be fully prepared to ask and answer to anything.

Presentational Writing

I had to complete discussion boards for class and respond to other students as well. I had to give a in depth summary of how I felt about different things we read and videos we watched. I had to pay attention to what what provided for me and give my own thoughts on the topic as well. I did not find this very challenging, I found it very informal though. I think it was interactive to be able to know what my peers around me thought as well.

Interpretive Listening

In activities like these it requires me to listen to what the narrator is saying. I often times have to listen more than once to hear key words or phrases that are in the message. I sometimes struggle with hearing the answer in the text but that is because I am better at reading Spanish than listening to it at times. What I like about it most is that it making me listening and repetitive helps me understand the material.

Interpretive Reading

I had to read Finita La gringa, a story of her her immigration and coming into the united States. The story was very nice along with it I learned plenty of vocabulary that was involved in the unit I was in and it was overall helpful for me to understand the vocab better, being able to tie it into the relatable problems that are occurring in the nation/world. I understood what most of what I read, and whenever I struggled I used the context clues around me to understand the word I did not understand. I feel it helps reading the material and then listening to it. It works better for me.