Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

M1: La descripción

Mi fotografía favorita

One of our very first assignments in this class was to choose a photo that meant something to us. We would then use these pictures in a different way through each of our escrituras. These pictures allowed us to catch a glimpse into one another’s lives and cultures. Our “favorite photo” could be anything, but it was important to choose a photo that you could easily spend hours discussing. It is easy for me to tell someone every single detail of this picture in English. I found that allowing Spanish words to come to mind during the thought process of describing this image helped when it was time to write the actual description in Spanish.

M1 Discussion Board

Our first discussion board required us to describe an excerpt from “Alice in Wonderland”, but in Spanish. It was very helpful in developing our descriptive skills in Spanish. I especially enjoyed reading everyone’s responses. Everyone described what was happening in the scene a slightly different way, with new and interesting adjectives.

Writing and thinking with a Spanish perspective helps our brains to develop and find a different way to think about and describe things. While something is described with certain words in English, it may be described slightly differently in Spanish. The phrases and adjectives can differ. These activities and assignments, however, allowed us to find beautiful ways to bring Spanish and English cultures together.

M2: La narración

An Excerpt from my narration: La Busqueda

I had a challenging time with this escritura. I was not accustomed to writing a dialogue in Spanish. To be frank, I tend to stay away from dialogue in general as it is something I have trouble with in writing. To do it in Spanish was particularly challenging. Aside from the dialogue, the paper was enjoyable to write, as writing about animals is something I tend to have fun doing.

M3: El ensayo narrativo

Editorial

This editorial assignment allowed me to voice my opinion while respecting others. It is important to maintain a very clear and rational argument throughout an editorial. Whether an editorial is in Spanish or English, a degree of clarity and respectfulness should be held throughout. It is hard to respect someone’s opinion if their judgement does not seem to be sound. This assignment helped me to grow by requiring me to think outside of the box in my writing. I have always excelled at expressing my opinion, however, I wanted to still maintain the level of scholarship in an argument in Spanish as I would in English.

Discussion Board M3

This particular discussion board was difficult for me in more ways than one. I have an immense amount of trouble interpreting certain scenarios. I am a very literal person, so discerning alternate meanings from videos and articles is difficult for me. The underlying meanings of great texts and plays such as those by Shakespeare are truly lost on me.

My response to the questions asked was fairly basic, as it was all I could glean from the video and article. My understanding was not as elaborate as some, but although it was simple, I hoped that what I did write was clear to those reading it. Activities like this are challenging to me and putting them in another language definitely presented difficulties.

M4: La exposición

Examen M4

This is a snip of several questions in my exam 4 regarding the subjunctive. The purpose of these questions was to test our knowledge regarding the subjunctive and when or how to use it. Tenses like the subjunctive are what make me think that English is easy. One of the many tools used to help us learn in this course is the assignments through VHL. While we also have quizzes and exams to test our knowledge, VHL allows our attempts to go unpunished until we learn and understand the material.

M4: Purpose

The purpose of M4 focused on allowing us to learn or re-learn specific grammatical parts of Spanish. This included the subjunctive, the infinitive and participles, etc. This module was difficult for me mainly due to my inability to discern when to use the subjunctive among other tenses .

M5: La argumentación

By the time this module arrived, I had finally found my groove when it came to this class’s writing assignments. While our escritura was slightly difficult to write, finding a topic to write about was much easier this time. As a Biology major, I enjoy supporting my writing with research and facts, and this escritura assignment allowed me to do that. With this escritura, I finally began to feel like someone who could write in Spanish.

I found that in any language, if you are not writing about something that you are passionate about, your writing is just not going be that great. Words will flow when you write about a topic that you either know a lot about or love (these two usual go hand in hand). This rule applies to anyone in any country with any language.

M5 Discussion Board

Our discussion board for this module was my favorite as it asked about a very pressing issue happening in our country today. One of my passions is to know what is happening in the world, especially concerning the U.S. government, and immigration is a sensitive and very current topic. This discussion board post was from the heart as my family hired and housed immigrants to help us on our family dairy. The experience, even as a young girl, left me with compassion for those seeking better lives in the U.S.

¡Gracias por un buen semestre!