Taking A Language Course as the World Changes
For Spanish 201, I had the pleasure of having Profesora Sugg. She was incredibly helpful in feedback, especially in explaining my mistakes so that I can use that knowledge for the future.
Classes this semester where, subjectively, the hardest I have ever taken throughout my college experience. Without being able to meet in person, communication in and out of the classroom faltered. Student-student conversations outside of classes faded away until they were little more than quick messages on social media.
However, I believe that 201 has been my favorite Spanish class so far. While it was difficult to experience the full potential of a language course this year, every activity performed still strengthened my skills.
Artifacts
Artifacts will be posted at the bottom of the page.
Included in the artifacts are:
- Talkabroad recording
- A copy of the outline for my second composition completed in class
- “Dia De Los Muertos” music video
Exploring Culture
This semester, we explored culture through learning about celebrations such as the Day of the Dead, La Tomatina, and others. One activity was to watch a video for the song, “Dia De Los Muertos”, which had certain words missing from the lyrics. The activity was to say what words were coming next in the song based on context and what we have already heard in this song. This activity was extremely helpful in understanding the context of sentences, especially when choosing whether to use “por” or “para” in a sentence.
In learning about the Day of the Dead, it was fascinating to see how other cultures celebrate holidays that are both like and unlike our own. The Day of the Dead is alike to Halloween because children wear costumes and eat candy, but there is a cultural tie to the Day of the Dead that includes remembering those in our lives who have passed on. I think the most important difference is the inclusion of an ofrenda in Day of the Dead celebrations.
Engaging in Communities
At this point, I would say that I am starting to become more comfortable with speaking with those whose first language is Spanish. I have finally understood that mistakes happen and there is nothing I can do to stop them. Even if I make a mistake, I know that whomever I talk to is willing to help me along.
Cultures different from my own are something I want to learn more about. I feel as though the only way I can do so is to ask my friends about certain events and holidays. Of course, I should do so respectfully and never make judgements based on what I view as “normal”.
Interpersonal Communication
My Talkabroad experience was both nerve-wracking and insightful. I talked with a student named Adriana who is from Nicaragua. For the first few minutes, however, we discovered there was an issue with audio and spent that time fixing it. However, we were able to have our conversation in the end. Our discussion was based on social media and household chores, although we did veer off course at the end due to a mention of video games.
After our conversation finished, I noticed just how nervous I had been. I was shaky and my face was warm. But, I knew that I had overcome my anxiety over talking with other people and was able to come out of that experience with my head held higher. I want to complete more Talkabroad conversations in the future because they push me out of my comfort zone and allow me to focus solely on my speaking abilities.
Presentational Writing
The second composition, in my opinion, is always going to be better than the first. This is because I grow throughout the semester and feel more confident in my comprehension skills. The themes for the composition were to either write about an incident involving a car or write a apartment description/lease as if you were a landlord.
I chose to write about an incident involving a car. However, I had read the prompt wrong at first, and began to write about a crash that did not involve myself. After completing the outline for the wrong event, I realized I had not understood the prompt correctly. Once realizing this mistake, I had to act quickly to both write my outline and the full composition. In the end, I was able to tell a story involving myself that filled the criteria of the composition. For the next time, I should spend more time going over the instructions more than once to fully understand what it is asking for.
Artifacts