Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

Something that we have done habitually in the class through LingroHub is exploring the internet using Spanish in the search bar to research cultural practices in Hispanic countries. These activities have ranged from women in sports to same sex marriage. Another activity we did each unit was a discussion board that asked us to watch a video about a certain topic in a Hispanic culture, and to respond to why it may have been different or similar to our culture in the United States. It is interesting to see how different things are in the Hispanic world, but it is equally as interesting to see how similar things can be in the United States. Often times it can feel like we are completely separate from people who speak different languages, but in reality, we just go about things in a different way.

These exercises showed me that having a better understanding of people around the world is important and beneficial to connecting with one another. It opens your eyes to see why the attitudes are different, and how some of our beliefs are not so different after all. If we can find things in common, it means that we can connect on a deeper level and become the world wide community that we are meant to be, rather than trying to compete with one another or frown on one another. I personally found that watching these videos and doing these searches eliminated a subtle stereotype that I had formed around Hispanic countries towards women. Without ever doing any real insight on the treatment of women in Hispanic countries, an opinion seemed to form that women were still thoroughly suppressed in these countries, and multiple sources have shown me that women are capable and excited to be independent there, just as they are in the United States. While I still may not have the full picture, I am now aware that women in Hispanic countries are participating in much more than I had thought initially.

Engaging in Communities

To be involved with your community is to feel that you are part of something bigger than yourself. This is one of the most important aspects of our lives as humans, and I think we have lost sight of that as a global community. In the United States especially, we no longer find value in understanding the people in other countries, nor the problems they may be facing. We have grown to be such an individualistic country that it seems easier for us to ignore what’s going on in the world around us, and just focus on being “successful”. I think that if we were to really come together as a global community, helping each other and supporting one another, that we would find a higher level of contentment that we have not found in the United States.

When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to go to Puerto Rico on a mission trip where we helped repair houses for those who could not do it alone. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the house that I helped repair, but it was truly one of the most heartwarming trips I’ve ever been on. The man whose house we were working on was so happy at the end of the week that he cried and hugged us all when he saw how much we had done, including painting the entire house, repairing the roof, and cleaning the inside. This also showed me how nice it would have been to know more Spanish than I did in that moment. If I could go back in time, I would hope that I would study more Spanish so that I could express to him how happy it made me to know that we could help him.

Interpersonal Communication

In this class, we were asked to complete two TalkAbroad assignments, which were oral practices with native Spanish speakers. These speakers were trained to interact in a learning environment and give learners an opportunity to have a real conversation without as much pressure. We also had oral conversations with our instructor, which added a little more pressure, but were to make sure that we had a thorough understanding of the unit and the concepts that were included.

In my first TalkAbroad assignment, I was very nervous that I wouldn’t be able to come up with full sentences that were relevant to the conversation. To combat this fear, I made sure that I had key words ready that would help guide me to topics that I knew I could comfortable talk about in Spanish. My biggest struggle turned out to be that I could not understand a lot of the conversational words that my speaker used. The next TalkAbroad, however, I found to be much more flowing and conversational. I was able to really listen to what my partner was talking about and try to have a conversation that went back and forth, rather than just asking and answering questions. I found this to be very satisfying and reassuring that I knew what I was talking about and was confident doing it. I would say that this assignment really helped me to feel confident for the oral assignments with my instructor. It gave me confidence that I would be able to answer in a way that made sense and used vocabulary that could accurately describe what I was trying to say.

Interpretive Listening

This semester I tried watching a movie that was originally made in Spanish. I wanted to see how much of the story I would be able to understand without the English closed captions on. Another example of interpretive listening I participated in was being a part of the TalkAbroad conversation. This required a lot of listening and understanding.

The movie I watched was called “Amar” and it is found on Netflix. Trying to understand the movie based off of just the words was very difficult. The nice thing about movies is that there is a visual component to help you understand what is going on. I was able to understand basic topics, but most of the specific details were lost on me. For this reason, I found that the listening in the TalkAbroad assignment was much more beneficial, because I had to critically think hard enough so that I could construct my own answer. Another benefit was that if I misunderstood, I was able to indicate that I needed something to be repeated or reworded so that I could understand.

Interpretive Reading

We were often asked to read articles regarding Hispanic cultures. The goal was to research information about a certain Hispanic country and about a certain topic. I found that this was very eye opening, to be able to read articles written in Spanish and try to fully experience the language in an everyday context.

I found these readings to be quite difficult. The reason being that there were often many words that I was unfamiliar with, so I had to either look them up in the Spanish dictionary or just use context clues to assume what the word might mean. Over time, I did notice that I began to be more familiar with certain grammar concepts that made the writing seem a little more cohesive and understandable. I found that the information was often not what I was expecting. Some of the most interesting things for me to research was the food from Hispanic countries. I have never been one to go out of my way to try new things, but looking and reading about some of the traditional foods in some of the countries made me wish that I could try them all. Overall, I would say that it was good exercise, and opened my eyes to how much I could improve on my Spanish reading.