Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

1. Attached is my first project assignment of the class which involved introducing and describing myself. This assignment was a presentational mode of communication that required me to properly conjugate and understand the two verbs meaning “to be” which were ser and estar. I learned so much from this assignment because it was the first chance I was given to write full and complete sentences describing myself in Spanish. While a lot of class time was spent speaking sentences, which helped immensely with my pronunciation and speaking confidence, writing came as more of a challenge for me. This assignment made me more familiar with Spanish sentence structure, and allowed me to familiarize myself with words that include special case symbols.

1. 2. Attached is my composition project that describes my weekly schedule. During this section of the class, we learned how to tell and describe time in Spanish, and we also learned and utilized verbs meaning “to like”, “to go” and “to do” to help us create our schedule. The assignment required us to list the time, the activity, and what we like or do not like about it. I found this assignment extremely beneficial to my knowledge because it required me to learn new adjectives and verbs, and also learn how to discuss the things that occur in my everyday life. Since I feel I tend to struggle with Spanish writing, this also gave me an opportunity to improve my Spanish grammar and spelling skills.

Exploring Culture

One of the most interesting things I learned about the Spanish language and culture is the fact that there are certain words used in formal and informal settings. For example, when communicating with someone who is highly respected, you would address them in the formal usted form. However, when you’re communicating with a friend or close relative, it is appropriate to use the informal Tú form. I also learned that just like in the English language, there are a lot of slang words utilized in the Spanish language, and how some individuals just pronounce English words with a Spanish accent instead of using the full Spanish name. I also found it intriguing how the only country that uses the Vosotros form for “you all” is Spain. Lastly, through the required text, I learned that many college students in Latin countries stay at home with their families while in school. This could indicate that many of these students have very strong bonds with their families. While some American students do commute to and from college, there’s still a large chunk of students who stay in dorms or on campus apartments.

Presentational Speaking

During the class, we were required to create a Powerpoint presentation and describe the different locations within Old Dominion University. Although I did not have the opportunity to record my presentation, this assignment was by far the most challenging. This assignment required us to create a PowerPoint with just pictures and no other context. It was expected that we should be capable of describing the various locations and the activities we like or do not like to do within the given locations. This was also the first assignment that we were required to perform in front of the entire class, so that definitely added pressure. Though I was farm from perfect when presenting, I was given a higher level of confidence in my overall ability to speak and enunciate properly.