Advanced Grammar and Syntax
In this course, I focused on several different aspects of the Spanish language. The primary things I would like to focus on are grammar, syntax, translation, and history. Throughout the semester, the structure of this course changed, so I was able to focus on more than one thing. We combined our class with a philosophy class to dive into a philosophical text written by a Spanish philosopher. This gave me the ability to practice my grammar and syntax, as well as do a hands on translation while learning about the historical context of the text. I was also able to practice translating during my time at the Chesapeake Care Clinic, and I had the opportunity to do a research presentation for higher-up members of ODU. As for discipline, I have been learning Spanish since 2016. That was my freshman year of high school. I took my first spanish class and fell in love with the language, and have been taking courses every year since.
Linked below is the first translation I did on Asterix and the Big Fight. This translation gave me the opportunity to practice translation for the first time. This was very important for me because translation has become a standard practice in my daily life. Since starting my internship at the Clinic, I have used my translation skills in order to relay information to patients and receive information from them about their concerns and questions. This relates to translation because in a translation I need to be able to accurately translate the text given to me in order to maintain meaning and sentiment of the original text.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ja6aZV4BuJNjRMR-WIkqGlVc8ymDoHy-eOZN13idZwY/edit?usp=sharing
I also completed my video presentation on Asterix and the Big Fight. In this presentation, I examined different aspects of translation and what needs to be done in order to translate a text. In terms of self-reflection, I believe that the ability to speak Spanish proficiently and the ability to translate verbal and written text will help me in the future because I would like to have a job where I can utilize the Spanish language.
Another main focus of this course was grammar and syntax. Throughout the first half of the semester, I completed several homework assignments focusing on different aspects of grammar and syntax. One aspect that stuck out to me was when we went over the passive and active voice. This was a concept I struggled with initially, but after practice with homework and in class, I was able to comprehend the concept. I included an in-class assignment that I completed with classmates about this topic.
Finally, I want to mention the second translation that I completed this semester. This translation was completed individually, but later my classmates and I teamed up with a philosophy class in order to discuss accuracy of the translated text. We did this project because the text translated is from El Resentimiento Trágico de la Vida which is written by a Spanish philosopher by the name of Miguel de Unamuno. This translation challenged me to do research about the historical context of the text and about Unamuno himself. I was also challenged to learn new words and their meanings, and phrases used in Spanish that I was not familiar with. In addition to the translation, I completed a contextual page about the biography of Miguel de Unamuno in which I learned a lot about him and his life. All of the information we went over as a group and researched individually could be of use to me in the future when talking about Spanish or in English when discussing history or philosphy.