Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

During this course, I further initiated the motions of step out of my comfort zone and interact with students via ZOOM and Talk Abroad. I was able to interpret and practice the Spanish I was learning with other students which helped with my accent and understanding tremendously. I was also able to converse with individuals in different country’s to really put my Spanish speaking abilities to the test. Using LINGO, I was able to learn about different countries and how they established there family attributes and entertainment. It was interesting to see how different cultures can celebrate as a family and the importance that comes with the word family.

These products and practices help me better understand values and attitudes in the Hispanic culture. I had to take the time to really dive into the Spanish and use this to understand that the differences in culture can directly tie into how you interact with a person. I can relate to the Spanish culture because I am Portuguese and we live very similar lifestyles. It is a positive shift for other to learn the differences in culture and understand that just because were different and do things differently does not mean that’s a bad thing.

These products and practices challenged my worldview by opening up new doors. I had no idea the differences the come with historical culture and I feel now that I do know its important for everyone to peek inside a different culture from there own if not for pleasure of seeing something knew but for educational purposes. It is important to remember the stereotypes can be harsh and with that I feel learning about someone else culture can open the understanding that people do things differently depending on where they come form. Its important that we do not misjudge a person based off of what they believe in but support the fact that they are keeping there heritage alive. This is just one example of understanding that people celebrate food culture differently and all forms should be appreciated respected.

Engaging in Communities

I have taken pride in using Spanish when I can in the community. I am currently in the Navy ands I actually use it quite often at work with my coworkers. It is nice to be able to communicate with others who speak different language. It is important to be able to make people fee comfortable an welcomed even if there English isn’t perfect. I know my Spanish isn’t and I am always welcomed when attempting to use my newly learned language.

Using Spanish to engage in the community shows that I am willing to step out of my comfort zone and really engage into different cultures. Not only am I seeing different cultures but I am realizing how similar and different we all are at the same time.

Interpersonal Communication

Talk Abroad was an amazing experience. I met with Jessica both times and was able to establish a connection with someone who lives all the way in Spain. It was amazing to have a conversation completely in a different language and I feel it really tested my ability. Not only did I feel confident, But I realized that I am fully capable of having a conversation in Spanish and able to figure it out as I go.

Being able to spontaneously write about different subjects in Spanish with the knowledge I have learned from this course is amazing. When I started this class I knew little to no Spanish and was not able to understand or hold a conversation. Because of all of the videos and discussion bored I feel AI have excelled and learned so much about the language and the culture. This was an extremally challenging assignment but I feel it helped me grow in my Spanish career and understandings.

** I have two audio conversations and can provide them via email upon request. Issues with uploading the audio files here!

Presentational Speaking

In English, give a brief 2-3-line description of any presentational speaking activities you completed this semester inside or outside of class for or related to your Spanish learning. Include a recording of one of these speaking activities. (See Modes of Communication link for description and examples). 

Then, in a paragraph, write a reflection that includes each presentation you completed in which you explain what challenged you and how you grew and overcame those challenges.  What did you excel at? What/how would you do differently next time? 

Presentational Writing

Here is a short discussion bored I wrote about gender and job stereotype’s in the united states. We were instructed to answer questions after watching a video on gender and the roles individuals play in Spain.

In this paper I used verbs that we have been learning in the module to help get my point across. I explained what different students used to connect gender to the job roles the adults they had seen play. . When doing this, I made sure that I gave solid examples as to why i responded to the discussion post the way I did. I paid attention to the student and what they believed was the answer to gender in the work force. This gave me the understanding of how important it is to learn how to write these words in Spanish. If I would not have paid attention to them I wouldn’t not have been able to figure it out. Even the words that are similar to the English language are spelled quite differently.

Interpretive Listening

During this semester I was tasked with listening to videos based on dishes form other countries. This gave me the ability to learn special dishes that are eaten in Spain.

This video was slightly challenging to understand because the speakers spoke very fast and I did not use subtitles to understand. It did help that I understood works based on food from the modules and I was able to put together the sentences as the video went on. Although these discussion’s were challenging I really enjoyed learning about other countries food and what they enjoyed eating. I feel I have grown by widening my understanding of culture and how other places celebrate there own culture.

YouTube. (2020). National Dishes of Latin America; A Latin American Food Fiesta! YouTube. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6zzjHm_vVw.

Interpretive Reading

There were many different interpretive communication activities I read in and out of class this semester, such videos and article about Spanish and talking about different ports that different country’s participate in.

I really enjoyed learning about other countries and what sports they played. In this video it challenged the viewer to try and understand what was being discussed whiteout actually looking at the subtitles. They discussed differ sports they played and I feel with the modules this semester I was per paired to watch the videos. Some of the sports I did not know so I had to look them up to help me understand the context and this was challenging. It was interesting to me how many different sports these students played. It was nice to see a variety of different sports amongst the girls and boys.

YouTube. (2019). ¿Cuál es tu deporte preferido? – Talking about sport in Spanish – Coffee Break Spanish To Go 1.10. YouTube. Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HKfV9u6ehE.