Exploring Culture
Learning about culture is very important. In Spanish 101 I have learned more about Hispanic cultures in Latin countries. I would say that Lingro Learning was an online tool or website that really helped me grasp and be aware of knowledge about what I did not know about Hispanic cultures.
In the practices of Lingro Learning; this online learning tool has helped me better understand values and attitudes in the Hispanic culture as well as my own. It taught me the drastic and similar differences that American and Hispanic culture differ or share. This was challenging because I was so use to the culture that I live in now, so learning about the culture, holidays, and values practiced in Latin countries was hard to get used to but was however interesting. An example would be how I learned that Universities located in Latin countries did not provide dorms or living areas to their students. However in the United States dorms are a very huge part in the college daily life for most students that attend these Universites. Although it was tough, to remember and familiarize myself with these changes it was very interesting to know and learn about.
Engaging in Communities
Engaging in your community and the global community is very important as I strive to give back thanks to the people around me. Also to expand my knowledge on the values of community outreach.
Volunteering for the Lodge was a great experience as I was able to be a part of a genuine community outreach. During the holidays, I assisted with helping underprivileged citizens by providing essential living items, food, and resources. I also helped renovate and clean buildings for businesses that were in need of maintaining their facilities.
Interpersonal Communication
I have learned tremendously by speaking spanish and audio books. I strive to better my grammar, pronunciation, and speed each time i speak spanish. The video below is a video of me explaining what i do on the daily while on my college campus of Old Dominion University.
It was difficult to combat my own internal battles but knowing that others persevered helped remind me that I can conquer all things that are thrown at me. I learned to challenge all things that I believed were right while influencing others of the same.
Presentational Speaking
Ive had many videos that I have created that dealt with presentation speaking such as the video explaining my daily life on campus and speaking with another spanish speaker conversation about school and classes. I will list the videos below.
This experierence helped remove all biases. It enabled me to broden my thinking while allowing me to consider different perspectives. I learned to be open-minded about others. It truly helped me to understand different cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs. This was important to me because it widened my perspective on how we interact with others that come from a different upbringing. The video below is a video that demo my speaking presentation.
Interpretive Listening
Some activities that were spoken upon were speaking activties when we had to speak with a partner of a handful of students. This was helpful as my fellow classmates helped me within correcting me if I had some issues of incorrect answers as I was speaking. We all helped eachother out and shared ideas,
During the beginining of the semester, I did have some difficulties understanding my professor when she did speak in spanish. However, throughout the course I started to grasp an understanding of what was being spoken. Still till this day I have a little trouble understanding fast spoken spanish but nevertheless, when it is spoken clearly and hand gestures are being used I can use my context clues to understand. I think continious practice can certainly help more and more as I learn spanish. The video below is a video of me listening and responding in spanish.
Interpretive Reading
I have had a lot of activities in my spanish class that dealt with reading such as Lingro Learning. Lingro Learning was an online tool or website that really helped me grasp and be aware of knowledge about what I did not know about Hispanic culture, grammar, and vocabulary.
After observing the instructor and learning different techniques of teaching, I found that I comprehended the best when materials are visually presented. This type of learning style has a clear vision of the topic at hand and helps me process information that is given to me. Hands-on visual techniques have proven to be most effective in both the working and home environment.
NOVICE link – https://docs.google.document//-/edit