Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

This semester, we had many Cultura assignments on VHL that showed us the cultures of many Spanish speaking countries. These were reading activities, as well as videos that gave us short glimpses into those foreign cultures.

This semester we learned more about how people live, whether it was about their work, the nature around them, how they kept healthy, or even something as mundane as where they went shopping. All these facets of life are what ultimately build a cultural identity, so it was fascinating to just learn more details about Spanish culture this semester. These tiny things help to almost put a face on foreign cultures, it gives them more life. In this way, I have gained a not only more knowledge about the cultures of different Spanish speaking countries, but they now also seem far more vibrant and alive.

Engaging in Communities

It is important to engage in your community because it’s just the right thing to do. Especially in modern times with the threat of the pandemic, it is important for us to take the time to help our neighbors, our friends, and our family. A strong community together will take care of itself and make sure its members are safe and cared for.

This semester, we had access to the Discussion Board feature on Blackboard as well as engage in online video chats with out classmates. These features helped us not only to gain friends, but also to help each other learn the parts of Spanish that we were weaker in. Learning these things from a classmate who struggled just as hard as you helps, they explain things differently and it allows you to understand and retain it better. Overall, my experiences on these platforms this semester have been positive.

“Si, Español es necesario para comunicar con mucha gente, y me gusta mucho VHL tambien. Lo usé para todos mis clases de Español en ODU y estoy muy familiar con el sitio web.”

Interpersonal Communication

This semester we utilized Talkabroad, Discussion Boards, and Zoom for interpersonal communication. We used these to talk with students, other people around the world, and even our teacher. Talkabroad allowed us to talk with with people from Spanish speaking countries, Discussion Boards allowed us to write messages to our classmates, and Zoom was used to talk with tutors, classmates, and schedule conversations with our teachers.

The Talkabroad assignment this semester reinforced how important studying is as I was far less prepared than usual for this particular one. However, I relied on the core Spanish words I have learned in the past and managed to get through the conversation with minimal butchery of the language. The Discussion Boards are always easy and rarely require much in the way of effort, and I have learned to do better at writing them based off of my knowledge of Spanish alone and without carefulling crafting each sentence. The Zoom meeting I had with my classmate was informative and very helpful as we both had questions that the other had answers to. All in all, each of these assignments helped to reinforce what I already know learn things that I do not.

“I met with Anna Tuazon on July 8th for our meeting over Zoom. We talked about difficuties in the class as well as went over the indicative tense, which I have particular trouble with. She was very helpful and I think we both learned a lot from the meeting and I think we would both have a lot of fun if we had to partner up again for a similar project.”

Presentational Speaking

We started off this semester with a google slides assignment that we had to fill out about ourselves. We had to present these slides to the class over Zoom, which gave us our first taste of Spanish for the semester as well helped us to get to know our teacher and classmates.

This presentation was the first one I have ever given to my whole Spanish class, but it did not present many challenges. I took public speaking classes at Tidewater Community College and so have experience those types of presentations. I think I did very well at the actual presentational speaking part because of this, but the most enjoyable part was finding the perfect bitmoji, which I think I did. Next time I might study more, just to polish up my presentation, but I do not think that I really need to for an assignment like that.

Presentational Writing

Due to the extremely short nature of this semester, we did not have much time for presentational writing, but we did a composition about our Talkabroad partners on the Discussion Board forums. This involved us just writing about our partner, simple basic things that they have included on their account page.

This assignment was fairly easy and did not involve any real challenge, but it was useful to know certain things about my conversation partner before we actually talked. It also helped me be less nervous when talking to her because I felt more like I was talking to a peer rather than a human oral quiz machine. The most difficult part about this particular assignment was making sure the formatting was correct on Blackboard, so I had to more familiar with the requisite options and settings. I excelled because I was allowed to take my time and wasn’t rushed, which generally means I will do well on an assignment. However, next time I could spend more time working on the pronouns in the piece as I often have trouble with those.

Partner Info

Name: Daniela Castro

Country: Honduras

Profession: Licenciada en Diseño Gráfico

About Me

Ella nació y vive en Honduras. Se considera una persona amable, creativa y trabajadora.

Hobbies

Se Le gusta la danza, hacer ejercicio, relajarse en la naturaleza, mirar muchas películas, MMA (UFC), el maquillaje y demás actividades artísticas.

Books

My Fight Your Fight, Comienza donde estas, El Perfume, A Walk to Remember, The Wide Window, The Phantom of the Opera

Music

No es fácil elegir se música favorita, ella disfruta la mayoría de los géneros musicales como ser clásica, jazz, indie, pop, electrónica, entre otras.

Movies

Películas de Marvel, DC Comics, Mortal Kombat, Kill Bill, Jurassic Park, Center Stage y ¡muchas más!

Interpretive Listening

This semester we had many listening assignments to do on VHL that included people talking about information relevant to the unit. Sometimes it was one person talking to nobody in a monologue style, but other times it was a conversation we had to follow and answer questions about.

These could often prove challenging given the wide range of grammatical rules and vocabulary we are now expected to know. Someone could make an “ah” sound before a word and I had to use context clues to figure out if they were saying “a” or “la” and pronouncing the “L” quickly. I often listened to each recording multiple times until I figured it out. These activities were especially difficult, however, if a person was speaking very fast or not fully pronouncing their words. Each one was a test of knowledge and listening skills, and my ability to discern what is being spoken has only grown as the semester has gone on.

Interpretive Reading

This semester we had lots of reading activities on VHL. These activities introduced new vocabulary, helped us see grammatical systems in use, and most often taught us about the culture of Spanish speaking countries.

The activities that involved us answering questions about grammar were the most difficult, but by and large I was able to get through them by looking back at my notes and carefully reading the paragraphs. The ones that involved vocabulary questions were easier as vocabulary questions can be answered with simple context clues. The ones that taught us foreign cultures were the easiest because they were only facts that we had to remember. They were also the most interesting, however, because I love learning about foreign cultures. They ultimately helped a lot to teach me about the Spanish language, and the various cultures that are tied to it.