Exploring Culture

Throughout the course, I was exposed to Spanish speaking cultures from around the world through various assignments and videos that I was required to watch for the class. For instance, during the lectura 4 assignment there was a video which discussed major sports events in Spanish-speaking countries, specifically fútbol. When non-Americans refer to fútbol, they are referring to what Americans normally call the sport soccer. While football is an extremely popular sport in the United States, Spanish-speaking countries celebrate fútbol in the same fashion as Americans do for American football events. Also, in the second competencia cultural which focused specifically on Spain, there was a discussion of how Spaniards are much more affectionate than Americans. Kissing on the cheek was said to be a common way to greet people in Spain regardless of gender or relationship.

Engaging in Communities

It is important to be involved in your community and represent the institutions that you are a part of in the best ways possible and a great way to do so is engaging in your community. While at ODU there are many ways to be involved such as charity events and volunteer work opportunities.

While at ODU, I had the opportunity to go abroad and engage in humanitarian work in various areas in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. I have volunteered at many shelters and rehabilitation centers to give back to my community and help those less fortunate.

Interpersonal Communication

The audio assignments that I had come across throughout this course were the most challenging for myself. As the course progressed, I did see myself getting better at being able to understand the audios and being able to interpret what would be said in the recordings. These kinds of activities helped me with other assignments such as my 1-on-1 interview with my instructor.

Presentational Speaking

During the course, I was required to partake in a few interviews between both my instructor and another classmate. It helped me enhance my Spanish-speaking abilities and allowed for me to exercise my knowledge on the language.

One of the challenges I had faced were my own feelings of being nervous, but I was able to overcome this issue thanks to my amazing partner who reassured me and was patient during our interview. In the end, it all worked out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPvHAhbXGP4

Presentational Writing

During the course, there were several writing activities that I had participated in such as the compositions where we discuss information about our lives in Spanish. I found those to be very helpful for practicing vocabulary and grammar. The second composition that I had to compete was a little more difficult due to the fact that it had to be at least 20 sentences but I was able to elaborate in detail about the subject which helped lengthen my composition.

Interpretive Listening

During the course, I was given many assignments that required me to listen and interpret what was being said in Spanish. The breakout rooms during the zoom classes is where I felt I had exercised my ability to listen and interpret the most. I would ask a question and would listen to my fellow classmates responses in Spanish. It would be difficult when I would be in a breakout room and no one seemed to want to engage in conversation but I was able to overcome this by having more opportunities later on to engage in discussions with other classmates who did want to talk.

Interpretive Reading

During the course, I was required to take part in various reading activities where I would have to interpret the reading and answer questions about what I had just read. For example, the lecturas discussed many different topics such as sports and families in Spanish-speaking countries in comparison to sports and families in American culture. Answering the questions helped me better understand the concepts. One of the challenges I had faced during these kinds of assignments would be remembering the vocabulary to use in order to answer the questions in Spanish. I was able to overcome this by utilizing my textbook and reviewing the vocabulary.