Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

The importance of learning Spanish culture is that there are rules of formality that change based on who you are talking to. This is because people with authority or seniority deserve respect so this can change the vocabulary used and how they need to be said.

This semester I have learned so much about Spanish culture. Learning about how the culture differs from our culture and how well known concepts in our culture change and evolve for theirs, like how in Spanish universities, there are no dorms, so tuition is a lot cheaper than it is here.

Engaging in Communities

It is important to engage in communities as it helps expand your horizons to more culture and aspects of the language that you may not know about. And it can help people from any walk of life find that they enjoy the Spanish community and all that it holds.

Reflect on your experience and participation in these communities. Include artifacts such as photos, audio/video clips, etc.

Presentational Writing

This semester we wrote compositions about ourselves and about our weekly schedules so far. Which was interesting as I had to take a wide look at my life and have to describe myself and my life in ways I never did before.

It definitely helped me grow in a way that I could look at my life in a way, in a language I do not fully know. I had to use words and vocabulary I would not think of using. And it made me look at things in a different way. After taking the time to write it helped me understand things better in ways i would not think it would.

Interpretive Listening

Throughout the semester we were tasked with having to listen to sound excerpts and needing to either translate them or needing to use the correct word from what we heard.

I personally never studied Spanish before this semester so everything I heard was brand new to me. I studied Latin in middle and high school, so switching over to Spanish was interesting as a lot of the words look similar. But different enough for it to still be challenging in some areas.

Interpretive Reading

During the semester we were required to read paragraphs and other readings to interpret what it said. It was so that we could be able to translate in our head from Spanish to English

This was difficult at times as there were moments where I would stare at a page or my laptop and not know what anything said. It was an interesting learning experience that just showed that I had to work harder and memorize the vocabulary better or I would not succeed in the class.

Interpersonal Communication

During the semester we engaged in multiple conversations with the professor and our fellow classmates. It was interesting to learn how sentences needed to be structured as it differs greatly from English.

This was difficult at some points as I have not fully grasped the grammar side of Spanish yet, and the variation of meaning based on word suffix is something I will need to work on.

Presentational Speaking

We did two videos that showcased presentational speaking, one as an interview with a fellow student, and one that went over our favorite places on campus.

This was definitely a learning curve for me, as it felt odd to sit down and speak a language that I had no clue how to speak a few months ago. But it was definitely beneficial for me, as I can recognize many Spanish words now.