Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

I think the most powerful product we utilized this semester was our entire Lingro Learning application. Compared to other language courses Ive taken in my higher education, this course was far more easy to absorb, and this application offered everything from cultural perspectives, to activities that encouraged us to branch out and see things form the point of view of native Spanish speaking peoples.

Id say that for the most part, this application gave me insight on many things I had not before pondered about the lives of Hispanic speaking countries. Things I learned the most about were subjects like, workplace structure, food customs, family structure, as well as things like civil liberties and human rights. I cant say that my worldview was challenged in any particular way. My generation has grown up with the mindset of accepting almost all cultural beliefs and differences. It mostly shed light on things that I was not aware of, such as the struggles of LGBT peoples working toward equality in the eyes of the law of some respective countries. Our cultural investigation exercises reinforced a lot of the similarities that I was already aware between my own culture and that of Spanish speaking Countries.

Engaging in Communities

Engaging in the community of your studied language, whether globally or locally, can prove to be one of the most important methods of increasing your proficiency in a given language. After all, people within these communities are most likely the audience you will be applying you Spanish speaking knowledge too. Its important to engage in these communities because understanding a culture gives insight into the feeling and attitudes behind how words and phrases are spoken.

My only engagement with someone from a Spanish speaking culture was through Talk Abroad this semester. This platform was an excellent tool for getting a look into the life of someone from a Spanish speaking country. The topics we were given to discuss allowed us to speak freely about ourselves, including our families, hobbies, day to day activities, and general interests. Through these exercises my understanding of the similarities between Hispanic cultures and I were strengthened.

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Interpersonal Communication

Throughout our semester, the majority of our interpersonal communication took place in the form of class discussions, commenting on our classmates projects, and conversing with partners using Talk Abroad. Class discussions ranged on a wide variety of topics, usually concerning what we were focusing on in our current unit. Talk Abroad was the most impactful by far as it thrust you into a conversation with a fluent Spanish speaking person (something not everyone readily has access to)

I found that our class discussions amongst one another were incredibly productive, and gave us wonderful opportunities to get comfortable speaking in Spanish. Due to the fact that we were all relatively on the same level of Spanish fluency, it made the experience much more relaxed. I also found that collectively, we were able to fill in the gaps of our conversation whenever a participant wasn’t sure of how to conjugate or say something in Spanish. The wide range of topics we covered also gave us ample practice in elaborating on different things, and not just regular small talk.

Talk Abroad was most certainly the most impactful exercise this semester. I find that no matter how confident I am in my abilities to understand and speak Spanish, it is usually squandered by the nervousness I experience when speaking in public, or to someone im not comfortable with. That being said, the speaking partners I chose were immensely helpful in guiding me through the conversations. I find that speaking in a relaxed manner with someone who is comfortable with the language really helps your brain connect dots in a subconscious way, and makes you realize that you can most often speak a language much better than you probably realize. Though Talk abroad was admittedly a stressful assignment, I feel I benefited from it immensely.

Presentational Speaking

Two of our projects this semester required us to create short videos speaking in Spanish on a particular subject. As mentioned in other segments, one concerned details of our family, and another tasked us with discussing a particular dish we enjoyed preparing.

The first presentation dealing with our family members was a little difficult in some ways due to the fact that it was hard to overcome the nervous feeling of speaking publicly in a language you’re not totally comfortable with. It certainly helped that we had knowledge of how to describe people from our Spanish 101 course. We had not yet moved into very complex grammatical structures, so this project was helpful in giving us the tools to begins speaking on more complex subjects. The project concerning food was quite enjoyable and I feel that my confidence in public speaking had increased by this point. I found that I was able to memorize the vocabulary dealing with names of food much easier than other subjects in the course. Though my segment on preparing the food was short, it challenged me to focus on elaborating on a subject using more words, rather than using simple phrases to describe something.

Presentational Writing

This semester we completed various compositions covering a variety of topics. Our first project consisted of us describing our family members. Another assignment tasked us with discussing a particular meal we enjoy and how to prepare it. Next we were asked to create a flyer advocating a particular sport or activity. Lastly we created a pamphlet raising awareness about a certain aspect of physical or mental health.

The first project was a great introduction into building confidence with writing about subjects in Spanish. Writing about family members came easier than expected as learning adjectives concerning aspects of peoples physical and personality traits was something covered in both Spanish 101 and 102 extensively. The project concerning preparing a meal was very engaging, as I feel that as an American, my initial exposure to most Hispanic culture was with Hispanic food. Learning the names of different foods as well as verbs pertaining to cooking tied a lot of things together for me. The project related to the sports flyer was also very fun, although the most difficult one I found. Many of the terms surrounding sports and activities are a lot less familiar to me, and I had difficulty constructing the phrases in the proper form. The project that I felt most comfortable with was our final project dealing with aspects of mental and physical health. Although I received a low score due to not properly following the rubric, I was confident in my ability to speak about my chosen topic and was able to elaborate on it far more than any other subject thus far in the semester.

Interpretive Listening

Some activities that we completed in class included listening to someone explain, in Spanish, about professions in STEM, healthcare, and business. Outside of class I would often watch educational videos in Spanish that provides the listener with practice in deciphering and understanding Spanish being spoken.

One of the first videos I watched outside of class that helped me with understanding Spanish being spoken was a YouTube video of someone describing an average morning routine for them. The video was extremely helpful because the focus of this series was making sure the dialogue was spoken slowly enough for beginning Spanish students to be able to understand. The speaker lists certain tasks they complete throughout the morning, such as brushing teeth, preparing breakfast, and heading to work. One notable aspect of this series was the consistent use of time in the description of activities. Time is very helpful when I try to understand Spanish because if I can determine the time of day, I can usually determine vocabulary and activities related to that specific time frame. I feel that I have grown the most from each interpretive listening activity Ive completed this semester.

Interpretive Reading

Throughout the semester there were many activities involving interpretive learning. Lingo Learning was immensely helpful in this course because they often gave us information completely in Spanish, which forced us to rely on our ability to use context clues to decipher was was being said. One activity that I found enjoyable to work through was learning about what people in certain Spanish speaking countries considered to be the most important factors that contribute to good mental/physical health.

I found it interesting that mental health seemed to be taken more seriously in some of the countries we examined compared to here in the United states. Surprisingly this section, although it contained a lot of new vocabulary, was not hard to grasp as there are a lot of cognates present in these types of dialogues. Readings like these gave me a lot of respect for the various parts of the world that seem to be a little more progressive in key area regarding health overall. The similarities I found also created somewhat of a trend of cultural norms throughout the Spanish speaking world which I found very interesting.

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