Exploring Culture
While enrolled in Spanish 202, I was able to explore culture through TalkAbroad, LingroHub, and communicating with my classmates. TalkAbroad allowed me to communicate with another Spanish speaking person from another country and talk to them about their cultures and practices. In unit 17 we learned about stereotypes and values that people have. We also learned about attributes people have and attitudes that others have. When participating in the discussions with my classmates I was able to learn different stereotypes that other people have faced. During this unit I also was able to learn about my partner from TalkAbroad and learn about the different stereotypes in Mexico. In different regions of Mexico there are different stereotypes. Overall the experience was a nice way to practice spanish, learn about a new culture, and also teach others about some of the culture in the U.S. Additionally, in each unit on LingroHub, there was a culture section that allowed me to explore experiences from other countries regarding each topic that we learned about.
Example of conversation with partner from Mexico on TalkAbroad.
7:55] Me: ¿Por qué crees que esos estereotipos existen?
Claudia: Por dos razones principales. Una es que tendemos a juzgará otros porque dentro del proceso del pensamiento deductivo una de las fases es justamente hacer una generalización apresurada. No tenemos toda la información de la persona, de lo , o de la situación. Entonces, pendemos sa eser esto. Es imparte natural. Hacías como funciona nuestros cerezo. Pero es un error quedarnos con poca información. El problema es que no siempre tenemos otro recursos como no siempre tenemos tiempo o la disposición para conocer más a su persona y tener un idea real de ya o la situación. No tenemos lo recurso deducacion, no lectura..
Engaging in Communities
When using and learning Spanish it’s important to understand the community and the values within them. Learning a new language can be valuable for making new connections with others. There are many ways in which one can make connections through the use of language and having others stored away for use can also lead to new friendships. Getting involved with your community can help introduce you to individuals who share similarities or may be different from you.
Interpersonal Communication
This was my second experience with TalkAbroad so I already knew what to expect in terms of scheduling conversations and talking to people from different Spanish speaking countries. Different topics were discussed this time such as Influencers, Identity, Customs, etc. 15 minutes still seemed a little long when speaking but it went by quickly since I had prepared my information beforehand. My Spanish speaking skills aren’t the best but I feel that it has improved a little bit since my last two TalkAbroad sessions. I’m glad that I was able to feel just a little bit more confident and practice my speaking with native speakers as it exposed me to the different ways that people speak Spanish. Although this is my last Spanish class with ODU, I would like to continue practicing my Spanish skills and become more fluent in the way that I read, write, listen, and speak the language. In the conversations included in LingroHub it was a little difficult to try and come up with information for the speaking and writing parts since it was new information I was learning so I feel that I could use more practice with spontaneous conversation/activities. The thing that was most difficult for me was tackling grammar and making sure that I was phrasing my sentences with the new grammar that we learned. After doing practice I was able to gain a better understanding as to how they worked but I think that I can still work to excel with the new grammar structures.
Example: Discussion post
Presentational Speaking
Since this class was online, there were less opportunities for face-to-face conversation however there were still many opportunities within the semester to practice our speaking. In each module on LingroHub, there was a section after vocabulary which prompted us to practice speaking about the new information we learned and expand upon it with information we already learned. TalkAbroad was another sort of “presentational” speaking which helped us become more confident in our speaking skills. I believe that I excelled when it came to TalkAbroad because I was able to prepare questions ahead of time for my partner and also practice answering those same questions which helped build my confidence in how I respond.
Presentational Writing
In Spanish 202 there weren’t as many presentational activities since again it was an online class. In the modules of LingroHub there was the opportunity to research information about the cultures/topics learned and then to tell what we wrote but that’s about all the presentational writing that we did in class. I think that one more example of presentational writing that we did was during the Module Tests where we were given a prompt and had to write based on the guidelines provided.
Interpretive Listening
On LingroHub we focused on listening for correct answers or watched videos where we had to pay attention to what the speaker was saying. An example of this is when during Module 24 we had to listen to a Famous chef Gastón Acurio and he talked about sustainability within the food community. I did struggle a little trying to comprehend what he was saying but I was able to get a general idea of what he was stating. In another unit we listened to an person explain their experience with being an influencer and how it affects them. After completing the many listening activities I was able to have a better time comprehending although I’m still not too used to how fast some Spanish speakers talk.
Interpretive Reading
During Spanish 202, we completed lots of reading whether it be a poem, a story, or even responses to our posts in discussion boards. We read a poem for one of our units about identity and culture and had to understand the importance of knowing oneself. In another story we read a story about Goddesses who wanted to experience Earth, so they transformed into two humans and explored the beautiful jungle.Lastly, we also read a story about a young man’s journey to a new school and how it made him feel. It was a little hard at first trying to understand the stories as they were different from most of the mythological stories I have read but it was also very interesting learning about Hispanic cultures this way.
Nuyorican Tales (J.F. Seary)
1 My heart beat, beat, beats to the
rhythm of the clave
Caribbean sun-kissed skin
Mi piel café con leche
Coffee bean colored
These are the eyes of my mother
2 Raised by the Bronx
Musing on medleys of salsa
Pouring Héctor, Frankie, Celia, y Ruben
From apartment windows
Inspiring spontaneous song and dance
From locals watching games of dominó
On city sidewalks
3 Childhood memories of syrupy sweet
Tamarindo piraguas and
Playing in pompas to cool down
On heat drenched summer city days
We eagerly anticipated the
Puerto Rican Day Parade
With our banderas held high
We shouted WEEEEPPPPPAAAAA
4 Que Viva Puerto Rico
Isla Del Encanto
Y amor de mi alma
Never questioning whether that pride
Was innate or instilled
Mami raised us to love all of who we were
and she didn’t tolerate ignorance
5 We were fed strict diets of
pernil, arroz con gandules y yuca
We ate Barrio frituras
And drank jugo de Guayaba from Goya cans
Christmas meant pasteles, arroz con dulce, coquito
And an extra present for leaving grass under your bed
Para los Reyes Magos
6 We took annual pilgrimages to Borinquen
Island of my mother’s birth
Island of my soul’s content
And a chance to become one with
Con nuestras raíces cultural
7 Bright eyed and hopeful we sang
Schoolgirl choruses of
“Alegre vengo de la montaña
De mi cabaña que alegre están
Y a mis amigos les traigo flores
De las mejores de mi rosal”
8 Time spent
con Mamí Panchita, mis tios y tías
I miss my grandmother’s eyes
Knowing Papito Kique from
Old tales y Mama Chonga a testament
To an ancestry rooted in slavery
9 A return to New York City
Nueva Yol where school buildings
Are named after
Tito Puente, Julia de Burgos y Felisa Rincón de
Gautier
We hung images of
Don Pedro Albizu Campos
in our homes
10 We were fluent in Spanglish
Raised on a mixed bag of
El Chavo del Ocho, Popeye
Sábado Gigante, Mary Poppins
and we watched Iris Chacón
shake that cadera on television
11 Este orgullo was born in me
Rooted in my mother’s journey
Grounded in New York’s cement
with divine inspiration, I pen my history
12 This is my story
A tale of two languages
Two cultures
One identity, one nuyorican
One me