Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

TalkAbroad and LingroLearning helped me the most with cultural understandings. Although they were documented and short, it is still information that I would not have even known about. Another reason is that these sources help expand your normal way of life and see how it might be in another’s eyes

Although I think Americans are spoiled and don’t know how easy some people have it (not all), I still view the World differently from a lot of people. This could be associated with my time traveling in the Marine Corps but it helped shaped the character I have today.

Engaging in Communities

The reason for engaging the community is because some people may need help with something you do to. By engaging with your immediate community, it creates a sense of trust in one another. In my neighborhood we have bloc parties and we wave to each other when we pass by.

Interpersonal Communication

My first TalkAbroad was with Allan Jiménez. He was from Nicaragua. I have spoken to him before but it was good to see him and talk to him again. We talked about stereotypes. He mentioned some stereotypes about his country and I did with mine also. We also talked about why stereotypes exist. My favorite part was when we talked about how we or our community can prevent or combat stereotypes.

My second TalkAbroad was with Matias Ducombs. He is from Argentina and very easy to talk to. One thing I was surprised is how hot it is here, but in Argentina he said it was cold. The first part that we discussed was influencers in our culture today. My favorite part of our conversation was the discussion with influencers on social media. With technology and girls looking up to influencers, there is so many unrealistic expectations for them. It is sad to see and very unfortunate that these influencers don’t see the harm when they post pictures that have been altered. The last part was our discussion of an influencer we follow and why? Overall the discussion was fun to do and experience.

The TalkAbroads definitely help me get out there and try my best to speak Spanish. Although I struggle, I can tell how much I have grown over the years in Spanish. It was definitely hard to learn a new language at 29 years old. If I could go back though, I would take Spanish in high school and be better prepared.

Presentational Speaking

The only presentational speaking that I did this semester was through TalkAbroad and Lingro Learning. Having to be put on the spot adds pressure to try and do my best. Something I would do differently is rolling my r’s a little better. It is the one thing that I still struggle with.

Presentational Writing

For presentational writing, we had to write in classroom discussion boards. For the discussion boards we also had to reply to a classmate to show that there was interaction with each other.

Interpretive Listening

For this area, we had two conversations with people in different countries. These TalkAbroad conversations helped me develop my speaking skills with other people. Another example would be the videos that we had to watch in LingroLearning. We also had to watch YouTube videos that helped us learn pronunciations and lessons.

Interpretive Reading

Interpretive reading is reflected in our LingroLearning exercises. Typically towards the end of a chapter, we have to research and write about what we learned. It helps you see what other countries could be going through that you might not even know about.