Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

Learning about the culture was very interesting and quite fun as well. Spanish speaking countries have cultures that are extremely different from ours. A couple things I noticed were the differences in food and the way they shop.

I pretty much already knew how different Spanish food was from American food. For example, I know for a fact that fast food tacos are very different that traditional Spanish recipes. Going through lesson 8 about the food was very interesting. I also learned that Spanish markets are much different. They have a lot of spices that are local and traditional to the foods they cook. Then there is shopping which is not like American stores. There are a lot of homemade items and the people sell at a stand. I saw this in the lesson 6 Flash Cultura. These lessons have shown me how different our cultures are but also how much people value their culture.

Engaging in Communities

Engaging in the community is very important because it allows that community to grow and prosper. It also helps spread kindness. People will see others helping and will encourage them to help as well. Being an art education major, I love helping people. Helping children achieve their goals and watching them grow is so rewarding. It shows that I’m making a difference in the kids lives which in turn helps the community. 

Interpersonal Communication

This class was the first time I’ve ever used TalkAbroad. I’ve never spoken to a native Spanish speaker so this was a very interesting experience. I am not very confident when it come to having a full conversation in Spanish but my TalkAbroad partner was very kind and helpful and I think it went pretty well.

The TalkAbroad assignment was really the only interpersonal communication assignment I had to do. I was very nervous about it at first but it made me realize that I can speak it better than I think I can. My partner understood most of what I was saying. I just have to practice understanding what others are saying. Next time I do a TalkAbroad assignment or talk to another person in Spanish, I will definitely practice more ahead of time.

I attempted to upload my recording from my TalkAbroad assignment but WordPress wouldn’t let me “due to security reasons.”

Presentational Speaking

The only speaking activities I remember doing is the TalkAbroad assignment. There was one other speaking activity but I didn’t do very well on it but I’m also unsure of why I didn’t do well on it. I definitely need to practice my speaking skills and ensuring I am using the correct vocabulary and conjugations.

Presentational Writing

The only writing activities I did in this class were a couple of discussion boards that were not fully in Spanish and the assignments on VHL where I had to rewrite sentences and fill in the blanks. The activities where I had to rewrite sentences in a different format weren’t too hard but still challenging. These became easier over time as I learned the language.

Interpretive Listening

All of the interpretive listening assignments I did were in class and they were mostly listening to recordings of conversations and watching videos like Flash Cultura. I sadly don’t have any recordings to put in here since all of the recordings and videos were on VHL. I do have a lot of trouble understanding what people are saying so I do have to practice that. To help me with my assignments, I would listen to the recordings multiple times to understand it. I noticed towards the end though, that I wasn’t having as much trouble understanding what the recordings were saying.

Interpretive Reading

There were many interpretive reading activities in this class. I don’t remember what all of them were but many were letters, brochures, or descriptions/conversations. 

The interpretive reading was definitely less challenging for me than the interpretive listening. Being able to physically see the words is easier for me to figure out and decipher. I of course found a few challenges here and there when I couldn’t remember what a word was but other than that I didn’t have too much trouble with it.