Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Artifacts

Instructions

Exploring Culture

Some products and practices that have better made me understand the culture was TalkAbroad and being able to talk to someone first hand. It was a unique tool to get to learn Spanish better.

Then, in a short paragraph write your reflection. Some questions that may help you process your reflections are: I was able to talk to someone from Nicaragua and Argentina. They talked a lot about what things are like in their countries and I was able to learn a lot. They changed my worldview because I thought all Spanish speaking countries were the same. I had the stereotype that all Spanish countries have the same foods and the people act in the same way. I realized after talking to the two different people that it is way different. What stood out to me is that in Argentina, they love soccer, in Nicaragua not so much.

Engaging in Communities

It is very important to engage in your community because it is the place you live in everyday. If you do not engage in it, it will never be what you want it to be. You have to make the most of it.

Interpersonal Communication

TalkAbroad was a site where you were able to have a 10-15 minute conversation with someone from a Spanish speaking country. We had to complete two discussions with a random person from around the world. I was matched up with a male from Nicaragua, and a female from Argentina.

It was very difficult and intimidating when I first had to do a conversation on TalkAbroad. I had no idea what to expect and I thought that they would not be patient with me. It was very difficult at first. After the first call I gained confidence because I proved to myself that I can do it.

I excelled at comprehending everything that was being said to me. I knew that I needed to improve at how I responded. I took it all into account and made sure I was better prepared for my next one.

Presentational Speaking

We did not have to present anything this year because it was an online class.

The most we did was have discussion with our teacher where we presented our knowledge of the language 😉

Presentational Writing

There was no presentational writing that we were required to complete in this class. It was a lot of discussions and answering questions.

I have grown with becoming more comfortable typing in Spanish. At first I was struggling with putting my thoughts on paper. After many discussion boards and quizzes, I improved a lot.

Interpretive Listening

There were a lot of interpretive listening assignments. LingroLearning, which is the online site that is used to complete homework, loves to use audio. We had to listen to words, phrases, talks, etc. and then answer questions on what we heard.

I cannot paste anything from LingroLearning in here, but I will explain a situation. There was a time when we had to listen to a 3 minute conversation and then go back and remember if certain words were said and/or what form they were used in. It took me a lot of times listening to the audio again before I got the hang of it.

Interpretive Reading

I read many articles in Spanish. I had to do research about Spanish foods. I read about the authentic Spanish foods that you can get in different countries and then I wrote a discussion board about my findings.

I knew many Spanish foods before because I have been to Spain. One of my favorite foods is Paella. But what was difficult for this assignment was that it was a lot of South American and central American countries only. I was shocked to learn that the foods in every country are different.