Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Reflection:

Before I started this Spanish 101 class, I knew the basics and by basics, I mean how it say hello and what is your name. But now since completing this class I have learned how to hold a basic conversation, which to me is a great start. I overcame many things with this class which I suppose comes with learning any new language. There are two platforms that helped me the most when learning Spanish and that was Duolingo, which I will continue to use now class is over, and Lingro which went over everything from writing letters to listening to words and writing them in Spanish. I hope to continue and grow before taking my next Spanish class. Some things that I hope to learn in the future are how to have a conversation about family and what I do as a career, what some of my hobbies are and how to introduce myself formally to others.

Artifacts:

Exploring Culture:

There were a few different things that help me to understand cultures of Spanish speaking countries and that is the discussion boards that were done this semester as well as the YouTube videos that were included with them. Before this class I knew almost nothing about these different cultures and how much go into them.

For example, this assignment below talks about different Spanish cultures and what time of year they are celebrated as well as what the celebration consists of. The paragraph below the video was my answer to a discussion board that asked what Spanish culture spoke to me and if I have any cultures in my family.

12 Meses 12 Fiestas en España – YouTube

Engaging in Communities:

I think that it is very important to engage in your community whether it is doing something in a big or small way. I have had some experience with engaging in my community like helping with a wedding were there was a few people who spoke Spanish and helping out at a local elementary school with children who speak Spanish at home and fluently.

Interpersonal Communication:

Some examples of interpersonal communication that I have participated in this semester are doing daily conversations in Spanish with my instructor and some of my friends. Another thing that I have done is translate a letter to a parent from English to Spanish. Both of these things are going to help me in the future as a teacher and educator.

The activities that I did were planned and some unplanned. Ones that were planned were discussion boards and conversations with my instructor. Some that were unplanned are conversations with my friends and translating a family letter from Spanish to English. The unplanned and planned activities both challenged me and surprised me on how much I can learn from them.

Presentational Speaking:

When it comes to presentational speaking, I have done quite a bit of that since the start of the semester. Most of it was on Lingro, Duolingo and over Zoom.

The example shown below is from Lingro and I had to pronounce each word. This overall was great way for me to work on my pronunciation with common words.

These assignments definitely challenged me because talking to someone in a language that I am not quite comfortable with makes me nervous and anxious. But as I keep doing these, I will feel more comfortable and confident in what I am saying.

Presentational Writing:

When it comes to presentational writing, I feel like I have more to learn about it. Writing Spanish can be hard because if the words that need to be conjugated and the verbs that need to be added and changed.

With that being said what I have learned about presentational writing is that it can be challenging and will take time to perfect. There are many obstacles that come with that like adding correct abbreviations and how to make words and sentences formal and informal.

Interpretive Listening:

In Lingro I had to do quite a few listening activities, whether it was listening to basic words and then speaking them or hearing a sentence and saying it back. This was also included in the Duolingo lessons about families and basic conversations.

I am happy about the progress that I have made with interpretive listening even though I still have quite a lot to learn about it, so that I am able to effectively write sentences and describe certain places and things. Even though it is intimidating to listen and say words in Spanish after I heard it, I hope to continue to improve and learn.

Interpretive Reading:

Communcation is very important with Spanish and all other languages. When reading and speaking it, which coexist with each other. This happens when reading an article, text message or even dealing with bills and other reading material.

Overall, learning and communicating a new language is an experience that can be hard but to me is worth it in the future when I am teaching, and a student is scared or nervous because their classmates don’t speak the same language as then.