My Spanish 101 class was very informational and interesting to me. As an introductory course, it laid a great foundation for my future education in the language. I did not expect, when taking Spanish 101, to learn so much about Spanish speaking culture, and was pleasantly surprised by this. Rather than simply learning the language itself, I was able to practice and also learn about the people who speak it. I feel like this will give a great framework for my goal in taking Spanish, which is to become a better educator to ESL students in the future.
Exploring Culture
Viewing videos about different Spanish speaking cultures helped me to gain a different perspective on them. I feel that I had a very shallow view of what these cultures valued before taking Spanish 101, but having to look into their different practices and interests gave me a new view.
In my Spanish 101 class, we learned a bit about the University of Granada. In learning about this Spanish university, classmates and I were able to see and discuss how this university compared to our own. This was just one instance of our being able to put into perspectives how similar our cultures are.
Another assignment that helped my classmates and I compare cultures was when learning about the strong fútbol fanbase in hispanic countries. From a shallow perspective, it might seem like their soccer obsession is strange, but when comparing it to our obsessions with other sports here in the Unites States, it was clear that it is not as strange as we might have believed. In fact, the obsession with sports is one quality, like my previously mentioned university experience, that we share across many cultures.
When learning about how friendly and close hispanic peoples are with one another in some countries, it gave me a different view on their family and social values. It was interesting to learn about different ways that people greet each other in these countries, such as kissing on the cheek and hugging strangers. My classmates and I were able to discuss these greetings and how they compare to our own in the United States. This was the first instance when I was able to see a significant difference in cultures, but not for better or worse. I personally do not prefer to be as warm and friendly with strangers, but I also was able to see how nice this practice is for people who were raised in that environment.
Interpersonal Communication
In my Spanish 101 class, we completed several discussion board assignments throughout the semester in addition to completing virtual partner interviews. The purpose of these assignments was to explore hispanic culture and practices as well as practicing our Spanish speaking abilities.
The majority of discussion board assignments my classmates and I completed related to discussing culture in Spanish speaking countries. We were able to explore different aspects, such as sports and university, and then talk about what new information interested us as well as comparing them to our own culture and experience.
When completing virtual partner interviews, my classmates and I were forced to communicate with each other on our own time. We had to plan meetings on our own and then complete them. In addition to these interviews allowing us to practice our Spanish speaking in a conversational setting, it also helped us to practice interpersonal communications by having us set up meetings and be held accountable.
Presentational Speaking
Presentational speaking came in the form of partner interviews as well as interviews with my professor. These assignments gave my classmates and I an opportunity to practice our Spanish speaking in a conversational setting.
Partner interviews for me were easy, and I did not feel nervous or under pressure because I knew my partner was at the same Spanish speaking level as me. When doing interviews with my professor, I would compare that to speaking with a Spanish speaking person out in the world. This was more intimidating because I knew that they were much more comfortable and knowledgeable, and would recognize my mistakes. These interviews were much more challenging for me.
Presentational Writing
In this particular class, I completed one compositional piece. This piece involved writing, in Spanish, a brief description of my university and activities that we have. This piece was fairly short and simple, but was great practice for writing longer compositional pieces in the future.
Interpretive Listening
My classmates and I were able to practice interpretive listening when participating in some of our VHL assignments. Many of these assignments involved listening to audio or watching a video and then answering questions. Additionally, we viewed presentational videos when taking quizzes.
Watching videos such as this one and participating in listening activities was very helpful in the learning process. Being in an online foreign language course, it can sometimes be challenging to practice the language alone. However, seeing the language being spoken in conversational settings as well as watching presentations such as the one above gave me a better understanding.
Interpretive Reading
My classmates and I read several articles and pieces during the semester. Reading brief pieces of information and then interpreting them was helpful in the Spanish learning process.
One example of this was reading information about a Spanish university. This activity allowed us to learn about the Spanish culture in a university setting, which was both interesting and informational.