Exploring Culture

In my Spanish 102 class, we further explored some of the cultures I learned about in 101, as well as new cultures. We did so by participating in discussion boards about culture and music as well as completing “Culture” assignments of VHL.

I enjoyed learning about historical locations in Spanish speaking countries such as Machu Picchu. One interesting thing I learned about Machu Picchu was that it is not a standalone site, but a stop on the Inca trail that contains many more historical sites. This gave me a new perspective on how vast and rich the history in these South American countries really is.

I also enjoyed learning about the different foods eaten in Spanish speaking countries. For example, we learned that tapas, which are becoming a popular food in the United States, is a dish that comes from Spain. I always thought that tapas were one specific dish, but there is actually a wide variety of creative and delicious looking tapas. We also learned about some of the popular dishes in Peru, and I learned that my favorite Mexican food, ceviche, is actually a very popular Peruvian dish. When considering food from Spanish speaking countries before, I would lump them all into foods I could order at a Mexican restaurant, but after learning about the different dishes from different countries, I now know that there is much more of a variety and different food culture across the globe.

Interpersonal Communication

In my class, I participated in discussion boards about Spanish culture as well as partner interviews practicing my Spanish speaking.

Discussion boards were a fun activity because they did not have to be done in Spanish and therefore allowed us more freedom to express our thoughts without limitations. Our class discussions went over different Hispanic foods, music, and historical locations. I was most interested in the class discussion about historical locations, because I was able to learn new history from my classmates.

Partner interviews were a helpful way to practice my Spanish speaking. In an online class, it sometimes starts to feel monotonous and impersonal, but when I was able to practice and present with a partner, it made me feel better about what I was learning. It also gave us an opportunity to interact more with classmates and feel more connected in our learning experience.

Presentational Speaking

Speaking activities in this class consisted of partner interviews. These assignments involved having a conversation in Spanish over Zoom with a partner while the teacher observed. 

Partner interviews were good practice, but also challenging. I have found that I am best at reading and writing in Spanish, and do not excel as much in conversational Spanish. Participating in interviews sometimes made me anxious, and caused me to forget certain words or phrases I already knew. These experiences have encouraged me to take in person Spanish classes for the remainder of my studies so that I can have more practice in these types of settings.

Presentational Writing

In my class, presentational writing consisted of a few compositions we completed over Blackboard.

In these assignments, we would be given a writing prompt, and have to write around ten sentences about the topic given. One example is the most recent composition, where we wrote about activities to do near our university. I found these assignments fairly easy, as I do best at writing and reading in Spanish.

Interpretive Listening

There were a few different assignments that involved interpretive listening. For these assignments, we listened to a recording in Spanish and then answered questions about what we heard.

I found these assignments to be helpful, because hearing phrases that we were currently learning in a recording helped with my pronunciation of certain words and also helped put them into context.

Interpretive Reading

One example of interpretive reading is some of the “cultura” assignments completed on VHL. In these assignments, some type of informational article would be presented to us in Spanish and we would have to answer follow up questions about the article. These assignments were helpful because it gave us the opportunity to not only practice reading in Spanish, but also learn about a new subject.