Exploring Culture

Some products and practices that helped me gain understanding of cultural perspectives were the Exploracion Cultural: Investigar assignments on LingroLearning. We did this assignment with every unit we learned.

When I was doing this assignment, I always chose the same country to investigate which was Columbia. Whenever we learned a new unit we had an Exporacion Cultural: Investigar assignment to do it with, thus it allowed me to connect our learning to cultures in Spanish speaking countries. It helped me understand the culture within Columbia, their values and attitudes. It also allowed me to compare and contrast what we have or are doing within the United States to the country I was researching about. These perspectives revealed to me that some things we have in the United States we take for granted because Columbia does not have those things or even vice versa. For example, I learned about some things in the health field that the United States have that Columbia does not have access to.

Engaging in Communities

The value and importance of engaging in your immediate community and the global community is obviously very important. It allows individuals to learn and become aware of everything that happens in this world good and bad. It opens peoples eyes to other things rather than only what is going on in their life.

Interpersonal Communication

The TalkAbroad assignment that I did was very informative. We talked about everything from family, to health, to food, and so much more. I did two of these assignments and each time I had someone different. I am happy that I scheduled myself with two different people because I was able to not only learn about their lives, but the country they live in.

It helped me not only practice my Spanish, but also I figured out exactly what I needed to work on language wise. I feel like it also helped me figure out what to talk about or what to do if I was ever in the situation to talk to someone who only speaks Spanish, I definitely feel like I have grown when talking to someone who only speaks Spanish. During the TalkAbroad we were not allowed to talk any English because they did not know English. Now, if that was true or not, I do not know, but it really helped me.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vfd8_IonZNKa42ZmkVTe8Iu_oLb6bj0U/view

Presentational Speaking

This semester we have completed many presentational speaking activities. They were on specific units. For example, we did presentational speaking’s on our family, food we like to eat for dinner, and what we want to do after college. We had to do all of it in Spanish and each of them had something to do with the unit we were learning.

Each presentation was a bit difficult in different ways. Mostly, on the words I wanted to say but we did not learn within the unit. That was definitely challenging for me. I did additional research to help me figure out those words because they were needed to present on the subject I was talking about. I also realized doing these that my memorization skill needed some help. Each of the presentations we did we had to memorize the words we wanted to say and it took me awhile to memorize it from start to finish.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NG74K1CDr4LWoLuOvGUJOPrhG8BsuMvM/view

Presentational Writing

One of the assignments we did this semester was making an infographic on an aspect of mental or physical well-being. We had to do everything in Spanish and provide information on the topic we chose as well as adding information on where an individual can get help.

The topic I chose for my infographic was Depression. This is because I have and currently am suffering with depression so I felt I could really put my all into the assignment. I talked about if someone who is suffering with depression needs medical attention, medication to treat it and so much more. I also added in where someone could get help at Old Dominion University. This assignment helped me because I was able to learn more about this disease and how to say everything in Spanish as well as become more comfortable with the language when writing it out.

Interpretive Listening

Some listening activities we did this semester was videos on Blackboard going over each vocabulary word in each unit. It taught us how to pronounce it properly and showed an image to go with the word. We also had videos we watched in discussion boards that went over different units, i.e. sport activities and jobs.

When listening to each video I made sure to say it with the person to properly learn how to say and pronounce each word correctly. In the discussion board videos we had to watch the video and reflect on it. To help me really learn each word being said I turned on the closed captions. This allowed me to connect each word from being written to being said. It really helped me learn everything I needed for that unit.

Interpretive Reading

This semester for one of the units we read about the Importance of Family Structures in Hispanic Families. It was very informative, though it was all in English. It talked about the roles and aspects of the father, mother, children, and extended family within Hispanic families and their culture.

When reading this article I was able to compare and contrast each role one does in a Hispanic family to my family as well as a stereotypical family within the United States. The thing I found most interesting was the mothers are expected to take care of the children and the house while the father works to pay the bills. I was able to learn new things while reading this assignment as well as noticing some things that I already knew which was shocking.

https://oureverydaylife.com/what-is-the-symbolism-of-jumping-the-broom-12601405.html