Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Instructions

Exploring Culture

When watching the video it was very unique to see how different people from all sorts of cultures went to embrace the history of Macchu Picchu. This video gave me a better understanding of how history is taken care of in Peru because Macchu Picchu, also known as the old mountain, is a mystery to everyone yet they still treat it with care. In the film, I thought it was interesting how the visitor looked at the mountain the same as he would the Great Wall of China, and the Woman who is a tourist said it was urban and religious.

I would say this video helped me get the understanding that in foreign countries, they tend to treat their history as a prized possession. It challenged my view because I never thought an ancient mountain could be memorable in one’s mind. I can say that after watching this video, I can see that some areas do care about keeping what once was built in its original form. I always thought since Macchu Picchu was older, people would want to change it or transform it to fit in with the new. I admire them for not changing it and keeping it as close to its original form.

https://m3a.vhlcentral.com/sections/1073708/activities/126329

Engaging in Communities

The importance of being in the community around your home is extremely important because there are people who need to be helped and are not far away. Whether it be taking time out of your day to go read to young children at schools, picking up the littering items, or working with the youth, anything could make a positive change. I have recently moved up to Norfolk and I have been hired at Excaliber Gymnastics. I believe working here is a form of engaging in the community because I can be an influence on the children I work with to do a sport rather than get involved in drugs, alcohol, and unhealthy life habits. Another way I have participated in my close community is by reading to elementary schoolers when I was in high school. As a cheerleader, my team and I volunteered to read to them to build those bonds and give the children hope that one day they could be what they wanted to be. The final way I participate in the global community is by simply playing a game on my phone. It is called “Free Rice” and it is an app where you answer multiple-choice questions and each correct answer donates ten grains of rice to a family in need.

Interpersonal Communication

With my TalkAbroad assignment, I was very grateful to be able to speak with my partner, Jessica, to get a real feeling of how it would be to interact with someone in a Spanish-speaking country. Another way I was involved in an interpersonal conversation was with my tutor at the beginning of the course. The final way I would interact with communicating was by emailing my professor constantly.

First, my biggest challenge when doing the TalkAbroad assignment was being able to comprehend everything my partner was saying because of the speed she was talking at. I feel that my struggle to understand everything she said automatically was a setback in our conversation because I was trying to break down the words I did understand in my head at the pace I understood. With my tutor session, I feel that I have grown from that by taking what she said and getting more familiar with how to conjugate with the correct subject pronouns. Even though I struggled with my tutor, I took the criticism she gave me and applied it throughout the course. The final way I feel I have improved is by emailing Professor Martin constantly with reading her emails trying to break down what I knew and what I did not. There were times when I would try to respond back in Spanish but I still struggled to respond back to her entirely in Spanish. One thing I wish I would have done better was being vulnerable, there were times when I would not type or speak in Spanish because I was afraid I would sound uneducated, if I were to do it again, I would take more risks to learn from them.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E8bi_DcjNBnsvgZBwE7P19nSf8tFDI9F/view?usp=sharing

Presentational Speaking

One of the ways I have participated in presentational speaking is by having a conversation on our VHL Supersite which already has questions played out and I had to answer back to them verbally. Another way I have presented is when I was unable to attend the Zoom meeting to introduce myself to the class so I made a voiceover on my “All About Me” assignment.

First, for the VHL assignment, I feel this challenged me by making me have a conversation where I was not only listening to the speaker but also had to respond with an answer. I will say I was able to push through the challenge by listening to the recording multiple times and I was able to redo my answers if I felt I could have pronounced a word better. This assignment gave me the opportunity to hear how I sounded and to critique myself to see where I could improve. Overall, the questions were not as hard to understand, it was just making sure I said everything as best as I possibly could. Second, the “All About Me” assignment went well because I was able to read what I had typed out already I just had to record my voice for the class presentation. Both of these assignments helped me because I was able to hear myself and hear whether something needed to be fixed or not.

https://m3a.vhlcentral.com/sections/1073708/activities/132186

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yJTLduWjChN4I935ccEZNoZJ8YzvOXpj/view?usp=sharing

Presentational Writing TBD

In English, give a very brief 2-3-line description of the presentational communication of compositions, pamphlets, blogs, flyers, stories, articles, and any other written presentation activities you completed this semester inside or outside of class for or related to your Spanish learning. Include a copy of a written presentational activity you produced? (See Modes of Communication link for description and examples).

Presentational writing for me was when I typed out everything for the “All About Me” assignment. This is similar to a typed-out blog so I felt it was a good example of this.

I believe that when I first wrote about myself I struggled to find words I knew so I had to search up certain words. Now I feel that I have grown since then because I feel more confident in myself to be able to form sentences better. I think this assignment made me realize that when learning words in Spanish that apply to things that interest me, it made learning a little more entertaining for me. I think having this as the first task to complete, it was a good way to get introduced back into speaking Spanish since it has been a while since my last Spanish 1 class.

Interpretive Listening

Throughout this course, we have had numerous amount of assignments due on our VHL supersite, this includes the videos that contain speaking Spanish. With these videos we have to listen and be able to understand what they are saying then there is a quiz after to see how well we did. I chose “¡Vamos a la playa!” to talk about since it was one of my favorite ones.

One part of the most challenging parts of watching the video was when they were checking in to the hotel, I could not understand each word so it made it difficult to get the entire video. I tried to overcome the harder areas by pausing the video and listening to certain parts again. I also reviewed the vocabulary which they had used in the film and the quiz also made me think about the video in full detail. Even though I could not understand every word, I tried to look at what they were doing to read in between the lines which helped when taking the quiz. I would say I was able to grow with each activity by turning the subtitles on so while they were talking I was able to read and listen at the same time.

https://m3a.vhlcentral.com/sections/1073708/activities/126327

Interpretive Reading

In the reading, it spoke about things that are on a brochure that a tourist would need to know when traveling to Puerto Rico. I enjoyed this assignment because it gave me the option of reading it or listening to the words in case I was having trouble.

When reading this, I would say the most difficult part about this was not understanding words that were not listed in the vocabulary. I had a hard time piecing it all together since I did not know every word by reading it then once we were quizzed on it I had to go back and re-read some parts since I did not understand the first time. I would say even though it was hard to catch on to the reading I still learned from my mistakes by making sure I used repetition any time I studied.

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