Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

In this semester there were many different videos and readings we did to explore cultures. All of these activities helped me understand cultural differences. Understanding different cultures are very important for growing personally and for just being a more worldly person.

In this video specifically, I learned about a cultural tradition in Spain named La Tomatina. this is a celebration that was held every year pre-covid. Thousands of people would gather to have what in a sense is a giant food fight, and have fun and learn about each other. I compare this tradition to events like color runs we have in the US. With traditions like these people get to celebrate their culture and have fun every year! This specifically, did not bring up any stereotypes, I just found it very interesting to learn about the traditions of other cultures.

Engaging in Communities

Engaging in communities is so important for personal growth and to support the communities you are involved in. While engaging in communities both local and abroad we are learning more about the different cultures of the area and how we can support them in different ways. It is a way to learn and share knowledge in a hands-on way.

Although there were no assignments on engaging in communities, I always like to refer to my trip to Chile in 2016 when speaking about engaging in communities. I was there for the 2016 roller hockey world championships and after one of my games, a bunch of elementary-aged students came up and were talking with us players. I was learning so much about these students and what their life was like even in the few minutes I had with them. This photo was taken right when I was about to go back to take my gear off and the children all ran up and hugged me. It was such a pure moment that I will never forget. At that time I barely knew any Spanish, and them barely any English but we were still able to impact each other’s lives and communicate.

Interpersonal Communication

TalkAbroad is a website were you can practice different languages by speaking with people who are native to different parts of the world. TalkAbroad assignments are 15 minutes long and have a type of topic to focus on after getting to know your partner. This website is so useful and teaches you a lot about how people speak from other parts of the world!

For TalkAbroad and just speaking in class in general, for spontaneous communication, I have been able to see myself grow as a speaker and watch my vocabulary broaden. With each assignment, I have gained more vocabulary, sentence structures, grammar tricks, and confidence. The more I have spoken, the more comfortable I have become with the language. I think what is most difficult for me is stringing together the sentences, and wanting to say more than what I know how to. As the semester progressed I was able to speak more about what I wanted to and had a better grasp of structure which helped. I think I excel at understanding what the other person was saying, I think I can understand a lot more than what I can speak.

The TalkAbroad assignment itself was very nerve-racking. Next semester when I do these assignments I believe that I will be more comfortable and able to portray more to my speaking partner. I learned a lot from both TalkAbroad assignments about other cultures and the daily lives of people from across the world.

Presentational Speaking

We only had a few presentational speaking activities this semester. These took place over VHL and were mostly utilized to practice pronunciation. These activities were very useful because I was able to prepare and obtain a better grasp of the subtle differences in pronunciation in the language.

In this presentation, I repeated multiple words and sentences. The reason for the assignment was to practice and understand the difference between pronouncing the “T” and “D” sounds. I think that I did well on this assignment because I really took my time and focused on the difference in pronunciation. I also followed the directions and tips as shown on the model provided. When I was speaking the sentences though, I started to get lazy in the pronunciation and noticed a difference in the sounds. Next time I would just be attentive all the way through the assignment.

Presentational Writing

The two main Presentational Writing pieces we had this semester were the two compositions. For each composition, we were to choose between two prompts then create an outline. From there we wrote a rough draft in class, and then the professor corrected it. We then made the revisions and produced a final draft which is attached below.

Each assignment has allowed me to grow and understand the language deeper. Because of my deeper understanding of the language, and learning more grammatical rules I was able to convey more each composition. I do still struggle with the selection of specific verbs or words that are very similar but are used in different situations, but that understanding will come with more practice. I think that the overall composition of the assignment was done well. I believe that with more practice I will have more ways to say the things that I want to write with making it feel more natural.

Compostition-2-final-draft

Interpretive Listening

This class included many interpretive listening pieces. These activities were conducted both through homework assignments and in class. For the activities, we would either answer questions on the homework assignment or discuss them in class.

This semester I listened to both just audio recordings and videos. This video in particular was shown in class and was followed up with questions about what the main character did the night before. This activity was used to learn more about how to use the preterite. In the beginning, it was hard for me to understand the video because of the different preterite endings, and the characters were speaking faster than what I was used to. I overcame this by really paying attention to the video and trying to understand what was happening. I also discussed what was going on in the video with the class. This listening experience helped me to dissect and understand people who are speaking faster than what I am accustomed to and allowed me to practice hearing and using the preterite. Looking back at this video, it is much easier to understand than when I was first shown the video.

Interpretive Reading

There were many homework assignments through VHL that were assigned in this class that included interpretive reading. These assignments usually included information about other cultures, and sometimes were scenarios that we had to dissect in order to show comprehension. The readings were always followed by some format of questions.

In this specific assignment, there was information about internet use of different demographics of Hispanic people who live in the United States. The most challenging part of this reading was the use of words that I had not learned, but luckily they translated the ones that were apparent that I would not know in this section of the course. I found it interesting that there are different search engines other than google that make it easier to surf the web in Spanish. Each assignment has increased my critical reading skill and my ability to interpret texts, even when I do not know all of the words. These assignments were very helpful in my learning throughout the semester.