Interpersonal, interpretive, presentational communication
Exploring Culture
As a class, we watched a video about tapas and the culture in general. During this video, I learned that the honor system is something the Hispanic culture values. Whenever a customer was ready to pay for their tapas, they would present the toothpicks on their plate to the cashier to count and charge the customer accordingly. Customers could easily hide toothpicks and get away with paying less, but they do not. These practices changed my worldview because I didn’t have one before this semester. I always knew I wanted to travel and experience different cultures, but not necessarily where to go or what to expect. Now my husband and I plan to go to a Hispanic country first.
Engaging in Communities
The value and importance of engaging in my immediate community and the global community is that it gives you a different perspective on life than the one you already know and live. Engaging in these communities allows one to keep an open mind.
Unfortunately, I only have the Talkabroad assignment as an artifact for this section, which I will discuss in the next section.
Interpersonal Communication
One experience over this semester that has opened my mind is the Talkabroad assignment. This assignment consisted of conversing with a Hispanic country person through a video call. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever done. I learned about Yanina’s family dynamic, job, and how and where she lived. She was passionate about her country and culture, and it was an informational and enjoyable assignment.
Talkabroad conversation with Yanina
Presentational Speaking
Presentational speaking for this class has included short productions using our vocabulary from the corresponding unit.
For example, describing our family members and their characteristics was one of the first presentations. In the unit 6 Mi Familia project, I was required to create a video, post it online, and present it in front of my peers. I was asked to show my family members, including myself, pictures, and I was required to state their names, our relationship, physical traits, personalities, and activities they enjoy. The most challenging part of this assignment was articulating how I wanted to describe my family members, considering I had a minimal vocabulary at the time. To overcome this, I wrote out what I wanted to say, practiced it before making my video, and presented it to the class.
Another example is the unit 8 #AyerComí project. Like the Mi Familia project, I recorded a short presentation including visuals that described what I ate the day before. I was required to include the name and type of dish, why I prefer it, the ingredients and basic preparation steps, when I ate it, where, with whom, and at least one discourse marker or filler that we learned in class. A challenge for this project was to meet the time requirement of 2 minutes without needing to read the script I had been practicing, and I overcame this by practicing a lot.
For the next time, I would put a little more effort in. I am a perfectionist, and I always feel I can do better on something after the fact.
Presentational Writing
During this semester, we were required to produce an advertisement showcasing a club for a sport or form of fitness and a flyer advocating for adequate health in an area of our choosing.
For example, the unit 7 Un Club Deportivo Estudiantil project required us to write 150 words advertising a club we started. This assignment helped me practice articulating ideas in the tu form. Another example is unit 9, Una Inforgrafía, and this assignment allowed me to grow my creative skills.
Interpretive Listening
One activity at the start of the semester directed us to watch a video describing the royal family of Spain, which was narrated in Spanish. My professor had us listen carefully and repeat what the narrator was describing to make she we understood. This video had the relevant vocabulary to the unit we were learning.
Interpretive Reading
For an assignment in unit 7, we had to describe sports using our given vocabulary and apply them in class through speech and finding facts like the most popular sport in Latin America. We used sites similar to the one listed below.
The challenging aspect of this assignment was being able to read an article that was written for a fluent Spanish speaker. We were asked to find specific information that wasn’t always in the most obvious place. I overcame this with guidance from my instructor. The most interesting part of this assignment was learning about another culture and country. My takeaway and growth are seen in learning about other countries outside of my own and where my family members are from.