Exploring Culture

A few practices that helped me gain knowledge and an understating of cultural perspectives were the use of social media, the access to internet, daily routines, and the use of formal and informal language. The cultural assignments and research that I have conducted over this course taught me family and respect are core values within Spanish speaking countries and communities. 

Within the Hispanic world social media networks such as Facebook and whatsapp allow for long distant families and friends to connect with one another daily. In my research I learned that 80% of Puerto Rico’s population use Facebook to share and capture moments for their families to see. Furthermore, many Hispanic countries for instance Argentina are changing the formal and informal language rule. Instead of using Usted or Tú they are using voseo or vos when greeting and communicating with one another. This formality was developed to ensure everyone is being respected and valued. One big challenge that was revealed to me was the regulation on access to internet. This was interesting because with family members who immigrated from home, they get limited time to talk with their family and friends. Which is extremely hard when family is all you have. 

Engaging in Communities

With the process of learning how to speak a new language it is extremely valuable and importance to engage with communities that are native to that language. In doing so you expand your vocabulary significantly, gain confidence in speaking and you can share and learn new ideas and experiences. As you in engage more within the community you began to form lifelong friendships and even mentorships. 

Interpersonal Communication

This was my first time using the Lingrohub database. I really enjoyed how easy it was to interact with and the simplicity of the assignments. The oral and audio activities helped boosted my confidence with learning how to speak, structure and hold a good conversation. In the future I would suggest more audio and oral assignments to aid in increasing one’s comprehension and interact. This would increase one’s ability to pick up key phrases and words and increase their ability in   translating oral and written communication.  

From module one two five I have learned how to introduce and describe myself and others, coordinate and schedule plans for the week and talk about the university, classes, and activities I participate in. Over the course of each assignment, I have seen a growth in memorizing vocabulary and confidence in speaking Spanish. When recording the first three oral assignments I was extremely shy. However, now as I continue to grow comfortable, I am not so hard on myself when I make mistakes and I ask questions on was I can improve. One thing I am still learning is when I should and should not conjugate verbs. I exceled with the audio/ listening assignments because as a young girl my best friend’s mom would talk to us in Spanish so it was easy to pick up on some words. 

Presentational Speaking

The two big presentational speaking projects I completed over this course was the interview with a Spanish speaking person and the tour of the campus. Recording the campus tour was a fun project that I would suggest continuing for next year. It tested all the skills I had learned over the spend of the course. From how to use sar and estar, describing places, people and things and stating what I like and don’t like. 

I found memorizing what I was going to say the most challenging aspect of the video. A few things I found challenging was the differentiation between structing sentences and Spanish and English cognates. My first instinct was to just say the word in English, however, with the repetition in hearing and saying the words or phrases it became easier for me to remember the Spanish form. One thing I would do differently next time is prepare better so I can show more of my skills off.

Presentational Writing

Within the Unit 3 calendar project we were required create a rough outline of our schedule for the week and describe it. It was a great way to relate the assignments and discussion in class to our real-world experiences. I wish we did more in class instructions on how to write and develop questions. 

The combination of the test and this activity I learned how to properly use ir and tener to describe what I was planning to do and what I must do. Within this module I experience growth in listening comprehension, written and response and communication. It became easier to conjugate and translate audio paragraphs. Throughout the span of this course, I found writing in Spanish to be the most challenging aspect. I have not fully mastered this concept but I have been completing additional writing assignments on my own.

Interpretive Listening

Over the course of the semester there were a variety of assigned and unassigned Listening activities throughout the various units on lingrohub. However, Units 2 and 4 primarily focus and engaged in listening. A few assignments were easy to complete and understand, but other assignments require me to search for the meaning of words. 

Within Unit 2 we listened to two different interactions one were roommates meeting for the first time and the other was two friends meeting at the beginning of the school year. In Unit 4 we listened to a girl touring her campus and the various activities that the students engage in. Outside of class I watch a variety of Spanish speaking movies and tv shows to further my interactions with hearing the language and learning new words and phrases. A challenging that I have faced is sometimes I find it difficult to understand what is being said when the movie, recording or interaction is happening quickly. I am overcoming this by continuing to expose myself to new Spanish speaking people, attending events and watching videos with subtitles. Something that I took away from the listening experience was the Spanish language is very gendered specific and precise.  

Interpretive Reading

Most reading activities came from the exploring cultures section and Unit 5. I wish we had covered more reading assignments within this course. This section I feel least confidence in. 

The most challenging aspect of reading is translating the text so I can understand the meaning and what is being discuss. With aid I can get through the activity, however, once the activity or assignment is complete, I do not remember it. This could also stem from me having a hard time comprehending text and reading written in English. The only way I can overcome this is consistently reading and asking for help and clarification. Overtime I did start to grow in spotting the vocabulary words, the roots of words and the way in which they were being used within the assignment. This helped me pick up a rough understanding of the meaning of messages and text. In class the professor encouraged us to read out load and helped us with translating it in English. This was extremely helpful because after class I could reread the assignment with my annotation. This introduced me to new words and their meaning and helped with the visual representation of how to spell and say words.