Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

On the website that we use for lecture videos and homework, there is a section in each unit about Hispanic culture. It was really interesting to be able to read different points of view from people living in multiple different countries. It put things in perspective to see the overall similarities and the unique characteristics that define each culture.

These readings helped me to think outside of myself and my cultural norm. In my normal day to day life I am not exposed to as many different cultures and backgrounds as I would like. I love learning where people have come from and what has made them into who they are. Learning the day to day lives of people living in Hispanic countries has helped me realize that we are not so different after all, but those differences should be encouraged and celebrated.

Engaging in Communities

I believe it is extremely important to be involved and engaged in your community. I have always loved volunteering in places such as the food bank and giving my aid wherever needed. In the process you meet so many new people and learn about many different cultures and backgrounds. I also engage with my community through a career and technical education organization called SkillsUSA. I currently serve on the alumni board and volunteer my time to help high school and college students enhance their hard and soft skills. I have been involved ever since I was in high school and the all throughout college so far.

Interpersonal Communication

In class everyday we would have a portion of the class where we had a topic that correlated with the unit that we were currently studying and we had to have a conversation with a classmate. It was different every time but we could use our resources if we needed extra help. Our professor would also walk around and listen to our conversations and correct us if need be, or join in on the conversation to keep it going and urge us to keep talking.

These types of conversations really helped me to pick out issues I was having with someone who understood where I was coming from. It was interesting to see if we were struggling with the same things. It got to the point where we were able to help correct one another, which was very interesting.

Presentational Speaking

We did not really have any presentational speaking activities this semester. The closest thing I can think of is when we created a weekly schedule and she had us talk about it before handing it in to her, but it was not meant as a presentational assignment.

Overall speaking on the spot in Spanish makes me nervous. The only thing I have found that helps that is studying more and learning more vocabulary words. This helps ease my nerves and helps me to have plenty of different ways to say things if I forget the word or phrase I would like to use.

Presentational Writing

An activity that we have done so far is edit a social media profile for ourselves in Spanish. We filled in basic personal information and posted a status describing ourselves. We then had to read and comment on other classmate’s profiles.

It became easier for me to speak more about myself and what I like to do. I became good at finding synonyms for words or phrases I could not remember in Spanish so my idea of what I was saying would still be understandable in context. I feel that I need to work on expanding my vocabulary so I can express myself more clearly. I feel that while doing this I can also work on not confusing similarly sounding words or words with similar yet distinct meanings.

Interpretive Listening

During our homework throughout the semester, we have had many assignments where we were challenged to listen to an audio clip of someone speaking Spanish and asked to answer the question, infer who the subject is, gather context clues, and more.

One assignment we had this semester was listening to conversations between two Spanish speakers and having to use context clues such as verb usage and content of the conversation to figure out what type of relationship the speakers had. There were multiple recordings of conversations including recordings between friends, people meeting for the first time, and a student speaking with their professor. Learning how to listen for the subject and picking out words that I understood really helped me enhance my listening skills. It did become challenging the faster the speakers conversed with one another, but it was a welcomed challenge.

Interpretive Reading

In each unit there is a culture section that tells us different aspects of Hispanic culture in relation to what we are learning that unit. This is a screenshot from our latest unit, which is about being able to describe people we admire.

There are usually some words are phrases that we have not learned yet, so that can be challenging. On the other hand, it helps me learn to use context clues to get a general idea of what is being talked about so I can follow along.