Exploring Culture
As a non-Spanish speaker and someone who has never been to a Spanish-speaking country, I watched Latin television and listened to Latin music. Two of my favorite Latin shows took place in two different countries, Mexico and Spain. The shows that I watched were, Who Killed Sara and Wrong Side of the Tracks. I noticed how they spoke Spanish, which they were not that different from each other besides some pronunciations. I noticed that the Spain show had a much more diverse cast than the Mexico show and showed that the country receives many Latin immigrants from other countries. I felt like I was shown the ugly side of Spain and areas of realism within the Wrong Side of the Tracks show, as there were examples of racism shown towards immigrants from Latin America from the older generations. Being from the United States and watching American media, I hear a lot about the uglies of my country, forgetting that other countries also deal with their own issues.
I also listened to Latin music and tried to sing along with the lyrics to better my Spanish-speaking skills, which is difficult because singing a word can be very different from just saying it. I enjoy listening to and singing Jugaste y SufrÃ, and I hope I can remember the whole song one day. I struggle with the speed of some songs and translations of the words I do not know. However, I sometimes struggle to understand some English music lyrics. I love Latin music for how it sounds and will have the song translated just to appreciate it more.
Interpersonal Communication
Discussions boards allowed everyone to communicate with each other about their perspectives of Latin culture and later connected our personal life with Spanish. These assignments had me research more about Latin countries’ different holidays and cultures. The Conversation assignments allowed everyone to practice their Spanish-speaking skills in class. These assignments helped me better understand the proper use of the pronunciation of words and construct sentences.
In class, there were interpersonal activities that required me to use my Spanish-speaking skills in practice, and then I tried to apply those skills in real life. The Conversation assignments were my favorite because I could test out how well I could speak full-on Spanish sentences and apply my understanding of the Spanish vocabulary from the Alphabet assignment to my pronunciations. My stepfather speaks Spanish, so after practicing trying to speak my sentences to the best of my abilities, I would call him to see how well a native-Spanish speaker would understand me. I even practiced my Spanish-reading skills with him, as I still am not able to have a complete conversation without studying or reading, but I was proud to be able to read out the words well.
Besides speaking and reading, trying to pick up the Spanish language in real conversation is still difficult. I have to devote a lot of my attention to make out what is being said in Spanish, unlike how almost instinctively I can hear someone speaking English. It will take more time for me to pick up faster Spanish-speaking, but the more I expand my vocabulary, the more I believe I will understand better. Compared to the start of the class, I can say that I understand more than I did prior and have more appreciation for the language. This appreciation makes me want to learn even more, and I will try to, even after finishing the course.
Presentational Speaking
There were a few presentational speaking assignments for Spanish 101, like the two Conversation assignments and the final live conversation with the teacher. For Conversation 1, I had to watch and interact with a video of my Spanish professor. This was the first time I had to do something like this, and it made me feel a lot more comfortable speaking in a conversation in Spanish since I never did it in a conversation. That assignment made me a lot more confident in my Spanish-speaking skills, making it easier for me to take on the Conversation 2 assignment. However, in Conversation 2, I had to listen to what my classmates said and post a video in their comments. Listening to some of my peers was a bit challenging, yet I could understand after a few listens. The assignment I was most nervous about was the live conversation with my professor because I dealt with anxiety. Still, I was confident enough to be able to speak to her after practicing during all the other assignments.