Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Exploring Culture
I was able to gain a better understanding of the Spanish cultural perspectives by completing the investigation assignment in LingroHub cultural exploration. I had to research different topics about the culture and write about my findings.
Doing the investigation assignments in Contraseña LingroHub, it challenged some stereotypes that I had formed about the Spanish culture. One stereotype I had pertained to their food. I thought it was the same throughout the Spanish culture. But, I learned that it is different throughout the different regions. As I researched the different topics, I learned that the Spanish culture is similar to my culture. They value traditions and cultural practices but are slowly changing for better equality.
Engaging in Communities
It is important to engage in communities. Engaging in communities is a good way to help others in need or bring to awareness a problem in that community with possible solutions.
During the holiday season, I engage in my community by helping someone in need. I have done this by finding “Angel Tree” locations and getting a name of someone in need. Instead of buying gifts for my children, who receive gifts throughout the year, we buy gifts for that person in need.
Another way I like to engage in my community is bringing awareness to problems that may be overlooked in our community. Recently, I had a chance to attend and support a domestic violence gala. At the gala, people were able to hear survival stories from victims of domestic violence.
However I am engaging in my community, it is always rewarding and fulfilling.
Interpersonal Communication
The TalkAbroad assignment gave me an opportunity to speak with someone from a different country in Spanish. The discussion board gave me the opportunity to watch videos or read about the Spanish culture. Then, I was able to write a post about my perspective of their culture and comment on my classmates post.
The TalkAbroad conversations was a good experience to talk and listen to someone in another country speak in their native language. This was also a good way for me to learn more about the Spanish culture. My first conversation with my partner was difficult because I did not know what to expect. I was nervous but my partner was helpful in helping me better understand the language. If I said a word incorrectly, she would repeat the word back to me in the correct form. Then I was able to say it correctly. I chose the same partner for my second conversation. Again, she was very helpful. I was more comfortable with her during my second conversation. I was able to understand and hold a better conversation with her.
The discussion board post was one of my favorite experiences because I enjoy writing. This was a good way for me to learn from my classmates as I read their responses to the discussion post. The only difficulty I had with the discussion post was taking my time to read and follow the instructions correctly. The first post I did, I did not include a sentence in Spanish. After I was made aware of this, I began to read the instructions fully to complete the assignments correctly.
For future TalkAbroad conversations and the discussion posts, I will study my Spanish vocabulary more so that I can broaden my conversations and writing in Spanish.
https://canvas.odu.edu/courses/120865/discussion_topics/420856?module_item_id=3426659
Presentational Speaking
At the beginning of the semester, I completed presentation speaking, via Flipgrid, as I introduced myself to our class in Spanish. It was a way of presenting the knowledge that I gained from my previous Spanish course.
This presentation was difficult for me. It was over a year since I had taken Spanish and I was very rusty in the language. I did not understand the culture of language at the beginning of this course. Listening to my presentation gave me an opportunity to see what I needed to work on during this course. I also had a chance to listen to my classmates’ presentations and respond to them. After taking this course, next time I will be more fluent in the Spanish language.
Presentational Writing
I was able to complete several presentational writing as I completed the discussion post assignments. The assignments gave me an opportunity to write my perspective of the articles that I read or the videos I watched. In the discussion post Familias diferentes, I was able to read the article on Hispanic culture and write my perspective on the difference between American and Hispanic families.
This assignment gave me an opportunity to write a sentence in Spanish. Writing in Spanish is difficult for me because it is very different from writing in English. This made it difficult in learning the language as well. It was hard to comprehend. The more knowledge I gained from completing the Contraseña LingroHub assignments, I was better in my Spanish writing skills. I also used the SpanishDict website to help correctly conjugate the words. Continue practicing to writing in Spanish will help better my writing to make it more understandable.
Interpretive Listening
Interpretive listening gave me an opportunity to listen to the spoken Spanish language to gain a better comprehension of the language. This assignment was also a way to hear the language spoken correctly by children. It gave me a chance to practice and repeat the correct form of the word spoken.
I had the opportunity, via YouTube, to listen to Spanish. Though the video came with closed captions written in English, this helped me understand the words that I heard. The biggest challenge for me was word placement in the Spanish language. This is an area I need to continue to listen to in order to understand the spoken language better. I had to watch and listen to the videos several times before getting a full understanding of what was spoken. After listening to the videos several times, I was able to recognize the word placement a little better. This is another area I need to continue to practice.
Liga española de la educación. Y tú, ¿qué quieres ser de mayor? (Video) YouTube
Interpretive Reading
In Contraseña LingroHub assignments, I had the opportunity to read and interpret articles in Spanish. This gave me the opportunity to gain knowledge of Spanish culture. In this assignment, I was able to explore articles about gender inequality in sports.
Reading articles in Spanish was very difficult as it is written in for people who fully understand the language. There were a few words I recognized but I had trouble understanding most of the article written in Spanish. I was given the option to translate the webpage to English, which I chose to complete this assignment. In the article 16 mujeres destacadas del Deporte Chileno, I found it interesting to see the Spanish word placement. Trying to read this article in Spanish, before I convert the webpage to English, gave me a chance to practice saying the words in the correct placement. After completing each reading assignment, I was able to recognize and understand more words.
Latercera. (2020, June 5). 16 mujeres destacadas del Deporte Chileno. La Tercera. Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://www.latercera.com/el-deportivo/noticia/16-mujeres-destacadas-del-deporte-chileno/65CQXXSZFVGUTDQPDQNH33JEKQ/