Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication

Exploring Culture

The music videos in each module helped me gain an understanding of cultural perspectives. From the very beginning of Spanish 101 it was made clear that music is a big part of Spanish speaking cultures. The videos from each section proved that over and over, and also allowed me to listen to fluent speakers which was extremely helpful to my learning. I think that listening is a huge component to learning a new language so these videos were a key factor in that.

Engaging in Communities

I think it is vital that we engage in our immediate and global communities for many reasons. Engagement helps us to grow, learn, coexist, and so much more. If we were to all simply stick to ourselves and parts of the globe our worlds would be very dull and boring. In my opinion, engagement helps to give our lives meaning and excitement.

The engagement in Spanish 101 that really helped me was the discussion boards. They allowed my classmates and myself to exchange thoughts and ideas about different topics such as sports in Spain. It was really helpful to discuss our opinions and ideas, as well as get to know one another throughout the semester.

Interpersonal Communication

As mentioned above the discussion boards were very helpful. They helped a lot when it came to understanding the culture as well as just becoming familiar with the vocabulary like when we each had to describe our families in Spanish. The entrevista oral zoom meetings were also helpful. They allowed us to put into action all of the terms/vocabulary that we had learned and really made us think out the sentences before saying them out loud.

With each discussion board and entrevista I became more confident in forming proper Spanish sentences. I also particularly became more confident in my pronunciation as I was somewhat pleasantly forced with the entrevistas. The entrevistas were probably the most challenging but also the most rewarding after they were completed. In my opinion, it is quite challenging to get on zoom with a professor and or classmate and speak in an unfamiliar language, but it was also a huge stepping stone and very helpful.

Presentational Speaking

One of the presentational speaking activities that I completed in class was the prueba oral activities. These gave us questions in Spanish and required us to record ourselves giving answers to them also in Spanish.

Although a bit challenging, these pruebas were helpful and valuable during the learning process. They required us to perfect our pronunciation as well as expand on creating full and proper sentences. Even though they were a bit challenging, I enjoyed them and found them to be useful.

Presentational Writing

I did not complete or use any presentational communication of compositions, pamphlets, blogs, flyers, stories, articles, and or any other written presentation activities this semester inside or outside of class.

Interpretive Listening

One of the interpretive listening activities that I completed this semester was during our exams when we would have to listen and then answer questions.

This activity allowed me to get used to native Spanish speakers accents which is a huge hurtle when learning a new language. I enjoyed these activities a lot and it was fun to hear others speaking what I had been reading and working on.

Interpretive Reading

I did not use any Interpretive Reading outside of our textbook.