Exploring Culture

I have learned so much about Spanish speaking countries during my time is Spanish 101 was how the collage or University education systems work in Latin America and Spanish speaking countries. There were some diffrences but we are all pretty much the same no matter what language we speak.

During the time learning about different Hispanic countries and their culture I realized how close the family dynamic is compared to the United States. When it comes to Universities in Latin America majority of colleges do no have dorms. The majority of the students still live at home with their families during that time. Unlike the United States where the majority of students live on campus. I also learned that it is very common for students to work while going to school to help support the family.

Engaging in Communities

It is very important to be active in your immediate community and globally. We need to be involved and understand our community and the communities around the world. When learning a new language I think it is important to understand their community.

I have not had many experiences in the Spanish speaking community. One experience I did have was going to a few authentic Mexican restaurants in Arizona. Some of the food I consumed was beef tongue and tripe tacos. I would love to be more engaged in the Spanish speaking community I hope I have more opportunities in the future.

Interpersonal Communication

In Spanish 101 we did many activities that had to do with interpersonal communication. The textbook we used this semester Lingro had many different activities to help us better are Spanish speaking. Some of the exercises we did that helped a lot were when we record are voice speaking Spanish and received feedback.

When we were in class for Spanish 101 we had many occasions and practice with interpersonal communication with it being with technology or our classmates. For example, is when we are doing are work exercises and we have to have a conversation without classmates. Using interpersonal communication has helped a lot build and improve my Spanish speaking skills.

Presentational Speaking

When in Spanish 101 it was very helpful to do presentational speaking activities.  We did the activities both in and out of class.  For example, we had to do a Spanish interview with a native Spanish speaker or a classmate.  Another example would be when we had to read and present our projects to the class. 

When I first entered the class, I was very nervous to speak in front of my classmates, but then I realized we are all here to learn.  With our Spanish projects like when we had to write about our schedule then present it, it was actually very easy to do.  Since I been reading all semester reading out loud come very easy to me. One thing I think I exceled at was the pronunciation of the words.  If I could do one thing different this semester would be practicing more with fluent Spanish speakers.

Presentational Writing

There were many activities of presentational writing exercises in Spanish 101. Some of the examples was for our projects when we had to write scripts or paragraphs for our project. When It came to everyday activities in class we did presentational writing mostly everyday.

The activities we did for Presentational Writing were when we researched the different cultures and wrote paragraphs for what we found.  It became easier to learn how to do research in Spanish.  It was a little difficult to form a whole paragraph in Spanish when you have to conjugate each very.  I overcome the difficulties by asking for help when it was needed.  One thing I exceled at was understanding what is was writing. I think I could do better next time is be more descriptive when I write in Spanish. 

Interpretive Listening

Some of the interpretive listening activities we have done in class were when we listing to a Clip in Spanish then we had to write the word of phrase that was said. Another example of interpretive listing is when we were given a voice clip in Spanish and we had to figure out what question they were asking.

When it came to listening and learning to audio and video clips it was a bit challenging to understand. The way I overcome the challenge was by listening to context clues surrounding the word.  This helped me figure out what the word in the sentence meant. I found it very interesting on the different way English and Spanish form their sentence it is different form one another.  My take away from the listening experience was that I need to learn how to understand Spanish when it is at a fast pace. I have grown my Spanish specking and listening skills a lot during these activates by hearing Spanish from people fluent in it. 

Interpretive Reading

We read many different interpretive reading activities while we were in Spanish 101. For example, we read many articles about different cultures in all of Latin America. We also read emails in Spanish and short stories in Spanish.

When it came to reading articles in Spanish like the articles, emails, and short stories it could be challenging at times.  The way to overcome and understand what you are reading is to look at the vocabulary for that unit and the context around the word. I found it very interesting that some Spanish words are spelled exactly or similar to English words but are pronounced differently.  My take away from these exercises is that it is much easier to read in Spanish then it is speaking it.  I have grown a lot from each assignments.  My reading skills have improved a great amount from the beginning of the class.