Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational Modes of Communication
Exploring Culture
In Spanish 201 after each unit we had a culture section. In this section we would look at different people from different Spanish speaking countries. When learning a new language it is very important to understand the culture behind it.
The culture section after each unit really helped me understand the values and attitudes in the Hispanic culture as well as my own. For example, I learned that street art is something very important in Cuba, while in the United States many people find it unpleasing. These products and practices did challenge my worldview. It made me look at certain things in a different way. Looking at other cultures I realized that we are all the same deep down.
Cultura-Engaging in Communities
When learning a new language it is very important and helpful to engage in your immediate and global community. Talking and engaging with someone from the community that you trying to learn the language gives you insight on how native speakers talk, listen and interact with one another.
During my time in Spanish 201 I started listening and watching Spanish speaking videos on YouTube. I watched Daniela Bos who is a YouTuber who films videos about her live in Mexico, current events, History and Spanish culture.
Interpersonal Communication
During the course of Spanish 201 we completed two 15 minute conversations on TalkAbroad. While using this website I was able to talk to two women from Cuba and one from Argentina. It was very helpful to talk and listen to a native Spanish speaker. Using TalkAbroad also allowed me to hear how different Spanish speaking countries pronounce and say different words.
For our TalkAbroad conversations our professor had topics for use to discus during our conversation, but conversations are not rehearsed and are natural. Even though we had topics to talk about during the conversation, sometimes during the conversation we talked about other things. For example, when I was talking to Patrica from Argentina we not only talked about the topics, we also talked about our families and school. TalkAbroad definitely helped a lot this semester. It helped me become more confident and fluent in Spanish. One of the difficulties was remembering that words in Spanish have to agree with gender. It was tricky remembering but I studied and watched videos in order to help me out. On thing I excelled at was my fluency. I got a lot of practice while using TalkAbroad. On thing I would do differently is come up with more questions during the conversation to ask my partner.
talkabroad-1Presentational Speaking
Include a recording of one of these speaking activities. (See Modes of Communication link for description and examples).
This semester we did many assignment inside and outside of class that dealt with presentation speaking. At the end unit 14 we had a project where we had to create a video blog about eco-tourism. We had to create a two minute video, then share it with our classmates.
One of the challenges I faced with presentational speaking was elaborating while speaking Spanish. There was times I felt stuck and did not know how to explain a certain thing. One way I grew from this challenge was I expanded my Spanish vocabulary. One thing I excelled at was my pronunciation and fluency. If I were to do it again one thing I would do differently is use more descriptive vocabulary in my project
Presentational Writing
The presentational writing assignment and projects we did in Spanish 201 were clothing catalogs and short stories. For each writing assignment we would have to write 150-200 words in Spanish about a certain topic whether it be clothes or immigration patters
The first presentational writing assignment we did was a clothing catalog where we had to pick out clothing based on a costumer we chose. During this assignment we had to describe the persons clothing preferences and style. I grew from this assignment by bettering how I construct a sentence in Spanish. The second assignment we had to finish a story about Finita who emigrated from Cuba to the United States. I grew from this assignment was by learning how to write in Spanish using the past tense. Thought these assignments constructing a sentence became easier but remembering to conjugate was difficult. The way I overcame this difficulty was by asking help from my classmates. I excelled at was using more descriptive Spanish words in my writing. One thing I can do better next time is perfecting my conjugation in my writing.
FinitaProyecto-unit-13
Interpretive Listening
One of the first assignments we did this semester had to do with choosing a Spanish song and artist. After we listened to the song we had to pick out words we knew. For my song I picked Mayores by Becky G.
With this assignment we also got to hear songs our classmates chose. This assignment was not very challenging for me, if anything this was a very fun assignment. For this assignment we listened to the song and had to pick out words we knew. One way I over came difficulties was listening to the song more than once. One thing I found interesting is what song were my classmates favorite songs were. A takeaway from this listening experience is learning a new language can be much easier through songs. I grew though this activity by learning about more Spanish singers.
Interpretive Reading
The readings we did during this semester contain of El eclipse which is a short story written by Augusto Monterroso. El Eclipse is about a priest who comes to the jungles of Guatemala and tries redemptive work on the Mayans. We also read Finita la Gringa which is a graphic novel written in Spanish by Cari Jiménez. Finita la Gringa is about a girl who emigrates from Cuba to the United States.
Then, write a short reflection paragraph that includes the activities you described above. What was unclear or challenging for you? How did you overcome this difficulty? What did you find most interesting or compelling? What was your takeaway from the reading? How have you grown with each assignment?
Eclipse-1